Blackfishing
noun

- commonly practiced by females of European descent (white) which involves artificial tanning (spray tanning and tanning booths) and using makeup to manipulate facial features in order to appear to have some type of Black African ancestry,… it is not considered a compliment by many members of ethnic groups

adapted from Urban Dictionary

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ORIGIN

The term “blackfishing” has been increasingly in the news to describe behavior by white entertainers who appear to be imitating the appearance of black people.

The term came to prominence in a Twitter thread two years ago when journalist Wanna Thompson said she noticed white celebrities and influencers presenting themselves as black on social media.

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BLACKFISHING AS A FORM OF CULTURAL APPROPRIATION

Cultural appropriation, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is “the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture.”

Leslie Bow, a professor of Asian American studies at the University of Wisconsin, describes Blackfishing as “a racial masquerade that operates as a form of racial fetishism.”

According to Bow, “blackfishing and cultural appropriation are interconnected — you cannot have one without the other”.

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SYNONYMS
for pretense

front, facade, guise, masquerade, mask, act, veneer, pose, veil, cloak, playacting, fakery, artifice, posturing, feigning, imitation, falsification, misrepresentation, put-on, false front, affectation, false colours, shamming, disguisement, imposture, dissemblance, coverture, hypocrisy, visage, outward display, an act, mere façade, assumed role, similitude, kidology, take-off, poor imitation, mimicry

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“White celebrities have been criticized for BLACKFISHING — wearing their hair in box braids or dreadlocks, styles traditionally worn by Black people, and then repurposing them as a hot new thing.”

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THANKS to Jacky for suggesting today’s OWAD.

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Paul Smith