The 'Darkie' Controversy and Why We Need a Real Public Square
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 12:45PM 
Click to see where people are talking about 'thingsdarkiessay'
On Twitter, the Trending Topics section is a snapshot of what is dominating the pop culture consciousness at any given moment. For instance, after the GOP claimed major victories in Virginia and New Jersey last night, those states enjoyed their fifteen minutes of digital fame among the top ten most tweeted-about topics.
This morning, black American tweeters like rapper Talib Kweli were furious over the appearance of the topic #thingsdarkiessay. 'Darkie' is one of the many pejorative terms that have been applied to blacks in the United States historically (see the original lyrics of Virginia's state song, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny"). The term is virtually absent from contemporary American language, but the connotations and consequences of its usage are similar to those of the word nigger (heads up, I will never use 'the n-word' on this site). Commence drama.
I was certainly taken aback by the topic's appearance but as a trained historian (or, dude with a $160,000 History degree), I know that 'nothing comes from nowhere,' especially on the giant running gag that is the internet.
I did some digging and found (thanks to tweets from @studentactivism) that the topic was actually created by black South African tweeters who were simply being funny and self-referential (a popular activity seen in such topics as #lettertomyex and #wheniwasyounger) before the United States woke up. 'Darkies' is apparently akin to how black Americans refer to themselves (at least in-group) as 'black folks' and is therefore not offensive to our kinfolk across the pond. (Note: I'd love to post some of those original tweets here, so if I have any SA readers or Twitter archive spelunkers, please send them my way.)
American uproar prompted Twitter to remove the topic from the list, but it also created the topic #SouthAfricansArePissed:
If you follow the latest updates on #SouthAfricansArePissed and #ThingsDarkiesSay, you will see that South Africans like @siphojanuary above have responded with a fury of their own. And they are totally justified. Twitter will often give a short sentence to explain why a topic is trending. For the 'Yankees' topic, Twitter says: "The New York Yankees are playing the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB World Series." For 'Google Wave,' Twitter shows its own sense of humor and writes "Every one still wants invites to the beta for Google's new communication/collaboration tool." The 'darkie' topic is certainly a tightrope walk, but for as smart and pithy as the Twitter honchos are, by removing this topic they show that conversations about race, even when they begin organically, just...can't...happen.
I won't toss too much blame on them though. They're still figuring out how to make money from the service, so avoiding lawsuits seems like a smart economic consideration. Still, the push-and-pull happening around this topic highlights the need for a free, self-regulated public sphere that is conducive to debate and understanding.
I mean, shucks, there was a huge firestorm over 'darkie' that eventually retired "Old Virginny" as my home state's official song in 1997, but what do we make of the fact that the author of the song, James A. Bland, was himself black?
#bringdarkieback #butletstalkaboutitfirst
AdrianHopkins.com
On Trendsmap, someone wrote this description for #thingsdarkiessay:
"Misconstrued to be a racist TT, this is a South African inspired topic expressing language/cultural diversity. It is not meant to be racist, Americans are taking offence but 'darkies' is not meant, by SA, to be derogatory! CHILL OUT. :)"
Twitter should take note.
controversy, history, race, trending topics, twitter
Reader Comments (11)
What was most interesting was that both sides of the atlantic were not listening to each other. From the US side, people seemed to be saying that, because it is derogatory within their environment and their context, it couldn't possibly be otherwise elsewhere & therefore those in South Africa who were using it have been hoodwinked & brainwashed, so to speak, and should STOP immediately.
I would be curious to know how many people actually read the tweets of those who were tweeting under #thingsthatdarkiesay in South Africa to get some context. There was an instant lashing out which I think black South Africans also then reacted to. We come from different cultures and histories and it was sad that, in this moment, no-one (well, some were) was listening to the other side to gain some level of understanding.
There was the other side where some people were using the hashtag to tweet their racist views. I didn't see these coz I am probably not following such people. Everything has room for abuse. I think the real issue became one side basically telling the other side that they should not be tweeting under that hashtag. It became a test of wills as opposed to what was initially, as a person I follow on twitter said, " is really abt black S.Africans sharing funny southafricanisms of black people."
It is also interesting that it had been running on twitter from morning (in South Africa) and only blew up into something major at about 5 in the evening here. If it hadn't trended, it would have been one of those things that came and went without a splutter.
There is no right & wrong in this. Think it just needed more open-minded interaction. And the assumption that trending topics can only be from a US context needs to be revisited. Twitter may have been created in US by Americans but it has become a global network that enables us to create relationships across borders and across continents. For those of us outside the US, we spend our days hearing about things that are relevant to the US, without judgement (most of the time) and without complaint. As I write, things like #blamediddy, #halloween and Sesame Street are trending topics.
My two cents. I'm not South African & did not participate in the topic but I understand the context within which those around me were using it. It would help if we asked before accusing, engaged before judging.
The uproar that #thingsdarkiessay has caused reminds me of a similar incident I encountered a few years ago. My first year in the US, also a first year College Student I wrote an essay on why I think Ebonics should not be shied away from by African American intellects, that it instead it should be embraced and upheld to a high esteem like any language in the world. In my opinion Ebonics is a symbolic part of a journey in history of the African American culture, also that it had become a unique vernacular that American Blacks can or should relate to. I later compared it to a South African Patois (dialect) called Tsotsi Taal, which I believe the SA'n version of the word "Darkie" was attained from. My professor at the time thought my paper was an interesting subject and brought it forth for further discussion to various African American organizations in school.
