Clapping Back on TikTok: Black-Asian Multiraciality and Humor

Abstract

TikTok has become an important digital space for solidarity among underrepresented groups. However, it is also a space where stereotypes and offensive jokes are proliferated through unique affordances such as “Use This Sound.” For this study, I focused on Black-Asian multiracials known as “Blasians” and how they used TikTok. I analyzed 56 videos, 47 by Blasian creators and nine by non-Blasian creators, using content analysis and Berger’s typology of 45 humor techniques to uncover common themes and strategies employed by Blasians and non-Blasians on TikTok. Three major findings emerged from the data: First, unlike most social media platforms, the majority of my sample was created by Blasians themselves, with more than half of these videos directly or indirectly referencing racist experiences the creator had encountered using techniques like facetiousness, stereotypes, and wordplay suggesting that a Blasian-specific culture is emerging on TikTok, mirroring elements of Black Twitter. Second, Blasians often relied on monoracial Black and monoracial Asian stereotypes in their videos, demonstrating the multiple dimensions of how they are targeted. Third, non-Blasians relied on Blasian-specific stereotypes, highlighting novel ways in which other minoritized racial groups are racializing Blasians. Taken together, my study sheds light on the racialization process of a growing racial group, the emergence of a digital Black-Asian multiracial culture, and how TikTok united a diverse and broad ethnoracial group.