After “Blaccent” Criticism, Awkwafina Leaves Twitter
Gaining popularity due to Hollywood hits, Crazy Rich Asians and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Asian American actress Awkwafina is criticized for her use of “Blaccent” or African-American accent in her performances. As controversy over cultural appropriation grew and backlash that her behavior is disrespectful, the 33-year-old actress released a lengthy statement and announced her departure from Twitter.
With a background as a rapper, Awkwafina has vocalized her appreciation for the African American music culture in the past. In her social media departure post, she wrote, “As a non-black person of color, I stand by the fact that I will listen and work tirelessly to understand the history and context of AAVE (African-American Vernacular English), what is deemed appropriate or backwards toward the progress of any and every marginalized group.”
Responding to claims that her “Blaccent” is considered a form of cultural appropriation and mockery, she wrote, “To mock, belittle, or to be unkind in any way possible at the expense of others is simply not my nature. It never has and it never was.”
In her post, Awkwafina also addressed her family’s immigrant background and her love for movies, television shows, friends and hip-hop music. As an Asian American, Awkwafina said she is still trying to figure out her life’s journey and meaning, but vows to continuously help the communities around her.
As public criticism on Twitter has been especially heated, Awkwafina announced that she will take a break from the social media platform for the next couple of years as advised by her psychotherapist.
Thanking her friends and fans, Awkwafina made a final apology for not doing enough. Although some supporters were saddened to see the actress leave Twitter, other netizens continued to respond with angry comments, pointing out that she did not actually apologize for her “Blaccent” use at all.
Awkwafina’s Full Statement on Twitter:
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
What a shame, I like Awkwafina, she worked hard to get to where she is now. People need to stop being so sensitive. Their blaccent criticism is low key accusatory and racist, it could be just what she sounds like.
Not really a fan of hers, haven’t really seen much of her work so I can’t really judge her as an actress but her black accent does annoy me. She really is using her black accent as a way of acting “hip”/cool, netizens have noted that she never used to speak like that. That is literally the definition of cultural appropriation. Her accent may have changed with time, who really knows :/
Poor Awkwafina. she gets blasted by some Asians for being ‘ugly’ and cancelled for speaking with a blaccent. Chinese have never complained about a black rapper appropriating the Wu Tang Clan name.
Why would the Chinese complain about “Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game”?
Also, it’s just a name so that would not be cultural appropriation. Appropriation would be if the rapper pretend to be Chinese, had Chinese aesthetic as a persona, or constantly made references to Chinese culture of which he did not have any personal relation to.
Admittedly their logo is questionable.
whoever that raised the issue about her accent and culture appropriation is working hard to widen the racial divide. what a shame that it actually gained traction and people jumped on that bandwagon.
There are three major lingo groups you can assimilate to in the U.S. – you’re either using bland English, Ebonics (accent of Black ppl) or Hispanics (PR accent.)
Ebonics is primarily spoken in the hood, popculture, hip hop/rap and therefore anyone who grew up in that kind of environment, is likely to adopt that accent to assimilate. Nothing special about that. Ppl getting outraged towards this is because they think Awkwafina is making a profit off of black ppl’s profile, which, even without their accent, I’m sure Awkwafina can still make money. It’s kind of like paying homage to them – even if it’s not represented so publicly. For example, anyone using chopsticks who is not Asian, I doubt anyone would be upset about it – instead they will be lavished with praises and compliments. It’s obvious who owns the chopstick concept and no further arguments or discussions need to be had. There are endless products in the past that have benefited from Asian culture, but nobody made a fuss. Example: Bento boxes which now have a zillion different variations created by non-Asians.
I suppose we would probably feel offended if people used a chinese accent who wasnt chinese?
@Megamiaow sarcasm or no?
No?
@Megamiaow so if a black person grew up in a predominantly Chinese community, listens to Chinese hiphop and has Chinese influence, but speak with a Chinese accent because of their influences, you’re saying this is offensive, even though there was no intent to insult Chinese ppl?
I cant reply to your comment below, but yes it would still be offensive to a chinese person seeing it who was unaware of all the back ground and context.
Depends on why thy are using it, and what their background is. A Chinese person who grew up learning English (with zccent) will naturally speak like that so it’s fine. Actors and educators who using the accent are also fine. People who use the accent because it is funny or makes them popular are offensive.
I dont mean someone who has a natural accent as that is obviously not what has happened here in this situation. Akwafina is not black and shes using a black accent. Its like having a white actor talk like Jackie Chan for no reason. To most chinese hearing that will be offensive.
