This happened a year ago (Oct 2020). Here's the first Twitter thread I made about it. I didn’t post the screenshots until now because I wanted time to think about it.
As briefly as possible, here’s what happened-- During Blacktober, I drew a Black racebend of Rio Mason Busujima (a canon mixed-race, Japanese-American character) from Hypnosis Mic Division Rap Battle. I wanted to post the art in a Hypmic fan-group. The group moderators said they would stop any antiblack comments. One commenter cries “blackwashing”, saying that the group mods should not allow this in the group. The mods delete my art. I tell the mods that I feel unsafe knowing that they gave in to antiblackness. Mods tell me that racism is too big of a problem for them to deal with, I should have known this would happen, and that I’m free to leave the group.
Here’s why this is an issue, especially for HypMic in particular:
Rap started in Black culture, and Hypmic makes use of it, even while there are no main characters in HypMic who are black (or even have dark skin).
And yet I love HypMic. I really do. And despite its flaws, I didn’t draw Black versions of the characters in an effort to “fix” anything. I did it because I want to be able to see a little more of myself in something that I love. Making a connection between my own blackness, and a series that uses black culture. It made sense to me. I’m hurt by what happened because I honestly expected a lot better from the fans of a series about rap music. HypMic fans cannot and should not forget that rap is a genre that started in Black culture. We need this fandom to do better by its Black fans.
Trying to keep a sense of neutrality and “understanding” in the face of antiblackness is not helpful, and it’s not allyship. Suggesting that Black people leave a space where they once felt safe, while harboring antiblackness, is not allyship. Making a comparison between Black art to pornography (screenshot 10) isn’t okay. Victim-blaming (screenshot 11, “you knew this kind of artwork would attract these people”) isn’t okay.
I've said it before on twitter. Black racebending and whitewashing/lightening are NOT a 1:1 parallel. Saying that they are the same completely ignores nuances and racial power differences. They come from completely different places, and completely different intentions. Whitewashing is from a place of malice, erasure, light-skin-centric beauty standards, colorism, and racism. Black racebending comes from a place of wanting to be represented/seen, relating to characters, and loving the source material as a black fan. They’re not the same.
I know I can't really change anyone's mind. But I want to bring attention to this problem in the fandom. If you claim to be an ally and you happen to enjoy HypMic: remember that HypMic is makes use of the culture, slang, musical styles, and aesthetics of Black rap musicians, and simply ignoring Black people in the fandom is, simply put-- pretty messed up.
