Race Change To Another Rcta — Three TikTok introduction screenshots from users identifying as RCTA, describing Korean identities and use of subliminals.

Race Change To Another Rcta

2022catchphrasedeclining

Published August 11, 2026

RCTA, short for Race Change to Another, is a TikTok slang term for users who claim to be transitioning from the race they were born into to a different one, most often Korean or Japanese. It spread across TikTok in late 2022 and drew heavy backlash, with critics calling it racist and many participants later admitting the videos were bait.

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Overview

Race Change to Another, almost always shortened to RCTA and occasionally mistyped as RTCA, is a TikTok slang term for people who say they were born as one race but now identify as a different one1. The overwhelming majority of RCTA posts document users claiming to become Korean or Japanese, often paired with talk of 'subliminal' audio, K-pop fandom, or language study3.

The format is loose and usually text-on-video: a user tags a clip with #rcta, states which race they are transitioning to, and lists the practices they credit for the shift2. A parallel term, ECTA (Ethnicity Change to Another), spread alongside it for people claiming an ethnicity swap within a race, such as Chinese to Japanese3. Distractify described the concept as sharing the same premise as being transracial, with RCTA users insisting they are more culturally 'educated' about their target group1.

Origin & Background

Platform
TikTok (viral spread)
Date
2022

The exact coining of RCTA is not documented, but the earliest videos using the tag started appearing on TikTok in September 20223. On September 11th, 2022, TikTok user @shinobusorali posted clips tagged #rcta claiming to notice 'subliminal results' after becoming 'RCTA Japanese'2. A week later, on September 18th, @sakuraluvsyouu posted a video of a dancing Japanese woman explaining that she used to identify as American, was now identifying as Japanese, going by Tsuki or Sakura, and studying the language3.

Urban Dictionary added an entry for the term as early as September 23rd, 2022, cementing it as a recognized piece of TikTok vocabulary3.

How It Spread

RCTA content ramped up sharply on TikTok between September and December 2022, and the pushback started almost immediately3. On September 15th, 2022, TikToker @rctah8 posted a video calling the trend racist and invalid, pulling more than 100,000 views within four months3. On October 3rd, @hellmarifromspace posted a fake 'RCTA makeup tutorial' that ended with clown makeup smeared across her face, and it passed 1.6 million views in three months3.

On October 19th, 2022, Distractify ran a mainstream explainer of the term, quoting removed TikTok user @kyamewa's description of RCTA as sharing the same idea as being transracial and criticizing the subculture as often K-pop driven1. The piece compared RCTA to public figures like Oli London, who has said he underwent dozens of procedures to look Korean, and former NAACP chapter head Rachel Dolezal1. As backlash grew, several accounts started admitting their RCTA posts were bait, including TikToker @soupy.dumpling3.

Ecta piggybacked on the same wave in December 2022, when @iwayuzu posted videos announcing an ECTA transition from Chinese to Japanese, giving the ethnicity variant its own visible poster3.

How to Use This Meme

RCTA posts typically follow one of two paths. Sincere-style videos usually stitch a photo or clip of the target race with text stating the transition, a list of practices the poster credits (subliminals, language study, K-pop or J-pop consumption), and the #rcta tag. Bait and reaction posts flip the format: creators mimic the earnest RCTA voice, then reveal the video as a troll, or, as with the clown-makeup tutorial, use the format as a vehicle for mockery.

Frequently Asked Questions