Movimentos antirracismo

Nos últimos dias do processo de análise, um novo evento global emergiu: a luta contra o racismo, em virtude do assassinato de George Floyd nos Estados Unidos, vítima de um ato desumano por parte de um policial. Pode-se dizer que, junto ao covid-19, este é o tema mais abordado em todo o planeta, pela mídia tradicional como também no ciberespaço. Ambas as Granfluencers, em seus últimos posts, fizeram pronunciamentos que merecem uma análise, principalmente porque reforçam o discursos que impulsionam estas participantes ativas da cibercultura.

Em 4 de junho de 2020, Baddie Winkle posta um coração negro em sua legenda e faz o seguinte pronunciamento:

As I sit at home and continue to watch these series of events unfold into something like I've never seen before, I feel the need to share my perspective. Growing up in the south, I've witnessed far too many people treat black Americans like they were undeserving of the same quality of life as white members of society simply because of their skin color. I've lived through and experienced events such as lynchings, murder, and the unfolding of segregation in front of my very eyes. The atrocities of deep rooted and systematic oppression by the powers of white supremacy in this nation have to come to an end, and it has to be now. I am almost 92 and nothing has truly changed during my entire life. I've lived long enough and have seen enough to confidently say something is very, very wrong and that the "change" I've seen in my life given by the government has simply been different manifestations of oppression, wrapped and re-packaged every time the people demanded their voices be heard. Today I am inviting you - my fans who I adore to stand in solidarity (which requires ACTION) and be involved in your community today. Nationwide change ALWAYS starts with the states, forcing the federal government to follow. There NEEDS to be a revolution _​and it is all of Dour duties to either march peacefully alongside our fellow Americans, help transfer wealth back to the black community by supporting black businesses and creators &/or by simply continuing to educate yourself on the erased and heartbreakingly beautiful history of black culture. My heart cannot handle the injustices anymore, please do something. All of you. I love

you, each and every single one of you. Stay safe, strategic, have a plan and don't be alone. With you in Spirit, Helen

O pronunciamento de Iris Apfel acontece na mesma data:

It is with a heavy heart that I join my many friends in the black community to mourn the senseless death of George Floyd. I stand with the peaceful protestors. I have spent the better part of my life working with colors and I can assure you with absolute certainty that black is beautiful.

Tais pronunciamentos diante deste tema social de tamanha relevância cultural no contexto da hipermodernidade, são importantes para reforçar o discurso identificado na análise temática de ambas as Granfluencers. Estas postagens ajudam a sintetizar a essência da ideologia de Baddie e Iris.

Fica evidenciado que a forma como Baddie Winkle se expressa é muito mais próxima dos seguidores, por adotar uma linguagem popular. Percebe-se que são palavras que emanam naturalmente e que conseguem expressar os sentimentos da Granfluencer. Baddie fala da sua experiência pessoal, como uma moradora do sul dos Estados Unidos, onde o preconceito racial sempre foi mais pujante. Ela descreve as atrocidades que já presenciou ao longo de sua vida contra as pessoas negras e diz que não viu nada efetivo mudar ao longo de quase um século.

Baddie não fala entrelinhas ou subjetivamente. Como uma pessoa comum, que não se vê distanciada desses graves problemas sociais, ela demonstra sua empatia com as pessoas que sofrem preconceito e discriminação. Mais do que isso, a Granfluencer incentiva os seus seguidores para que além de se conscientizarem sobre a importância de promover mudanças no contexto racial de seu país, que tomem ações práticas para combater o racismo. Baddie usa as palavras “revolução”, “mudanças” e “agora”. Ela é enfática na necessidade de combater o racismo.

A sua linguagem é popular, é direta e fala com uma conexão fluída com seus seguidores. É uma mensagem na qual percebe-se os sentimentos envolvidos, de raiva, revolta, compaixão e principalmente empatia. E é assim que a Granfluencer, como já demonstrado na análise dos 6 temas desta pesquisa, age constantemente — sem

importar-se com a possível repulsa de uma parcela de sua audiência, por ter um discurso mais combativo. Ela sempre fez assim com seus _{​haters e continua a fazer com este} pronunciamento.

