Hollywood activist Ashley Judd wants media companies to issue “standard issue” black emojis as a way of combating “white privilege.”
A Facebook post on Tuesday promoting Jan. 21’s “Women’s March on Washington” turned into a lecture on race for Mrs. Judd’s nearly 300,000 followers. The long-time Democratic Party supporter and activist allotted her “evening interaction” to the prevalence of “white/yellow-ish” icons as in indicator of “white privilege.”
“If you’re other than white, you have to scroll to search for an emoji of color that more closely resembles your experince [sic],” the actor wrote. “A little thing, perhaps. But … what if emojis, came, standard issue, in black? So WE whites had to scroll to find a color that more accurately resembled US? Multiply that times the incalculable. … And that gives me a glimpse of what it may be like to be a person of [color] in a white-centric world. Everything set to the standard of whiteness, everything else a variation thereof.”
The former Golden Globe nominee then shifted to her Twitter account to inform another 280,000 followers that yellow emojis are allegedly “code for white.”
While many of Mrs. Judd’s Facebook fans agreed with her premise, others questioned why a well-known activist would elevate the color of cartoons to a level of such importance.
“How blessed are we to live in such a safe nation that one can pout and pitch a fit about the color of emojis on her tech devices?” asked Donna Overcash on Wednesday. “Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, people are worried about finding clean drinking water or being beheaded for their religious beliefs.”
“My truest hope for you is that many years from now, while on your deathbed, you look back over your life and realize exactly how inconsequential it was. I hope that you look back to this and think, “That’s where I made my stand. Emojis,” added Jim Larkin.
& why are emojis yellow (which is just code for white)? Why don’t they come in black & make me have to change them?
— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) January 10, 2017
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.