The White Pu**y Sign, Racism, and Fake Information

0
1165

With racial tensions flaring in the US following the death of unarmed George Floyd at the hands of a police officer, protests for Black Lives Matter sprung up all over the globe. It spread to Malta too, with the death of Lassana Cisse in April 2019 rising once again to the fore. 

Protests were held in Valletta, and tensions flared between those protesting for justice, and an impromptu group of Maltese nationalists protesting against immigrants, chanting ‘All Lives Matter’ in response. 

Following the protests, a photo was uploaded to the notoriously right-wing Facebook page ‘Defend Malta’, whereby a protester was spotted apparently sporting a sign with the words “If I go, I will miss white pu**y”. While this served as welcome fuel to a racist fire, many flooded the comments to protest the authenticity of the alleged sign, pointing out that the photo was in fact, edited.


Members of the group condemned the sign and the person holding it, along with spewing vile racism that isn’t fit for reproduction on this website. Others were certain the photo was fake and edited, pointing out blurred edges in the image and some even saying that they were present next to the individual concerned and the sign did not say that.

It turns out that according to Lovin Malta, the photo is completely undoctored, and was taken by one of their very own employees. Those pushing an agenda will readily lie and make up stories and excuses to prove their point, and not being able to confirm or deny allegations is truly disconcerting.

This brings into question our whole cyber-reality, an oxymoron which seems fitting considering the dubious content we are exposed to on a daily basis. In these scenarios, those less technically inclined are faced with an uncomfortable quandary. Should one believe the photo is original or edited? How can one tell? While those experienced with Photoshop and other editing software can magnify and inspect the image to reach their own independent conclusion, many of us are left stranded in a perplexing limbo.

For those less objective viewers, the image becomes tainted with prejudice, resulting in a perception of what they want the truth to be, rather than what it truly is. In the online sphere, the divergence between reality and fantasy becomes almost non-existent, and the very thin line which existed becomes a barely tangible, dotted line, whereby clear distinctions are few and far between. 


In a post-information age, the images that so readily flash across our TV screens, phones and computers are all tinged with agendas, and truly impartial and objective information is not easily ascertainable. This would not be a problem if they were easily discernible, but the malice comes from just how easily they can fly under our radars and influence us, if not consciously then subconsciously.

Maybe we should take it with a pinch of salt, an innocuous dash of edgy comedy in a mixing bowl of hatred and repressed anger. While comedy is subjective, and some may hold that it was a joke in bad taste, it was at the end of the day, simply a joke.


SHARE