Social Media and Social Justice

In the past couple years, there has been an increased awareness of racism in the United States. With the Black and Asian American Pacific Islander communities being disproportionately affected by systemic discrimination as well as ignorance, it is imperative for the public to understand the consequences of bigotry and ignorance that plagues American society. Social media has played an essential role in spreading information and awareness of social injustices that continue to persist. It gives everyone a platform in which people can voice their concern for many social justice issues. For example, NFL players capitalize on their football fame to influence their followers to start discussions and encourage change. On the other hand, social media has also increased a "cancel culture" that shuts down certain influencers for their past actions, character, or beliefs. Although accountability is crucial for a well-functioning community, the culture can become extreme and toxic. Therefore, awareness of the impact of social media on a community enables one to make informed decisions and be more conscientious of how they utilize social media.

African American Community
The appropriation of black culture has been a prevalent issue in American society even before its official founding in 1776. African Americans have often witnessed their culture being misrepresented in the media by other ethnicities because minorities races and culture was viewed as inferior to white Americans. Dances and clothing attributed to black culture were not respected by white Americans but rather viewed as trendy for white people. Nowadays, there has been a recent craze to copy black hairstyles and slang in order to look "edgy" or "cool". However, this trend has become popular only recently because traditionally, when African Americans who embrace these elements of their culture do it, they are considered "ghetto" or "ratchet" in a negative sense.

According to Wikipedia, cultural appropriation is defined as the "adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity". Initial cases of cultural appropriation were seen in the 1800s with the use of blackface in films and racist cartoons. There were depictions of African American stereotypes such as a black person eating watermelon or fried chicken. The purpose of these stereotypes was to entertain white people and make them feel superior. This entertainment racism continued into the 1900s, as people began to transition from racist performances to recreating hairstyles, clothing, AAVE, etc. as a "trend". Evidently, cultural appropriation has been an issue before the use of social media. Fortunately, social media provides an outlet for members of the black community and its allies to voice their opinion and call for change. It provides a means to hold organizations, celebrities, influencers and everyone with a social media accountable. For example, when a case of cultural appropriation occurs, black people can utilize social media to share their opinion and publicize the crime. As a result, the person who was in the wrong can reconsider their actions and release an apology statement. For example, recently, Tik Tok star, Addison Rae, was criticized for recreating Tik Tok dances originally created by black creators on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon". They were criticized because Addison Rae performed the dances and neither credit nor invitation to perform was given to the original creators. Although Addison did not apologize, Jimmy Fallon reached out to the original creators and showcased their dances on the show. While this does not resolve the problem of cultural appropriation, it was a small step of taking accountability for one's mistakes and giving the black community its proper recognition.

Black Lives Matter
Social media has also fueled protest movements. Organizers use Twitter during protests to keep participants informed of meeting points, critical events, and updates on progress. The Black Lives Matter movement is also one of the first to use Wiki to keep people updated on the progress of the movement. This movement has the potential to create substantial change; it has already changed the hearts and minds of people in a significant way. One in five Americans participated in a protest in 2020. Support for the ideas of the BLM platform (A Vision for Black Lives) continues to grow as more incidents of racism and social injustice are caught on camera phones. Social scientists agree that real change would involve a major overhaul of the criminal justice system, but movements need great leaders who have the skills on how to keep movements going and who have concrete plans to reach their goals. Movements need leaders to negotiate change and there needs to be some element or risk or harm to make a significant impact. Social media has enabled movements establish virtual platforms more apt at spreading awareness and gaining support. However, it has also decreased the risk in showing support for a movement because there is more anonymity. For example, it is very simple to sign online petition whereas Martin Luther King and others risked their lives planning the March on Washington riding the Freedom buses. Therefore, the BLM protests last summer were more effective because there was more liability and likelihood to be harmed by police (rubber bullets, pepper spray, violence) and the risk of the Pandemic. Important goals of the movement include a guaranteed minimum annual income for black Americans and the end to Capitalism. These ambitions might be a little too extreme for many people, however, academics are hesitant to criticize the BLM leadership. BLM has been groundbreaking things for social justice and an overhaul of the criminal justice system is beginning to seem more realistic than the other platform. For instance, one of the latest developments is the announcement that Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has opened a pattern or practice investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department. In conclusion, with the help of social media, movements and protests have the opportunity to change hearts and minds in American society. BLM is redefining what change is by fundamentally altering the way many people in society think. Once that occurs, real change is possible.

