TikTok Minstrel Shows Are Mocking Black Women Using Digital Blackface

TikTok Minstrel Shows Are Mocking Black Women Using Digital Blackface

Author: iHeartPodcasts June 25, 2025 Duration: 58:03

Have you seen this wave of racist over the top AI generated videos featuring Black women on TikTok? 

Since the release of Google’s VEO3 AI video generation platform in May, which allows users to create realistic videos from text prompts, there has been a wave of viral AI generated videos on TikTok depicting Black women using racist stereotypes and tropes. 

Although the first videos were made with good intentions, their popularity has sparked copycat creators to recreate more and more extreme versions. Just like 19th-century minstrel shows reinforced a political and social climate hostile to Black people, today’s AI-driven content is being used by some to affirm a similarly hostile climate toward Black women, and prop up a political and economic system that benefits others at their expense. 

Bridget studied minstrel shows in grad school, and has a lot to say about these videos that are essentially white supremacist propaganda masquerading as entertainment. 

The original, not-so-bad, actually-clever video from account AI Clapback King:

https://www.tiktok.com/@aiformobile/video/7512729952618286378 

 

Conference talk about Black representation in AI, posted by AI Clapback King:

https://www.tiktok.com/@aiformobile/video/7517712586712812814?_t=ZP-8xQFrwYvZqY&_r=1 

 

EXAMPLE - Increasingly violent, decreasingly funny iteration of the original Karen video: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubbabubbablast400/video/7516178273047498015?_r=1&_t=ZP-8xQIaauZ0LX

 

EXAMPLE  - Big Foot (2 million views): https://www.tiktok.com/@femalebigfoot/video/7514190146695154987?_r=1&_t=ZP-8xQUzlvCtqQ 

 

EXAMPLE - Slave Tok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@cottonvlogsss/video/7514846240031444254?_r=1&_t=ZP-8xQV5CnNAQI 

 

If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there or email us at hello@tangoti.com! 

 

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media! Many vids each week.

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You might have heard the old, tired joke that gives There Are No Girls on the Internet its name, but host Bridget Todd isn't laughing. Instead, she's building a vital archive, one conversation at a time. This iHeartPodcasts production digs into the real, human stories of how marginalized voices-far from being newcomers-have actually been the essential architects of our digital world from day one. Each episode moves beyond the headlines to chronicle the personal experiences, subcultures, and quiet revolutions that happen online, giving texture to the platforms and trends we often take for granted. You'll hear from the people whose creativity, labor, and community have fundamentally shaped technology, culture, and society, even when their contributions were overlooked or outright stolen. This isn't just a history lesson; it's an active reclamation. The podcast serves as an ongoing monument to the countless identities that make the internet a dynamic, messy, and profoundly human space. Tune in for narratives that are insightful, often surprising, and absolutely necessary for understanding where we've been and where we're headed next in our connected lives.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

There Are No Girls on the Internet
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