#Instagram influencers spark outrage for donning blackface in support of BLM

Instagrammers shunned over blackface photos in support of Black Lives Matter.
Instagram; Snapchat

Instagram influencers in the Middle East and Eastern Europe are being slammed on social media after donning blackface in an offensive attempt to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters. Their tone-deaf gesture comes in the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody last month, which resulted in the arrests of four Minnesota officers.

In one of the questionable ‘Gram pics, Lebanese vocalist Tania Saleh can be seen sporting a photoshopped Angela Davis-esque Afro and black skin paint. The photo was captioned “wish I was black, today more than ever…Sending my love and full support to the people who demand equality and justice for all races anywhere in the world.”

Needless to say, the star’s social-media minstrel show didn’t sit well with online activists.

“Tania no no no!” wrote one ashamed fan, before urging Saleh to “read why doing blackface is wrong on so many levels.”

“This is by far the most unfortunate time for you to be making a point in this unfortunate way,” they added in reference to the fraught racial climate resulting from Floyd’s killing.

Algerian artist Souhila Ben Lachhab was similarly lambasted after posting a photo of herself with half her body painted brown. “Just because we’re black on the outside, doesn’t mean we’re black on the inside,” she wrote in the parody-worthy post. “Racist people are the true black heart ones. They are black on the inside, and they know it.”

An incensed Instagram poster called the two-faced display “truly disrespectful” adding, “you’re doing BLACKFACE.”

One popular Polish artist, known on Instagram as Saint Hoax, even compiled screenshots of the various blackface posts as well as a visual history of the sordid practice.

“How can you ‘spread awareness’ about a subject you know so little about?” they wondered. “If you genuinely care about a cause, the least you can do is educate yourself about it.”

However, the influencers are sticking to their guns with many refusing to take down the offensive pics.

“I have posted this with love and I will not remove it despite all your offensive comments,” wrote a defiant Saleh in response to the criticisms.

The singer said in a statement that “she did not mean to mock black people in any way’” and that all of her “idols in dance and music are black.”

She added, “I forgive you for all the hate I received today because you made me block the unnecessary evil on this page . . . And by the way, all the human race comes from Africa after all! We are all originally black.”

Saleh’s not the first to spark outrage over blackface amid the George Floyd protests. Earlier this month, a teen TikTokker received backlash over a minstrel-show evoking makeup tutorial while Jimmy Fallon found himself in hot water after a clip resurfaced of “The Tonight Show” host sporting blackface in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch from 2000.