AAPI Community
Since the 1850s, Asians have been discriminated against in America. First of all, there was limited access to Asian immigration to the U.S. from 1875 to 1965, and during that time, Asians in America faced extreme acts of hate and violence. The history of Asian Americans has caused society to create stereotypes, seeing them as a "model minority", not considering them actual Americans, and fetishizing Asian women.

Today, the Asian American Pacific Islander community have been experiencing exponential amounts of anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because COVID-19 originated from China, many have been blaming Asian immigrants, and even American-born Asians, for all the negative effects the world has been facing during this time. This instance is not the first time Asian Americans have been used as a scapegoat for a problem that the entire Asian population is not at fault for. In 1900, there was an outbreak of the bubonic plague in San Francisco; the first victim was a Chinese immigrant which led people to blame the entire Asian community for bringing the illness there by targeting places like China Town and other areas heavily populated with Asians. Other instances of this can be seen throughout history with events such as Pearl Harbor that lead to Japanese internment camps which can negatively impact the mental health of the entire community.

The most recent and notable case was a shooting in Atlanta, Georgia where a White man targeted Asian spas and blamed it on a sex addiction. Although this occurance is not the first case of an anti-Asian act during the pandemic; it just happened to be the one that encouraged people to speak out about these realities and realize how large of an issue is at hand. The #StopAsianHate movement has skyrocketed since this event, and social media has been instrumental in allowing people to share their stories and experiences of racism and microaggressions as well as serving as a platform to educate others about the history of Asian stereotypes and racism in the United States. Asians are often perceived as a "model minority" since they have achieved a fairly high status in America and continue to create more positive stereotypes for themselves as a whole, but this does not mean they are not affected by racism. People are finally noticing the racism that Asians endure despite them being deemed as the "model minority," and beginning to understand how culture impacts their reactions and response to racism towards them.

Social media has enabled the public to see, recognize, and understand what Asians have been enduring beyond the pandemic. It has been useful in providing resources for news updates, mental health, and platforms for conversation. However, a major obstacle is that only people who want to educate themselves about how to be an ally will utilize these resources, whereas those who deny the issue will purposefully avoid these topics so often that they may not even reach their social media pages. This is why it is important for people in power and those who have a large influence on social media to speak up about these problems and help others realize they can help too.

Impact of NFL
Social media has transformed the NFL community to become relevant in more than just the sport itself. The platform enables the NFL community to be held more accountable for their actions and voice their concerns for social justice.

In terms of accountability, social media has exposed NFL scandals to the public. For example, many famous NFL players accused of domestic violence in the past were given lighter sentences or cleared of their charges. Due to the NFL’s sloppy investigations and lack of proper punishments, they received bad publicity and their reputation was permanently tarnished. As a result, the NFL enacted harsher penalties for players such as Ray Rice, whose crimes were caught on tape and shared on social media.

Social media also provides a platform for players to share media unrelated to football. For instance, seven-time super bowl champion Tom Brady is commonly referred to as the “greatest of all time.” His high-level performance at such an old age for a football star has fascinated both supporters and rivals. Tom Brady has since capitalized on this opportunity by starting his company called TB12 that sells his diets, workouts, and lifestyle plan to maintain a healthy, athletic body over a long period. His business model has been widespread and made him relevant as a fitness influencer and an NFL player. However, players and teams have not only used social media as a means to produce capital but also as a way to spread their opinion regarding social justice. For example, the former Saint Louis Rams knelt during the national anthem on live television to broadcast to the NFL community their protest to police brutality related to the violence in Ferguson. Although it is becoming more common for players to share their opinions regarding social justice, there has been significant backlash from fans who believe that players should ‘stick to sports’. Especially during the presidential election of 2020, NFL ratings significantly decreased as players voiced their support for particular candidates and political ideologies.

In conclusion, social media provides an outlet to members of the NFL community to be more involved and privy to the actions of the NFL administration. This has increased public awareness and call for accountability for the NFL administration and players. Digital media has also provided players the opportunity to use their influence to share their ideas regarding essential and controversial social issues.

