Instagram Influencers Receive Backlash For Wearing Blackface In Support of BLM

By now, everyone should have gotten the memo that wearing “blackface” is a no-no. However, several Instagram influencers in the Middle East and Eastern Europe were not aware or did not care about “blackface” backlash.

In what appears to be some sort of trend, several influencers have appeared on IG donned in blackface in an attempt to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Sadly they were mistaken; what they thought would show “solidarity” was actually a poorly timed and tone-deaf fail.

Social media was not thrilled by Lebanese vocalist Tania Saleh’s IG photo, which captures her wearing a photoshopped Afro, and black skin paint. As if that wasn’t enough, adding her questionable caption, “wish I was black, today more than ever…Sending my love and full support to the people who demand equality and justice for all races anywhere in the world” makes it understandable why she received outraged commenters. Almost immediately, her page began to receive harsh feedback from IG users who felt she should “read why doing blackface is wrong” and claimed it was “the most unfortunate time” given the nation’s racial state in the aftermath of #AhmaudArbery, #BreonnaTaylor, and #GeorgeFloyd deaths.

Algerian artist Souhila Ben Lachhab is another influencer who was ousted for posing with her body painted half brown and a caption that read, “Just because we’re black on the outside, doesn’t mean we’re black on the inside,” she wrote in the parody-worthy post. “Racist people are the true black heart ones. They are black on the inside, and they know it.” Users quickly lambasted Lachhab as well, stating it was “truly disrespectful.”

One can wonder if Saleh and Lachhab were “really” unaware of their racial insensitivity, or if it was an opportunity to seize attention during a fragile time where a poor sense of “racial” judgment is heightened. Sadly, we are living in times where people want any type of attention; good or bad.

What’s more bothering is that many influencers are in denial about being wrong and have refused to remove their sordid posts. “I have posted this with love, and I will not remove it despite all your offensive comments,” singer Saleh wrote to critics. And went to the typical but my “idols in dance and music are black” response. She claims she did not mean to mock black people in “any way.” She even went as far as saying she “forgives” all those that left hate on her page. 

“I forgive you for all the hate I received today because you made me block the unnecessary evil on this page . . . And by the way, all the human race comes from Africa after all! We are all originally black.”

But not everyone living outside of America is tone death, Saint Hoax, a popular polish artist and Instagrammer used his artistic abilities to create a compilation of various blackface posts and a visual timeline of the unacceptable practice. 

“How can you ‘spread awareness’ about a subject you know so little about?” they wondered. “If you genuinely care about a cause, the least you can do is educate yourself about it.” He posted.

By now, everyone should know people are not of fan of brownface nor blackface. Ask Jimmy Fallon, who was recently under fire for a resurfaced blackface skit on Saturday Night Live, even though he appears to be a very well-rounded and diverse individual; he did not get a pass and quickly apologized for his poor choice of entertainment.

In other words, think before you do, because once it’s on the Gram, it’s open doors to whatever follows.