What began then as an innocent thought, which is a language-any language for that matter whether it being regarded as nonstandard or not has the right to be fully recognized and acknowledged. It was a simple statement that holds so much power, clearly stating regardless of color, culture or creed a language should not be classed. Well it is safe to say that my thoughts were not recognized as that. The discussions surrounding this topic became very heated to my surprise. I was accused of aiding the process to perpetuate racial stereotypes. I was told by numerous students that the African community should rise above the standards "White America" sets for them. Apparently the lingo is not befitting of who they are as a people. A few teachers even said that this language was crass and for the uneducated.
Like todays trending topic my views those years ago were blown out of proportion and somehow I was left wondering how in the world did I end up offending people. I think the underlying lesson here is that what makes the people of the world interesting is their differences. The mélange in our cultures should be enough to create an interest where we respectfully probe to broaden our minds, then perhaps we can be accepting of the beauty we all offer. One of the beauties I'm referring to being language because it allows for communication. But deeper than that remembering that a language is a medium of expression that is broken down by words, words that may me identical but differ in meaning depending on ones background.
In South Africa "Darkie" means "Black" and not Nigga or Nigger. It is not a derogatory term. Perhaps if we become less defensive and open our minds to view the world from other people's perspective we will be more inclined to learn something new everyday. I still believe that I made an interesting point all those years ago about Ebonics being recognized as a language. I also believe that if my peers had opened their minds they would have realized that I was on their side, similarly to the incident on twitter. Ultimately nobody understands racial segregation more than Black South Africans and I know in my heart they would not participate in any activities that will degrade us a people. With that being said Both African Americans and Black South Africans can learn so much from one another because we all have a common pain that was inflicted by history.
In the words of Nelson Mandela "We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Just because we disagree does not mean we aren't friends
Reading this article and the comments, I really thought I'd have a lot more to say, but I think trying to educate black Americans who weren't hearing us black South Africans really took a lot out of me
Anyway, here are some people to search for on twitter for clarity on the topic and context
@KhayaDlanga @KojoBaffoe @Anele @Akona1 @Owame
Can't remember the rest
Type their names in the search box to see the conversations instead of just the timeline
Cheerio from the other side of the pond
It took a lot out of me to understand why the South Africans ignored tweets like these:
To debate and educate us "American Blacks"
Kaffir has no relevance to me what so ever, but for me to make the hashtag #thingskaffirssay might be offensive would it not? Not because I was trying to be, but just because I shouldn't use that word.
You are on a global platform and get upset when people from around the globe react. I don't understand it.
It took a lot out of me to understand why the South Africans ignored tweets like these:
@Thule_Society #thingsdarkiessay When can we cash the Welfare check?
@Thule_Society #thingsdarkiessay "who got the hot sauce?"
@Thule_Society #thingsdarkiessay Can i pay my Project rent in food stamps?
To debate and educate us "American Blacks"
Kaffir has no relevance to me what so ever, but for me to make the hashtag #thingskaffirssay might be offensive would it not? Not because I was trying to be, but just because I shouldn't use that word.
You are on a global platform and get upset when people from around the globe react. I don't understand it.
It took a lot out of me to understand why the South Africans ignored tweets like these:
@Thule_Society #thingsdarkiessay When can we cash the Welfare check?
@Thule_Society #thingsdarkiessay "who got the hot sauce?"
@Thule_Society #thingsdarkiessay Can i pay my Project rent in food stamps?
To debate and educate us "American Blacks"
Kaffir has no relevance to me what so ever, but for me to make the hashtag #thingskaffirssay might be offensive would it not? Not because I was trying to be, but just because I shouldn't use that word.
You are on a global platform and get upset when people from around the globe react. I don't understand it.
As was debated, the context. Chill out. We created the topic in our context and would do it again.
It's just not that serious. 140 characters max cannot be a forum in which people try to dissect socio-political issues. People are overdoing the intial intent of twitter. Those types of debates have a different forum/venue. Relax and enjoy the humor, wit and ideas that people can share in 140 characters or less!
I wonder if this is the first introduction many US residents are getting to the concept that Internet ≠ United States.
Whoa. Now siditty what do you propose we do? there is obviously a clash and there is no right or wrong opinion. south africans are mostly angry that twitter and americans simply decided to shut down the topic without even trying to understand it. furthermore, the topic was directed towards south africans, like halloween is for americans. it had nothing to do with you. i can understand the outrage but not the unwillingness to understand that although we share the same history, we hav a different present. it is unlikely for example for a south african to put the word kaffir in their lyrics. its simply unheard of. i believe we need to use social networking sites to learn about each other and not ban a topic because it is offensive in america, therefore elsewhere it should be too.
I don't understand. Even if the term is not offensive when used by black South Africans to each other, is not the content of the tweets just begging to be offensive? To be promoting racial stereotypes? That isn't to say these kinds of trends don't crop up from Americans all the time (some of the ones about women I find incredibly offensive, like #fatchickremix). I think it just boils down to the difference between doing something racist and being racist. I wouldn't call most of the South Africans using the tag racist. But the act and the trend itself?