Hey white people, NPR has a little announcement for you:
I kid you not, this is an article from our most trusted source of government-funded news, and it comes with this gorgeous headline: "Which skin color emoji should you use? The answer can be more complex than you think."
This article boasts nearly 800 words, and it has really opened my eyes when it comes to the usage of hand gesture emojis.
See, white people have privilege, right?
And we use that privilege every time we throw a Simpsons-style yellow hand gesture emoji into a text message.
Following me?
Didn't think so…
Anyhow, when POCs use hand gesture emojis they're forced by capitalism to use their designated color—usually the dark ones—which is really bad.
NPR gets down to business here, letting us know how sincere this issue really is:
Alexander Robertson, an emoji researcher at Google and Ph.D. candidate involved in the study, said the emoji modifiers were used widely but it was people with darker skin who used them in higher proportions, and more often.
Instead, some white people may stick with the yellow emoji because they don't want to assert their privilege by adding a light-skinned emoji to a text, or to take advantage of something that was created to represent diversity.
Ladies and gentlemen, the emoji researchers have spoken, and it's obvious that white people have completely hijacked the emoji game in their favor (once again).
Whites think they can just throw up a Homer Simpson "thumbs up" and go about their day. But they're wrong. In reality, this use of yellow hand-gesture emojis doesn't allow their friends and coworkers to pass judgment upon them strictly based on the color of their skin, which is really not cool.
So next time you see a white person, I want you to grab their phone and set their emoji modifier to that disgusting peach-colored tone. That way, when the time comes, we'll know who to throw in the gulags.
Thank you NPR.
Thank you very much.
👍🏽
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