A Black Square: Why Performative Activism is Harmful By Priya Sharma Staff Writer On June 2nd, 2020, Instagram looked different. Instead of the social distancing graduation pictures, or social distancing beach outings, or social distancing backyard selfies, there were a slew of black screens. “#theshowmustbepaused.” “#NOJUSTICENOPEACE” “#JUSTICEFORGEORGEFLOYD” “#BLACKLIVESMATTER”
“Performative activism holds no real social weight—which is why it is so toxic. If people simply speak without any meaning behind their words, the voices of those who have tangible things to say are drowned out, and eventually, the meaning.” These hashtags took over Instagram for a day. It was a trend—everyone, whether or not they really knew what they were saying, posted a black square. The sentiment behind it was there—Black Americans have been consistently murdered at a disparaging rate for the past several years, and finally, people acknowledged that pain, frustration, and suffering. However, did posting a black square actually accomplish anything?
The posts brought attention to the issue, of course. It made an impact by showing a united front against police brutality. But it was not enough. Posting a black square was performative more than anything; a black square created no true change when discussing such a serious issue. A black square did not sign any petitions, donate any money, or attend any protests. It showed a sense of solidarity, but the time has passed for solidarity, and has come for action. Regardless of “good intentions” behind a post, if there is no action to accompany such “activism,” it is ineffective. Also known as “slacktivism,” this performance has become increasingly relevant in the past few months, as the Black Lives Matter movement came to the forefront of the media once again in late May. Posting a black square has come to represent the issue of performative activism. People repost, retweet, and share hashtags, but how much knowledge and intention is actually behind these acts? The problem lies in its name—performative activism. Performative activism is not to show support for a cause because it aligns with your personal beliefs, but because it will make one seem more knowledgeable and promote their own egos whilst not doing enough for the movement to actually create a connection with it. The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS describes the term “slacktivist,” as “posits that people who support a cause by performing simple measures are not truly engaged or devoted to making a change.” Performative activism holds no real social weight—which is why it is so toxic. If people simply speak without any meaning behind their words, the voices of those who have tangible things to say are drowned out, and eventually, the meaning behind the movement is lost. Actions speak louder than words; many say they “support a movement,” but when push comes to shove, they take no real action towards solving systemic problems at the heart of the cause. Performance activism is more harmful than helpful. The public is becoming more aware of the issues concerning human rights, such as the genocide of Uyghur Muslims in China, voting disenfranchisement in Belarus, and the expansion of child labor in South and Southeast Asia, and more people talking about an is-
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