8 ms·

I perceive the cartoon yellow emojis to be white, an alternative interpretation never occurred to me at all. The first time a black coworker gave a black thumb

I perceive the cartoon yellow emojis to be white, an alternative interpretation never occurred to me at all. The first time a black coworker gave a black thumbs-up reaction on slack, I noticed I didn't want to +1 it. I didn't identify with it, it didn't feel like it was coming from me. This was a strong reaction and totally unexpected, and it was a "holy shit" moment as well, because I suddenly imagined how excluded I would have felt if that had been the only option for years.

nostromo 5y ago
Emojis weren't even created by white people, and were a cartoon yellow in some of the first Japanese sets. Here's SoftBank's 2006 emoji set (well before any western companies got involved): https://emojipedia.org/softbank/2006/ https://emojipedia.org/softbank/2006/
- furyofantares 5y ago
  I may have misunderstood you, but those SoftBank emojis at least don't look cartoon yellow at all.
throway98752343 5y ago
I've found myself using the gender neutral reactions instead of the gendered versions despite not identifying with them as much just so my colleagues don't have to choose between incrementing an emoji that doesn't represent them and highlighting that they're different by adding their own gendered reaction. But it'd be nice to not have to think about it the first place.
hervature 5y ago
There’s a lot wrapped into this comment. Did you perceive yellow to be white because it is the default and you are white? I say that because of your realization you had. I assume that some people felt excluded because of their preconceived notion that the Simpsons are white (with good reason) but also that others (perhaps younger people who may not have seen the show) would follow the same default->my skin color connection.
puszczyk 5y ago
> The first time a black coworker gave a black thumbs-up reaction on slack, I noticed I didn't want to +1 it. I didn't identify with it, it didn't feel like it was coming from me. Why wouldn’t you identify with a +1 from a black (or other race/ethnicity) colleague? The question is a bit aggressive, but if possible don’t consider it like that — I live in an (unfortunately rather conservative) part of the EU and TBH I’m often surprised with the race/diversity activism. I usually support them, if nothing else then because I’m clearly ignorant and not affected by the challenges some of my coworkers have to put on with.
- avianlyric 5y ago
  Don’t think GP is having an issue with a +1 from a black coworker, rather that the coworker had reacted in slack using a black thumbs up. So GP didn’t want to click the black thumbs up to react using the same emoji, because GP didn’t think that a black thumbs up represented him, and would rather react with a yellow or white thumbs up. GP is then just saying that non-white coworkers probably feel the same about the yellow thumbs up emoji. Ultimately using emoji is about expressing oneself, and skin colour is a big part of peoples identity (for better or worse). So it makes sense that they want their expressions using emoji to represent their identity.
deleted 5y ago
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nostromo 5y ago

Emojis weren't even created by white people, and were a cartoon yellow in some of the first Japanese sets. Here's SoftBank's 2006 emoji set (well before any western companies got involved): https://emojipedia.org/softbank/2006/ https://emojipedia.org/softbank/2006/

furyofantares 5y ago
I may have misunderstood you, but those SoftBank emojis at least don't look cartoon yellow at all.

throway98752343 5y ago

I've found myself using the gender neutral reactions instead of the gendered versions despite not identifying with them as much just so my colleagues don't have to choose between incrementing an emoji that doesn't represent them and highlighting that they're different by adding their own gendered reaction. But it'd be nice to not have to think about it the first place.

hervature 5y ago

There’s a lot wrapped into this comment. Did you perceive yellow to be white because it is the default and you are white? I say that because of your realization you had. I assume that some people felt excluded because of their preconceived notion that the Simpsons are white (with good reason) but also that others (perhaps younger people who may not have seen the show) would follow the same default->my skin color connection.

puszczyk 5y ago

> The first time a black coworker gave a black thumbs-up reaction on slack, I noticed I didn't want to +1 it. I didn't identify with it, it didn't feel like it was coming from me. Why wouldn’t you identify with a +1 from a black (or other race/ethnicity) colleague? The question is a bit aggressive, but if possible don’t consider it like that — I live in an (unfortunately rather conservative) part of the EU and TBH I’m often surprised with the race/diversity activism. I usually support them, if nothing else then because I’m clearly ignorant and not affected by the challenges some of my coworkers have to put on with.

avianlyric 5y ago
Don’t think GP is having an issue with a +1 from a black coworker, rather that the coworker had reacted in slack using a black thumbs up. So GP didn’t want to click the black thumbs up to react using the same emoji, because GP didn’t think that a black thumbs up represented him, and would rather react with a yellow or white thumbs up. GP is then just saying that non-white coworkers probably feel the same about the yellow thumbs up emoji. Ultimately using emoji is about expressing oneself, and skin colour is a big part of peoples identity (for better or worse). So it makes sense that they want their expressions using emoji to represent their identity.

deleted 5y ago

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