TikTalk: Giving ‘menace’ a new meaning
The “Black Menaces,” as they call themselves, are a group of Black students at Brigham Young University who go around the university asking students questions on politically polarizing issues. Some of these divisive topics include Black Lives Matter, same-sex marriage and abortion laws.
Their goal is stated in a pinned video on their TikTok account: “to highlight the reality of Black students and other marginalized communities.”
Since “The Black Menaces” posted their first video in February — during Black History Month — they have gained 617.3K followers. Most of their videos have over 1 million views and the ones that don’t still have hundreds of thousands, a huge accomplishment in just a few short months.
The student creators all have their own reason for starting the “Black Menaces.”
“We want to reform what the word menaces means, right?” one student said. “Nobody that ever accomplished any real reform was like a hero in the eyes of society.”
Overall, the account has come to highlight the reality of Black students at a predominantly white, religious institution such as BYU — an experience rarely shared with such a large audience.
According to their mission, BYU was “founded, supported, and guided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — is to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life.”
Located in Provo, Utah, the state with the highest population of LDS members, it is undeniable many of the students would hold more conservative that are in line with the church.
Student demographics also paint a picture of what campus beliefs and ideas might look like. 81% of the student body is white while less than 1% is Black.
With all of this in mind, it is not surprising that most but not all of the responses to questions like “Do you support Black Lives Matter?” or “Do you think the Confederate flag is racist?” are disappointing.
Regardless of the responses to these questions, the most appalling videos are those where students and, more importantly, professors are unable to identify pictures of historical Black figures such as Rosa Parks.
It highlights just how much the United States school system is failing children. Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and other Civil Rights activists are people I remember learning about as young as kindergarten. However, with recent national debates over critical race theory, we are seeing that education systems within counties and states are biased towards majority beliefs.
While people are entitled to their own thoughts, opinions and beliefs, it is hard to understand the opposite side’s priorities when it means that they are bigots towards people.
The “Black Menances” give outsiders a rare, unfiltered look into the prejudice and blindness that microcosms of religion and whiteness cause certain Americans to have. While shocking to see, their experiences at BYU give a small glimpse into the beliefs that a large population across the country have.
I am sure that many of the answers the “Black Menances” receive are not easy for them to hear, but they are not quick to judge those people or start a debate. They know that their work amplifying Black voices is more important, and for that, they deserve all the success they are receiving.
Trinity Gomez is a senior writing about TikTok and popular culture. Her column, “TikTalk,” runs every other Thursday.