I'm aware

  Saw a meme about something they are calling digital blackface. That's what they are calling it if a white person posts a meme to express an emotion using a gif or meme of a black person. This is an article from CNN. It is supposedly a form of racism, cultural appropriation and perpetuates stereotypes. It's a very bad thing, insidious in nature and should be troubling to us all. I did google it, and it has been around since at least 2017, so not a new thing. Good thing I saw that, or I may have committed a social faux pas. I have seen such and chuckled, luckily no one saw that. I have chastised myself and may donate to some organization or fund as penance. 

  After reading that I was thinking about all of that however, so I guess it serves a purpose. Raising awareness is what I'm told. Well, I've been aware of one thing for a very long time, if you want to make people angry, make fun of them. That always works. Another effective method is to call them offensive names, slurs we call them. We have developed our language to a fine point where we have hundreds, if not thousands of slurs, like arrows in a quiver. And all of them are designed with one purpose in mind, to harm someone else. It's a verbal assault. Adding in some images makes it a visual assault. A great deal of that occurred during WW2 right here in America. Caricatures of German and Japanese people were everywhere. I suspect the same was happening in other nations as well. Propaganda is another term for that. 

  So, what is so offensive about that. The secret is in the caricature, the exaggeration of physical features or in the case of language, phrases or dialects. We have always had one of two reactions to anything that is different than ourselves. We respond either with fear or curiosity. Following the initial reaction, we will attempt to discover how that can benefit ourselves. I'm certain fire was a scary thing at first, but man figured out how to use it. I'm certain men encountering other men was a scary thing at first. We soon learned to be wary of them but discovered we could band together as well. But always the goal is to dominate. And that is the sole purpose of this digital blackface, to display superiority. To make fun. 

  We hear a good deal about this today. We are making laws about it. We hear lectures about it. We even call other people names when they do that! I just shake my head knowing one thing, everyone already knows that; that's the reason they do it. But we are raising awareness by pointing it out. Thing is, it's human nature. People have been and will continue to do that. That's not to say it is right but just to say it will happen. It's funny to me that it is usually only applied to white people that are poking fun, calling names or making caricatures of non-white people. I don't recall ever seeing one that was the other way around. I'm guessing that is simply that white privilege I hear so much about. 

 Well, us honkies are like that, I guess. I've been called a cracker as well, whatever that is supposed to mean. There are Rebels and Yankees. Context is what defines a slur or a fact. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, why are so many upset, calling that cultural appropriation? Calling me a white guy doesn't bother me in the least, I am white. It's like calling me old, I am old. But there are times it does incite the response the person saying that wants, I get upset. Then I can call them a name in return! Maybe include some four letter expletives. It's the difference between what is implied and what is inferred. But progress has been made. We have "Karen" these days. We all know about those Karens out there. It's pretty funny, at least I'm amused. No, wait, I'm offended, that's terrible. I'm aware that is wrong, just wrong. Sorry.