# Blackfishing Blackfishing describes white social media users, mostly Instagram influencers, who tan, contour and style themselves to look Black or mixed-race. The term went viral in November 2018 after Toronto writer Wanna Thompson's Twitter thread catalogued "white girls cosplaying as black women on Instagram," and Swedish influencer Emma Hallberg became the face of the controversy. By late November 2018, BBC Newsbeat, Slate and ABC's Good Morning America were covering blackfishing as a mainstream appropriation debate. ## Origin Blackfishing as a label grew out of Toronto writer Wanna Thompson's Twitter thread in early November 2018, which asked followers to submit "the white girls cosplaying as black women on Instagram"[1]. Slate noted that the original term in that thread was actually "niggerfishing," a direct play on catfishing that mainstream outlets softened to "blackfishing" when picking the story up[1]. Before the thread, a YouTuber posting as Everybody Hates Angel had already dissected the trend of white women styling themselves to look like women of color in a video that gathered over 192,000 views[6]. The viral catalyst arrived on November 6, 2018, when Twitter user @yeahboutella posted screenshots of Instagram posts and direct messages tied to Emma Hallberg, a white Swedish model whose photos had drawn accusations of blackfishing[4]. Later that same day, @fratis_first tweeted a photo of Hallberg's response, in which she wrote, "I'm white and I've never claimed to be anything else," attributing her darker skin to a deep natural tan after a summer in the sun[5]. - **Platform:** Twitter / Instagram (viral spread) - **Creator:** Wanna Thompson (coined the viral callout thread; term itself crowd-sourced) - **Date:** 2018 ## Overview Accused blackfishers typically rely on heavy spray tans, bronzer contouring, overlined glossy lips, curly or braided hair styled through wet-and-wavy wigs, box braids or Bantu knots, plus streetwear and hip-hop aesthetics in their shoots[1]. The signature evidence in viral callouts is a side-by-side pairing: an earlier photo showing a pale, light-haired teenager next to a recent post where the same person looks ambiguously Black, Latina or North African[1]. Writers covering the pattern pointed to 3c curls, dreadlocks and hood fashions that followers read as a racial performance, not a tan[1]. Unlike the Rachel Dolezal case, people called out for blackfishing rarely identify themselves as another race. Their defense tends to be that their skin darkens through sun exposure or spray tanning and that their hair and features are natural[3]. Critics counter that the practice lets white women capitalize on Black aesthetics for brand deals and follower growth without facing racism, a point BBC Newsbeat's interviewees pushed against[2]. Lauren Jackson, a University of Chicago PhD student writing on race and cultural appropriation, told ABC that when a large group tells someone their look takes advantage of a racist legacy, they should listen[3]. ## How to Use Blackfishing works as a callout label rather than a template format. Users typically deploy it on Twitter or Instagram by posting a side-by-side of an earlier pale photo and a recent darker-skinned post of the same influencer, tagged with the accusation that the subject is capitalizing on Black beauty aesthetics for follower growth or brand deals[1]. Thompson's original crowdsourced thread established the practice of letting the paired photos speak for themselves without heavy commentary, a style later copied in subsequent callouts of other influencers[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Blackfishing? Blackfishing is a slang term for a white person, usually a social media influencer, who uses tanning and makeup to appear Black or mixed-race[1]. ### Where did Blackfishing come from? The viral callout came from Toronto writer Wanna Thompson's November 2018 Twitter thread, which asked followers to name "white girls cosplaying as black women on Instagram"[1]. ### What does Blackfishing mean? Blackfishing is a portmanteau of "Black" and "catfishing," implying that someone is deceiving others about their race through their physical presentation online[6]. ### How do you use Blackfishing? People typically apply the term by posting side-by-side photos of an influencer's earlier pale self next to a current darker-skinned post, calling it blackfishing[1]. ### Is Blackfishing still popular? Blackfishing had its viral peak in late 2018, with BBC, Slate, ABC and The Independent all covering the Emma Hallberg case within weeks of the original thread[8]. ### Who is Emma Hallberg? Emma Hallberg is a Swedish Instagram model with over 260,000 followers who became the face of the 2018 blackfishing controversy after before-and-after photos of her went viral[2]. ### What did Emma Hallberg say about the accusations? Hallberg told ABC's Good Morning America, "I've never claimed to be black or biracial or anything else than white," and said she tans deeply in the sun[3]. ### Is blackfishing the same as blackface? Some critics called it "modern day blackface" because it borrows looks from a historically oppressed group, though Slate distinguished it from the Rachel Dolezal case because blackfishers rarely claim Black identity[1]. ### Who else was accused of blackfishing? BBC Newsbeat interviewed University of Birmingham student Aga Brzostowska, who asked to be called Alicja and admitted to tanning while rejecting the blackfishing label[2]. ### Was "blackfishing" the original word? No. Slate reported that Thompson's original thread used "niggerfishing," and mainstream outlets softened it to "blackfishing" when covering the story[1]. ## References 1. [https://slate.com/culture/2018/11/blackfishing-instagram-models-emma-hallberg-appropriation.html]() 2. [https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-46427180]() 3. [https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Style/instagram-influencer-accused-called-blackfishing-denies-claims-pretended/story?id=59465635]() 4. [https://twitter.com/yeahboutella/status/1059943535309451264]() 5. [https://twitter.com/fratis_first/status/1059972832883544064/photo/1]() 6. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/blackfishing]() 7. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Blackfishing&defid=13369886]() 8. [https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/blackfishing-what-is-it-influencers-instagram-makeup-racism-black-white-social-media-a8667961.html]() 9. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu-NIlMjIVI]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/blackfishing Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library