Com um viés claramente ideológico, Baddie Winkle reforça a sua autenticidade e a autoridade que a idade lhe confere, para dizer, sem rodeios, o que realmente pensa. Assim, eleva a sua credibilidade, a ganhar mais confiança de seus seguidores. Na análise dos comentários recebidos, para além da subscrição sobre seu posicionamento, os seguidores, em sua grande maioria, compartilham de sua ideologia. São milhares de comentários recebidos e convém fazer trazer um pouco deste extrato para que possa-se compreender a validação do discurso de Baddie, bem como da sua autenticidade, autoridade e credibilidade:

“Insightful, eloquent and deeply meaningful. Thank you _{👏🏾🖤”, “Would be} nice to see more elders of the world come out and give their wisdom and experiences. Then we will see were on a merry go round of bullshit that needs to stop now! Snow shit, diffenent decade. I really hope that with the sharing of information avaliable now , Nd the younger generations being more aware, that really changes will be made.”, “Wow 💕🤩 I have been somewhat indifferent until reading this..thank you for giving your perspective which is very respectable . ❤ ”, “I love you so much Baddie!! You’re a blessing and proof that we are not products of our past! ❤ ❤ Thank you for being you and for saying this!”, “This is such an incredibly powerful statement. Thank you for sharing your perspective with us ✊”, “❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ We love you baddie! Great words, and really informative. So important to get the full picture and why things need to change”, “You are the white grandmother I wish I had! ❤ ”, “I’ve never commented on mass followed peoples posts before, but reading this made me so happy to see _{🙌🏻”, THIS IS WHY I MAKE NO EXCUSES FOR} OLDER PEOPLE IT IS NOT A GENERATIONAL GAP I LOVE YOU BADDIE!!!”, “Thank you queen!!! You and my gram are the same age. I’m SO PROUD that both of you amazing women stand with Us. Minorities are abused and mistreated and deserve the justice we are fighting for.”, “I love your account because I wanna show up as fully fierce as you do. You inspired me to be myself; loud and unapologetic. Now your words heal my heart as you stand with me. _{😘❤ ”, “hank you for sharing your story. We’re lucky to}

have folks who have seen lifelong injustice share what they’ve seen. Especially in the south. 💜 “, “Stay strong Helen. Thank you for supporting the community and our fight to gain equality for them ❤ ”, “HELL YEAHHH BADDIE!!! LISTEN TO YOUR ELDERS THEY KNOW SHIT!”, “god we stan older people who recognize that being racist just because “that’s how it was back then” is wrong”, “This was beautifully written. School us Helen ! You’ve seen it all so you’re perspective truly matters.”, “Thank you for saying all this. As a boomer who thought we would change the world but nothing changed for the better I am sorry but hopeful for this generation.”, “Wow Baddie!!! I salute you for have us in your heart like that!! _{🖤🖤🖤.. when I started following you} I saw that you you were different and just to fly!!and this is one off the reasons why!! “, “❤ ❤ ❤ your the really deal Baddie, babein in your 90’s and a voice for a unified humanity xxx”, “Thank you for sharing your wisdom; it is so respected and needed. This was so intelligent and perfectly worded. We needed this perspective. For this and many other reasons, you are a true Queen. 👑”, “Thank you for using your platform to encourage people to take meaningful action _{💖”, “This is why we fell in love with you from the start ❤} you wanna see 'cool'?? This is fucking cool. Thank you, Baddie!”, “es, you have seen it all, as my parents did. They never understood why black people were treated so bad. I grew up with tolerance. My dad would've 98 and mom 95. They taught me of the riots in Detroit and civil unrest. After 50 years on earth, I'm saddened it hasn't changed much. Very eloquently spoken”, “Thank you so much for sharing this!!! No body knows better than granny with a good sharp head on her shoulders ❤ ”, “Thank you for speaking out. From someone who has been here to see as much as you have the message is much more powerful. 🖤”, “Thank you Helen. This is very educational. I have been looking for answers/ suggestions around ‘what can I do’ and I can instantly start to make plans on how I can make an impact with minority owned businesses in my local area. Open to listening and understanding ❤ ”, “Thank you for speaking on it💗Grandma Baddie👏🏾👏🏾 it’s sad to hear our older generations speak how nothing has really changed. All these years and still. Hopefully we can make it better for our upcoming generations ! ♥ ”, “Your perspective is so valuable. We don’t have many people who can eloquently speak of 9 decades of injustice. Please continue to use your platform. Your voice is to important!”, “YES GRRL. My grandfather turned 91

this week and he is, for the first time I can remember, ANGRY. I'm so glad the older generations are stepping up. Thank you.”, “Now THIS is a genuine REAL post of support! Not the other fake ass shit I’ve seen... THANK YOU “, “this woman was my goals long before this shit show happened. Now she put it so perfectly, and damn it makes me want to go tomorrow. Ugh.”

