to tell son NOT to post memes of black people

YABU I’ve seen a dog meme of bombastic side eye🤷🏼‍♀️but what else is being said/posted…

and 11 is too young for WhatsApp.

As a black woman, I will say this- it’s not racist. It’s a meme- it’s a funny photo with a funny caption, it is meant to be amusing- and the amusement doesn’t come from the image of the person in the memes colour or race.
Please stop making issues out of things when there is no need - it causes more harm than good.

There is NO comparison between the 2 things - none

100% this.

Racism is something to tackle but calling everything racist is just stupid.

It sounds like you are on it. I would say something like "I know that you are not racist and you are not posting it to cause offence, but trust me on this one." Followed by whatever deep level or more surface explanation you feel is right for now.

Is the fact they are black relevant to the joke in the meme. Or is it just incidental. Like the meme of the older white guy saying "noice". The fact he is older, white and a man isn't the joke. Neither is the fact that he is a children's author. Its just the way he says it.
If it was a joke about him being old, white, or a children's author then that still wouldn't be the same as a meme making fun of the fact someone was black. For lots of reasons. But it isn't. And a side eye meme where the person giving the side eye happens to be black wouldn't be the same either.

I think you just can't be sure what's offensive or not, and to who, so perhaps best to air on the side of caution?

I completely disagree. This is teaching her son that what he did was wrong and it wasn't. Nothing racist about what he did.

I don't understand how this meme is racist? Love how OP has glossed over anyone asking for an explanation of why it is racist... if it is so bad to use this meme then please explain why

Because they are white and it's a black person in the meme.

Okay I've just found this, where the originator of the original BSE tiktok video explains how it came about and what it means, to her.

https://www.tiktok.com/@wipo/video/7290860218831965473?lang=en

Where the 'criminal offensive side eye' thing got added in is anyone's guess and I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean? As a phrase, it doesn't make any sense. It sounds like something a teenager would make up. But it's important to remember that if you see loads of tiktok videos or memes featuring black kids and the phrase 'criminal offensive side eye' then whatever they intended it to mean, one thing is clear, they made that video and they uploaded it with that caption themselves. White people didn't do that to mock black people. The black kids themselves did it. Obviously only a very brave or stupid white person would share that meme though. If there is some sort of 'in' joke among black kids there, then it's not a joke we white people should be helping to perpetuate.

Anyway, as for the 'bombastic side eye' memes featuring black people, quite how white people sharing that very inoccuous stuff with no negative connotations at all can be construed as racist, I am not quite sure. But according to some on this thread, white people do not have the right to be amused by black people in any context at all, even when it's the intention of the black person in question to be amusing. And therein lies our problem.

Because lots of black people have started doing 'a thing' on social media as part of a running joke, it will become known as a black popular culture thing. Therefore it is a thing that white people would be sensible to avoid trying to be part of, or drawing attention to in any way. It can only go wrong for us. No referencing it, no sharing it, no copying it, and definitely no laughing at it, in case our amusement is taken as racism. Even though the memes have no specific racial connotations or significance and are just as relatable for white people.

This is where we are now. We should look away and pretend we didn't see the meme or the video made by the black person, because just in case there is a black-centric joke or a cultural reference in there somewhere, then it's not a joke or a cultural reference to be enjoyed by the likes of us. Stay in your lane, Whitey.

Ah, love! Is that your understanding of racism? Do you actually understand that you are being RACIST by drawing that distinction?

There really is a need for proper education about this.

Im not black and i would be very cautious of posting a meme of a black person unless it was very clearly positive about the person in the meme.

Would you really look a meme and think oh I mustn’t post that because it’s a black person looking funny/silly/whatever? It’s like the pp said above - OP’s DS sees a person but OP sees a black person. You are looking at the meme and seeing a black person whereas I would look and see a person who is pulling the best expression (who might just happen to be black). You are going out of your way trying not to be racist but in that process you are being racist, you are othering them. It’s weird.

Post the best meme for the job, simples.

@Danglers oh my goodness, Ali G 🤣

Actually, I'm pretty sure they aren't white
But OP hasn't clarified

Oh and "criminally offensive" isn't calling them a criminal
It's like saying "this should be illegal"

This is the original and the best bombastic side eye meme. Side eye is universal. It is not constrained by race, or even by species.

Tbh, if the guy in question actually posted the image himself, then it's your reaction that was racist. You are actually advocating for a form of shunning of black people if you think that others shouldn't reshare their own funny posts that they put out there to be shared. You are completely othering this man because of his skin colour. It's kind of a case where your intention has gone to far to one extreme, it's gone all the way around and become the opposite.

My kid wouldn't be talking to anyone who used the N word as a racist slur.

My kid is black and I'd lose my shit.

@Josette77 Would it not be better to re-educate the other child though? They are still only 11 years old and are still learning.