INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES (IJHSS)
A Case Study of BBQ Becky-Themed Memes on X (Formerly Twitter): Using a Black Feminist Lens
E-ISSN: 3435-6457
P-ISSN: 8654-3552
DOI: https://iigdpublishers.com/article/1186
In 2018, a YouTuber captured a woman on video calling the police on a Black family for having a barbecue in the park. It went viral. Within days, the incident developed into a meme and the instigator, Jennifer Schulte, became known as ―BBQ Becky. The public conversations that surfaced on social media featured an image of Schulte on a cellphone reporting the innocuous behaviors of Black people participating in various activities. This case study examines BBQ-Becky themed memes shared on X (formerly Twitter) and how they framed the incident. Our findings support the idea that nontraditional platforms provide alternate messages than those found in mainstream media.
Mia Moody-Ramirez, Dorothy Bland & Hazel Cole
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