Successful Black Man

2010image macroclassic

Published September 29, 2026

Successful Black Man is an advice animal image macro from 2010 that flips racial stereotypes through a bait-and-switch caption. Started on 4chan and Meme Generator with a stock photo of a black man in a black suit, the format drew tens of thousands of submissions and an UpRoxx write-up calling it 'borderline offensive, but hilarious.'

advice animalsbait and switch memesstereotype memesrace and identity memesearly 2010s memes

Overview

The format centers a stock photo of a black man wearing a black business suit against the brown and beige color wheel used across advice animal templates3. Each image works the same way: the top caption teases a stereotype about African Americans, and the bottom caption swings into something bland, professional, or upstanding, killing the joke's own setup3. The structural gag is the same one used in the Ordinary Muslim Man image macro, which does the trick with religious stereotypes instead of racial ones3.

Meme Generator became the workhorse for the series, with users cranking out captions by the tens of thousands on the dedicated page4. UpRoxx summed the whole thing up as 'borderline offensive, but hilarious' in its August 2011 write-up1.

Origin & Background

Platform
4chan / Meme Generator (viral spread)
Creator
Unknown
Date
2010

The photo behind the template came from a ShutterStock listing titled 'Handsome African American business man dressed in a black suit'10. According to an anonymous email the creator sent to Know Your Meme, the idea came out of reverse-discrimination discussions at their workplace3. The template and its earliest captions first showed up in scattered 4chan /b/ threads, and a Meme Generator page dedicated to the format went live in 20104.

How It Spread

FunnyJunk user SamuelOak posted a compilation of standout captions on February 25, 2010, pulling over 39,000 views and 448 upvotes in the years that followed2. A Tumblr blog dedicated to the format launched on September 14, 2010 and stayed active through November 20118. Ebaumsworld ran a slideshow titled 'Successful Negro' on November 5, 20115, and BodyBuildingForums member aaandrew opened a favorite-examples thread on December 286.

UpRoxx covered the meme on August 31, 20111, and an anonymous 4chan /b/ thread from October 6, 2011 pulled over 115 replies before archiving7. By January 2013, Meme Generator had over 26,000 submissions on its Successful Black Man page4 and Quickmeme had accumulated more than 40,0009. YouTuber TheWordsmithjr began acting captions out on video on January 15, 201211.

How to Use This Meme

Pick a stereotype about African Americans that a reader will see coming from the top line, then use the bottom line to reveal a wholesome, professional, or upstanding punchline that reframes the setup as innocuous. Common conventions include job titles, family life, hobbies, or clean grammar as the bottom-line twist.

Frequently Asked Questions