Over the past few days, the blue ticks of the world have pledged solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement on social media. Which is great, but a number of these celebrities and labels have done very little in the past to promote and genuinely support diverse voices. So Twitter did what it does best and called them out.
Oxford University this week tweeted: “We’re committed to supporting our community opposing racism in all its forms, including upholding anti-racist values.”
Laila, @lailatweetzx, shared a link to an article about grime artist Stormzy. Two years ago, Stormzy accused the university of rejecting his offer to fund two scholarships for black British students. Cambridge University partnered with Stormzy instead.
This you? https://t.co/4MtKsrF6Xz pic.twitter.com/ZB2zf5Yo12
— laila (@lailatweetzx) June 2, 2020
Another Twitter user, @fopeolaleyem, pointed to a 2016 article about the university’s decision to keep a statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes, who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony in southern Africa in the late 1890s.
Not to mention, this.
This you? https://t.co/WNqjP6IftQ pic.twitter.com/1Q3ZdmGFXE
— 🇬🇭HUNCHO🥶 (@hunch17th) June 2, 2020
Ivanka Trump tweeted in honour of Pride Month despite her father’s devastating record on LGBTQ+ issues. Last year, Trump’s administration proposed a new rule that would allow foster care and adoption agencies to deny their services to LGBTQ+ families on the grounds of faith.
This you? https://t.co/cMBdOkW4WB pic.twitter.com/fFB1YtXbN3
— will (@willsandercock) June 5, 2020
Safe to say, Ivanka got skewered in her replies.
Next up: the Hallmark Channel. American TV writer and podcaster Ira Madison III criticised the media company after it tweeted a statement in support of “[their] Black employees, customers, and communities”.
“We stand with you in the fight against racism and injustice.
“And we believe we must all care enough to do better.”
Last year, only four of the network’s 24 original holiday films had black leads.
https://twitter.com/ira/status/1268769154980446208
this you? https://t.co/me4EZLLO26 pic.twitter.com/ykAskiUztk
— ayanna 🫶🏽 (@wowiwrite) June 1, 2020
For context, reality TV star Stephanie Pratt recently tweeted and then deleted: “Shoot the looters — using this tragedy as their excuse to rob and burn all the our towns down.” She was arrested in 2006 for shoplifting.
This next one, well – it just makes me laugh.
https://twitter.com/bradfordevans/status/1268773392729047041
You know what else makes me laugh on a Friday night when the world feels like it’s about to cave in on itself? K-pop stans hijacking #whitelivesmatter.
https://twitter.com/JulianIgot/status/1268161748114092033
https://twitter.com/seokjinmylabsss/status/1268190804746489858
Be well, my friends.
