The #BlackOutBTS has started to surface on Twitter on Thursday, April 15, which scared some fans who thought there was an anti-BTS hashtag on their platform. But there's no need to worry as the hashtag is not only amazing, it's also inspiring when you get to know the meaning of the campaign.
On Twitter, the first Tuesday of each month is labeled as "ARMY selca day," where followers in the community share their selfies with their beloved BTS members. However, a percentage of the BTS fan base has also been disproportionately represented and poorly handled for some time - black ARMYs of BTS. In reality, Fachana Techamaneewat's article on Exclusive Hollywood explains "Some ARMy people claim K-pop is not for black people and negative expressions sometimes are tossed away saying 'keep on your own style of music.'"
That's absurd, of course. Any race, ethnicity, sexuality, age, capacity, and other distinguishing characteristics can be a BTS fan since music is a universal language that everybody can understand. Fans launched # BlackOutBTS hashtags to enable them to share black ARMYs on the social networking site and express their love towards black ARMYs.
This is what a supporter said about Twitter's # BlackOutBTS motion:
"To the Fans who are oppressed the most in the Army, # BlackOutBTS has created: the black men. We are continually mocked, neglected, targeted, humiliated, and sick within the Army, as a cohesive force. # BlackOutBTS is a day of selca for us only to highlight our beauty, to respect our prejudicial attitudes, and to shine for once. It ... shouldn't eliminate anybody, it will lift people who won't be included."
This campaign officially began in the Black History Month on February 28, 2018, and since then has moved on. And with BTS supporters it did not start - as one Twitter user has clarified, it started immediately as a more sweeping motion:
"To those who don't fully grasp why the # BlackOutBTS tag is overflowing. When ARMYs modified it, the whole idea was formed. The 'Blackout Day' label was designed to embrace the social network sites online black community through the posting of photographs of lovely black individuals. It's not about 'outshine' or white disrespect; it's about taking up and shining a positive influence on black people. The entire tag implies that minority voices are granted the sort of exposure, but they are ignored in traditional culture."
The campaign has just started, however, but is undoubtedly good, inclusive, and an incredible phenomenon. See all these fantastic black ARMYs!
It was on May 2018 Monday, and the BuzzFeed News released a statement of 14 fans who claimed they were a victim of discrimination just for stanning their beloved K-pop band.
One woman spoke about how she shared a picture in a chat with the BTS community and went on to say she found that her picture was edited to make her look white. Many black fans confirmed being targeted with racial epithets online and threatened.
As this problem has become more prominent in recent weeks, fans have started raising the hashtag #BlackARMYsequality to build a welcoming, anti-racism group-and letting oppressive people in the world know they're not going anywhere.
In February, Hashtag founder and BTS lover, Tayira (@cultfye), started up with the hashtag and collaborated with other fellow BTS fans on it. The 16-year-old informed Teen Vogue that her explanation for developing the hashtag was that she and other color ARMYs started getting discriminatory messages via the Curious Cat social platform, which is also stated in their report by BuzzFeed News.
Curious Cat said in response to BuzzFeed News that they are working to combat abuse on the site, explaining, "As we recently reported on our Facebook, we are aware of the problem and have blocked all the people behind such messages that are brought to our attention."