Jackie Chan’s accent is not common and not how most Asians speak, whereas the Black accent is very universal in the U.S. and many Black, White, Hispanic, whatever color you are, can adopt this accent.
I remembered when Madonna got flak for adopting a British accent because she moved to London for a while. Ppl will be surprised about the influences in our environment that change our behavior. I know I adopted the black accent for a while because I was “in the hood” and had to adapt to my peers and culture. When I moved to a different school, I dropped it because my peers didn’t use the same vernacular. If I continued to have a lot of Black friends, maybe I would still talk with a blaccent. So the idea of criticizing Awkwafina for something she grew up with, just sounds unreasonable to me
@Coralie I disagree with Jackie Chans accent being uncommon. That is what nearly all chinese people sound like who’s first language is not English. My three non natuve english speaking chinese friends have the same accent.
What I might as well come out and say is, yes I agree Akwafina shouldnt have used that accent so casually, and if it did make the black community uncomfortable then they have reason to.
So many times whenever a grievance is brought up in the chinese community it is brushed iff, much like it is here with comments like “what are they freaking out about” or “its no big deal”. In England it is common for a chinese takeaway to be called a “chinky”. In a seperate incident in my life whilst I was working at my aunties takeaway, she asked if a customer really wanted that 10 portions of fried rice. He answered back, yeah ten portions of FLY LIE. Safe to say, that use of accents was offensive.
We should see from the other side of the black community how hurtful this behaviour can be.
@Megamiaow I think if someone said “fly lie” it is with the intention to mock and insult, not because they grew up with it. Ppl speak with blaccent because it’s hip culture to do that or because they’ve had a lot of Black influence. It’s not meant to be mockery, but someone who says “fly lie” without the environment or the heritage, is not trying to be hip, they’re trying to make fun of the accent.
@Coralie I know the intention of Fly lie example was to insult, I thought I demonstrated as much. That was an extreme example of when a non native person uses accents badly. But it does not mean that it is ok to use an accent just because you dont intend to insult, or because you want to be “hip”.
The article here explains it much better than me https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/08/entertainment/blaccent-explainer-cec/index.html
My take is, as with when chinese raise issues of stereotyping and racism and is passed off as overreacting, its also happening here. Can you really say Akwafina used blaccent purely out of appreciation of their culture and not just to promote her works? Im not convinced.
Honestly this just sounds like a case of sour grapes. Like y’know how big lips wasn’t acceptable before? And then mainstream white women started pursuing/appearing with bigger lips and it became popular? Or when big butts weren’t a thing and now they are because the Kardashians popularized it? And these attributes which were prev associated with the Black community and shunned, is now embraced by the mass media, along with buntu knots and tanner skin? I can say the same for Chinese food, chopsticks, sushi, kimchi, being Asian or Black in general, etc. It wasn’t until some mainstream folks (not of that ethnicity) who made it a hit, did it stop becoming a shameful feature. Should it be that way? No, if life was fair, everything should be embraced and shared by every culture. But it’s not a color thing; it’s a cultural thing. When you have an ascending culture, eg. Korean culture, and it hits mainstream media, then it becomes a new normal. It’s not something to complain about because it’s not “stolen.” It becomes adapted. Can you steal American culture? If anything, if someone has popularized a prev negative trait and make it positive, everyone benefits regardless of their race. Awkwafina speaks with a Black accent but she’s also normalizing it for how other Black people (who talk like her) speaks.
Also, talking about appropriation, Starbucks has added bobas to their beverages. Wonder why Asians aren’t up in arms over it….
@Megamiaow speaking of which, why aren’t Asians up in arms about Starbucks’ boba additions? We’re not making any money out of it.
I have to say, such criticism is definitely more heatedly debated in US then in Europe/UK…. I am a Chinese who speaks with a English accent… no one had a problem here… but when I go back to Asian for holidays…some Asians gets annoyed with my accent. I always found their reacting amusing… and I just turn on my BBC tone a notch higher just to annoyed them further.
I think she was grew up in Long Island, which is predominantly white. I’m not sure how she would pick up that accent without purposely mimicking it. I understand why people are frustrated because she uses it for comedic purposes, which in turn makes people feel like she’s creating this caricature of black people. I don’t think her intent is to ridicule, but it perpetuates this false stereotype that that’s how the black majority talk. However, I don’t think the death threats or telling her to end her life is anywhere near necessary. The cyberbullying on social media is ridiculous. For what it’s worth, she is voluntarily leaving just twitter, not any other social media platform and not the entertainment industry. Awkwafina seems like the type that can take the heat.
It was considered hip and cool for young ABCs to talk like blacks around the 70s-80s when black culture and film was gaining popularity.