I’m old enough to remember when segregation was illegal.  According to the History Channel, the 1876 Supreme Court ruling Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the “separate but equal” doctrine, was overturned in 1954 when the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that the segregation of public school children was unconstitutional.

A February 7, 2019 article in ThoughtCo.com, How Segregation Was Ruled Illegal in U.S., noted, “Although the Brown v. Board of Education was specifically for the field of education, the decision had a much broader scope.”

In fact, a 2018 Wheaton College post, The Impact of Brown v. Board of Education, recognized, “Although there is evidence of resegregation over the past few decades, without the efforts of students like Linda Brown, our society would be far more impoverished.  We all lose when we are separated by race.”

Sadly, the fact that there are dozens of “black-only” organizations, institutions, and especially, colleges with segregated dorms, graduations, and events, it certainly appears that the civil rights movement, which was fought to end institutionalized racial discrimination, disenfranchisement and racial segregation in the United States, was a dismal failure.

I’m also old enough to remember when people didn’t deliberately try to sow division with incessant race-baiting in order to incite hatred, as lawyer-slash-lobbyist-slash-racist extraordinaire, Stephen Hunter Johnson is so very fond of doing.

At the illegally called “Special Meeting” of the North Miami Beach City Commission on April 8, 2021, in “honor” of their soon-to-be-hired City Manager, North Miami’s current Deputy Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey, I replaced my usual popcorn Zoom avatar with a picture of the future King of NMB.

During public comment, I read a prepared statement all about Duke’s many “accomplishments” at the City of North Miami, including and especially, his unique talent to turn a $9.1 million surplus into a $14.6 million deficit during his short six-year “leadership” gig.

Nevertheless, Stephen Hunter Johnson lost his mind over my Duke Sorey avatar, and bitched during public comment that his feelz were hurt.

Following Johnson’s lead, racist Commissioner Paule Villard demanded that my avatar be removed.

We find that adorable, coming from an elected official who regularly complains on Haitian radio that the “Jamaicans” and “white people” have run the City for too long.

Never mind that Mayor Anthony DeFillipo and Commissioner Fortuna Smukler are both Cuban Americans, which we are now told, are “brown people.”

That night after the meeting, Stephen Hunter Johnson went on a mad rant on Facebook, accusing me of appearing in “electronic Blackface.”

Which confused me even more.

I attempted to comment on his Facebook post in order to provide context for my Duke Sorey avatar…

Which he then deleted and blocked me from further disputing his false narrative.

Yes, he’s that deceitful.

Believe it or not, this story gets even stupider.

The very next day, Stephen Hunter Johnson posted another racist Facebook rant, this time with a photo of an actor in Actual Blackface in order to further deceive his followers.

He also chastised the Mayor for refusing to violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution by denying my right to freedom of expression.

By now, if you’re a normal and sane person, you may be wondering what in the world Stephen Hunter Johnson was talking about.

Not only did I not wear Actual Blackface, but my Duke Sorey avatar was a photo of an Actual Black Person, who’s also not wearing blackface.

Needless to say, I was a bit perplexed by his absurd accusation — as well as his obvious attempt to incite a race war.

Lo and behold, here’s where the stupidity really takes off.

Sensing my confusion, a friend sent me an article explaining what Stephen Hunter Johnson meant by “electronic blackface.”

Which only raised stupidity to a whole new level never before seen in the history of humankind.

According to the Indie Magazine article, You’re probably guilty of digital blackface. Yes, you, “the term ‘digital blackface’ refers to the practice of non-Black folks using Black emojis, reaction GIFs, and/or AAVE (African American Vernacular English) to represent themselves, their emotions, or their opinions online.”

Oh, okay.

So, for the record, every sports fan who has a Facebook profile picture of say, Lebron James, Deion Sanders, or Serena Williams, is committing “Digital Blackface.”

Ditto for the music fan who dares to use a photo of Kanye West, Alicia Keys, or [gasp!] Bob Marley.

The Indie Magazine article also quotes “cultural critic” Lauren Michelle Jackson, who claims that “the overrepresentation of Black faces in reaction GIFs is inextricably tied to the white gaze’s perception of Black emotional expression—namely, that it is bigger, louder, and overly dramatic.”

In other words, a self-proclaimed, black “expert” on “white gaze,” is lecturing white folk on our perception that black expression is “bigger, louder, and overly dramatic.”

So, the burning question is …

If black people use white emojis, reaction GIFs, and/or TQEV (The Queen’s English Vernacular) to represent themselves, their emotions, or their opinions online, would they likewise be guilty of “Digital Whiteface?”

Yeah, we know.

Furthermore, what about white people who pretend to be black?  Which emojis, GIFS, or vernacular are they permitted to use?

Burning question aside, according to this newly self-appointed, non-black “cultural expert,” I hereby decree that black people are hereinafter prohibited from using the following GIFS:

 

 

 

And don’t even think about appropriating la gente de mi hijo…

As a matter of fact, Andy, I do.

Because, unlike Stephen Hunter Johnson, I have a sense of humor, which studies show, is a sign of superior intelligence.

And, unlike Stephen Hunter Johnson, I’m not obsessed with race and the forced segregation of blacks and whites.

We also suspect that North Miami Beach’s incoming City Manager, Arthur “Duke” Sorey, also has a keen sense of humor.

We’re guessing he’d probably find Stephen Hunter Johnson’s manufactured outrage meltdown over a silly photo absolutely hilarious.

Especially if poles are involved.

In closing, according to the New Cultural Appropriation Rules I just made up, people of all colors are hereby permitted to use the following GIFs:

And…

Now that Stephen Hunter Johnson’s manufactured crisis is settled, we’ll leave you with this final thought.

Cheers!

Stephanie