Bbq Becky

2018photoshop memeclassic

BBQ Becky is a 2018 nickname and photoshop meme built around a white woman who called Oakland police on a group of Black people cooking out at Lake Merritt. The clip fueled edits dropping her into famous scenes from Black American history, and the name turned into shorthand for people who dial 911 on Black people for everyday activities.

race and identity memescelebrity nickname memesphotoshop memesblack twitter memesbehavior mocking memes

Overview

BBQ Becky is a nickname and photoshop meme built around a white woman in dark sunglasses filmed calling Oakland police on a group of Black people having a cookout at a park in California1. Her frame from the clip was pulled out and pasted into pictures of major moments in Black American life, from Martin Luther King Jr's 1963 March on Washington speech to college commencements, with captions poking fun at the idea of her dialing 911 on those events2.

The photo alone did most of the work: sunglasses on, phone glued to her ear, mouth mid-sentence. Within days of the video hitting YouTube, edits under the tag #BBQBecky filled Twitter and Facebook, and the name itself turned into shorthand for any white person who calls police on Black people for ordinary activities3.

How It Spread

The nickname surfaced on May 11th, 2018, when Twitter user @currentmscook joked, 'Please tell me BBQ Becky with the Terminator sunnies was standing across the street crying into her phone'5. That same day, Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr tweeted her picture beside the Black Guy on the Phone reaction image and proposed she replace it as Black Twitter's default 'someone calling the cops' template, pulling in roughly 6,200 retweets and 27,000 likes in three days2.

The photoshop wave hit the next day when @TimBarnes451 dropped her into a picture of Chadwick Boseman giving a commencement speech, captioned 'Hi, I'd like to report a graduation,' picking up 1,200 retweets and 6,000 likes in two days3. On May 13th, @PrestonMitchum placed her at MLK's 'I Have a Dream' speech at the 1963 March on Washington, and that single edit hit 10,000 retweets and 37,000 likes within 24 hours4. A day later, the Facebook page RiseUpAndResist rounded up more edits under #BBQbecky and told followers to 'make BBQ Becky famous'6.

On May 20th, Oakland residents answered with a picnic at Lake Merritt titled 'BBQing While Black,' a play on the phrase 'walking while black,' drawing hundreds of Bay Area visitors3. The nickname also settled into slang, with dictionary entries defining it as a racist woman who calls 911 on Black people for nothing7.

How to Use This Meme

The classic BBQ Becky edit takes the cropped image of the woman in sunglasses on her phone and drops her into a photograph of a beloved Black cultural moment, then adds a caption in the voice of a 911 call, like 'I'd like to report a graduation'4. The name is also used on its own as a label for any white person filmed calling police on Black people for lawful activities7.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bbq Becky

2018photoshop memeclassic

BBQ Becky is a 2018 nickname and photoshop meme built around a white woman who called Oakland police on a group of Black people cooking out at Lake Merritt. The clip fueled edits dropping her into famous scenes from Black American history, and the name turned into shorthand for people who dial 911 on Black people for everyday activities.

race and identity memes celebrity nickname memes photoshop memes black twitter memes behavior mocking memes

Overview

BBQ Becky is a nickname and photoshop meme built around a white woman in dark sunglasses filmed calling Oakland police on a group of Black people having a cookout at a park in California1. Her frame from the clip was pulled out and pasted into pictures of major moments in Black American life, from Martin Luther King Jr's 1963 March on Washington speech to college commencements, with captions poking fun at the idea of her dialing 911 on those events2.

The photo alone did most of the work: sunglasses on, phone glued to her ear, mouth mid-sentence. Within days of the video hitting YouTube, edits under the tag #BBQBecky filled Twitter and Facebook, and the name itself turned into shorthand for any white person who calls police on Black people for ordinary activities3.

How It Spread

The nickname surfaced on May 11th, 2018, when Twitter user @currentmscook joked, 'Please tell me BBQ Becky with the Terminator sunnies was standing across the street crying into her phone'5. That same day, Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr tweeted her picture beside the Black Guy on the Phone reaction image and proposed she replace it as Black Twitter's default 'someone calling the cops' template, pulling in roughly 6,200 retweets and 27,000 likes in three days2.

The photoshop wave hit the next day when @TimBarnes451 dropped her into a picture of Chadwick Boseman giving a commencement speech, captioned 'Hi, I'd like to report a graduation,' picking up 1,200 retweets and 6,000 likes in two days3. On May 13th, @PrestonMitchum placed her at MLK's 'I Have a Dream' speech at the 1963 March on Washington, and that single edit hit 10,000 retweets and 37,000 likes within 24 hours4. A day later, the Facebook page RiseUpAndResist rounded up more edits under #BBQbecky and told followers to 'make BBQ Becky famous'6.

On May 20th, Oakland residents answered with a picnic at Lake Merritt titled 'BBQing While Black,' a play on the phrase 'walking while black,' drawing hundreds of Bay Area visitors3. The nickname also settled into slang, with dictionary entries defining it as a racist woman who calls 911 on Black people for nothing7.

How to Use This Meme

The classic BBQ Becky edit takes the cropped image of the woman in sunglasses on her phone and drops her into a photograph of a beloved Black cultural moment, then adds a caption in the voice of a 911 call, like 'I'd like to report a graduation'4. The name is also used on its own as a label for any white person filmed calling police on Black people for lawful activities7.

Frequently Asked Questions