In this modern society, it’s so encouraging to see people from all backgrounds embracing and loving people who are different from them. But sometimes, the push for celebrating diversity can go too far, especially online. So here are a few steps to take to stop your very white friend from using the black prayer hands emoji.
Remind her that she is white, and that that’s okay.
With the goal of remaining colorblind, your friend might have forgotten that she is actually white. While her intentions are good, it can be helpful to remind her that she is, in fact, caucasian and that her hands appear accordingly. Reassure her that her ethnic background is beautiful and valid and okay before you break it to her that her hands are not black in reality and do not need to be virtually. She’ll get it, we hope!
Inform her that her skin color is also represented.
Emoji creators have recently begun to pull no punches when it comes to representation: we have hijabi emojis, pregnant emojis, and all the skin colors you could possibly imagine. But maybe your friend doesn’t know this! So make it a point to inform her that they actually do have white prayer hands that look just like her own. If she needs a quick way to remember, just have her look down at the fingers she’s typing with while she’s typing out an emoji and use the color of them as a reference for which emoji to use. She has plenty of other options to choose from!
Tell her that you just want this one thing to yourself.
If the two previous suggestions don’t seem to be working, try tugging at her heartstrings by letting her know that you just want this one thing for yourself. You’ve let her microbraids slide, you didn’t flinch when she told you she wanted to be the next Cardi B, but this is just too much. Tell her delicately that you value her and her friendship, you just want the color of your hands and their respective emoji to be something that you and other black people can have without it being adopted for fun by her. It’s not hers!
Diversity is beautiful, but walking the line between cultural exchange and cultural disrespect can be tricky. With these three tips, you can help your white friend avoid the latter while also saving you from eventually having to go the fuck off on her about how she’s not black and never will be and her using blackness to be cute via on her iPhone is just short of putting on a textual minstrel show – win/win!
