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Writer: Da'Zhane Johnson
Five years ago, a battle of hashtags occurred on the infamous social media platform - Twitter. The trending topic began with #EndFathersDay. At first glance, this trend seemed to be started by black feminists who wanted to cancel the “disgusting misogynist holiday.” News outlets across the nation fed into the narrative of black women being unexplainably enraged once again. However, a black feminist by the name of Shafiquah Hudson realized that #EndFathersDay was a hoax by men’s rights groups. In order to fight the trolls, Hudson employed the same weaponry and initiated #YourSlipIsShowing, beginning the battle that would last for years to come.
At the time, #YourSlipIsShowing was seen as a humorous method to expose a group of white people, who wanted to divide the black community. It can even be argued that their mission was to create a division between black women specifically. However, the hashtag has not only been used to conquer racist and misogynist, but breakdown the subtle signs that both types of people may possess. In an interview with Slate writer Rachelle Hampton, Hudson explains the noticeable signs she noticed before creating #YourSlipIsShowing.
“No one she knew could verify that the women behind these accounts actually existed. No one had met them in person or encountered them on earlier blogging platforms like LiveJournal or Tumblr or BlackPlanet. Many of the accounts didn’t follow the feminists they were parroting or even the tastemakers of Black Twitter, like Desus and Mero,” Hampton writes. Furthermore, “the clearest red flag was the accounts’ inability to hide their contempt for the very people they were attempting to imitate.”
In other words, these accounts are often created by individuals who could not and cannot hide their hatred. No matter how many dat’s instead of that, or fo’s instead of for, they put in a tweet to exhibit African American Vernacular English. The same goes for any placement of wording “like intersectional and patriarchy.” Hudson makes it apparent that other than taking on the image of a black woman - or any other person for that matter – through photos, trolls will use language to their advantage.
Recently, another sign was observed. Often these impersonators will leave out significant information in order to promote their own narratives. These types of fallacious arguments can shine through on a smaller scale with trolls. On the other hand, fallacious arguments can exhibit through the media. George Bellshaw, a tennis journalist, received backlash after promoting an article that many felt told a one-sided story that attacked Serena Williams. In efforts “to clarify,” Bellshaw decided to explain the angle that was supposed to be illustrated in the article. Like clockwork, tennis fans used #YourSlipIsShowing to highlight their feelings about the article.
Overall, the trolling in small and large spectrums have caused close-minded conversations and sometimes even harassment. Our nation’s current awareness of racism, misogyny, and other social issues is what keeps bring #YourSlipIsShowing back to the spotlight. We have found the significance in creating conversations about these social issues, while still navigating and standing on polar opposite beliefs. The hashtag created by Hudson is another simple humoristic way to put an end to these divisions in conversations and communities of the imitated. Moreover, the signs above help the continuation of awareness. Next time you have a gut feeling of a hate-filled troll spreading lies, be sure to respond with #YourSlipIsShowing and let Twitter do its thing.
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