São comentários de pessoas de todas as idades e diferentes etnias e partes dos Estados Unidos e do mundo. Como visto, muitas delas não apenas apoiam a ideologia transmitida por Baddie, como declaram promover mudanças em suas ações e pensamentos.

Já a publicação de Iris Apfel, mesmo a primeira vista, passa a impressão de um discurso oficial e formal. Em poucas palavras, a Granfluencer resume-se a dizer que seu coração está junto da comunidade negra. Iris diz que durante sua carreira sempre trabalhou com negros e que “negro é beleza”. Este discurso é o mesmo que muitos racistas não assumidos tem feito nas redes sociais, muitos deles influencers. É apenas para cumprir uma “obrigação” mediante a demanda que existe por posicionamentos contra o racismo. Dizer que já trabalhou com negros é como dizer que não é racista por ter amigos negros, como muitas pessoas o fazem.

Não se nota a mesma empatia de Baddie Winkle e muito menos um sentimento mais profundo e um clamor por mudanças e por ações. Ela não faz um _{​call to action para}

conscientizar e principalmente influenciar seus seguidores a tomarem ações práticas contra o racismo. Diferente de Baddie, que apoia os protestos, Iris faz questão de deixar claro que apoia apenas os protestos pacíficos. O discurso de Iris é uma breve nota desprovida de ideologia e de profundidade.

Mas a análise temática em geral demonstra que Iris tem posicionamentos mais distanciados, resguardando sempre a elegância e o comedimento. A sua linguagem é essa, menos calorosa. Quanto a análise dos comentários sobre o seu posicionamento, evidente que a maioria agradece a Granfluencer pelo apoio a causa e compartilha do seu pensamento. No entanto, muitos comentários refletem que a sua audiência, que não tem tantos adolescentes e jovens como Baddie, e sim mais jovens adultos, adultos e idosos, comunga desta posição — de que o problema do racismo não é assim tão grave e tão emergencial.

Estão alinhados com a essência do posicionamento da Granfluencer, mais formal:

“Thank you Ms. Apfel. ❤ ”, “I think is not black! Nobody have black skin. I think the skin is brown in diferent tone ♥ ”, “What about the many including police officers who have been murdered this week? All lives matter.”, “You're a class act ❤ ”, “It is not about black, white, indians, hispanics, chinise or any race... It is about VIOLENCE against any person.”, “Black is beautiful as any colour of skin ❤ 💛💙💚”, “Pitiful post! Wait until they destroy your shops! Oh, sorry I’m sure you have all the security you need. Peace sister! GOD BLESS AMERICA!🙏󾓦󾓦󾓦󾓦”, “Thank you for using your (very stylish) voice to support us. I’ve been following you for my entire life!”, “If only blacks could Peacefully protest, instead they are thugs good for stealing, looting, breaking and burning. George Floyd, while wrongfully killed by bad cop, doesn’t have my sympathy after his violent 2007 robbing and beating a single woman, serving 5 yr jail sentence, he was a thug and died a thug.”, “George floyd held a pregnant woman at gun point and held her up! Research that? Innocent people are dying because we are to uplift BLM and show respect?? When they are the ones that are looting and destroying our cities. Retired Officer David Dorn was killed by a looter he was 77 years old..and he was just trying to stop them from looting..where is the outrage on that? He was also black ...in Gods eyes no race is above the other, we are to stand for justice for all not just some!”, “

Como também recebe críticas sobre seu pronunciamento raso: “Working with colours?”, “No thanks, Iris!! African Americans are not simple primary colors from your fashion palette. We are proud, strong people and caring human beings who are from the origin of man in Africa.”