Cancel Culture
Cancel culture has provided social media users the power to hold people accountable for racist actions, sexual harassment, and abuse by exploiting the individual on social media. Most people who get "cancelled" tend to be celebrities or social media influencers since most accessible because they are always in the spotlight. These exploitations usually go viral, and have major consequences for the individual who committed these heinous acts. Even though cancel culture has had connotations like "it hurts free speech," it has helped a lot of progressive movements in the twenty-first century.

Cancel culture has had a big role in the success of the Black Lives Matter movement, Stop Asian Hate movement, LGBTQ+ movement, Me Too movement, and more. For example, cancel culture has helped give women the confidence to speak up about being a victim of sexual harassment and holding the men that harmed them accountable for their inappropriate actions. As we saw in the exposure of Harvey Weinstein in 2017, many women came out and discussed the sexual harassment that they experienced from him. This event was widely popular on social media and led to the creation of the #MeToo movement. As a result, during the 90th Academy Awards in March 2018, many women attended wearing the color black or wearing black ribbons on their outfits to show their support for the movement. Throughout the ceremony, many celebrities also gave a shoutout to the #MeToo movement during their acceptance speeches or when they were presenting an award. The hashtag then went viral on social media during the Academy awards and gained substantial traction. Harvey Weinstein ended up receiving a twenty-three year prison sentence. Instead of allowing celebrities to get away with heinous acts, cancel culture has given people on social media the power to be able to stand up for one another and hold people like Harvey Weinstein accountable for his wrongful actions in hopes of finally obtaining social justice.

Lately, there has been a recent concern with the severity of cancellations. Some people believe that cancel culture may be hurting the power of freedom of speech. Another concern is that the penalties are too harsh for the individuals that are cancelled. These concerns have made it difficult for cancel culture to fulfill its purpose as numerous people believe that cancel culture is unnecessarily toxic. Subsequently, people have given some celebrities a second chance to redeem themselves. For example, Kevin Hart was cancelled for his homophobic tweets from years ago. As a result, he lost his hosting job of the 2019 Oscars. After being cancelled, he became a more vocal activist for the LGBTQ+ community. In conclusion, social media is a podium for cancel culture to hold influential figures accountable. This cancel culture does also allot a second chance for people to reflect, apologize and become a positive voice for social change in order to improve social justice in American society.

Performative Activism
While social media has created many benefits for social justice movements, there have been some negative effects. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performative_activism#:~:text=Performative%20activism%20is%20a%20pejorative,activism%2C%20referred%20to%20as%20slacktivism. Performative activism], also known as "performative wokeness" or "performative allyship", occurs when people post or advocate on social media for a cause (like BLM) to increase their social clout rather than to actually support the movement. This not only degrades these social justice movements by making them "trendy" and downplaying their seriousness, but also takes attention away from the actual movement and centers it around influencers. Influencers are not the only ones who participate in performative activism. For example, during the wave of BLM protests in the summer of 2020, millions of people participated in #BlackoutTuesday, posting black squares on Instagram to show support for the movement. While this gesture was supposed to display solidarity, it actually hurt the movement by crowding out posts listed under the BLM hashtag that contained critical information about resources and relevant ways to help. Thus, performative activism can not only disrupt the efforts of social justice movements but actively stifle key voices in the movement (in this case, black creators and activists on the ground). If we hope to continue the positive communication and advocacy gained with the power of social media, we must be careful we do not simply turn these social justice movements into another "trend".

Why This Matters
In today's society, social media has become an essential form of communication and source of information. Because of this, social justice issues have come to light and encouraged people to recognize the realities that many communities face. Celebrities and those with large followings and influence on such social media platforms can help advocate and spread awareness of marginalized groups' experiences. While America has improved in decreasing the social gap between white people and minorities since early America, there is still lots of work necessary to achieve equality and equity. Digital media has allowed mass media and information to be more accessible and spread to hold people accountable for their actions as well as provide resources on recent events relevant to social justice. Therefore, it is imperative that the public is informed on the recent increase in cancel culture and the impact of social media and its relationship to making progress in key social justice issues.

Related Pages
Political Misinformation

Expression

Free Speech

Identity and Information

Algorithms