Presidential Debate Sparks #CondemnWhiteSupremacyChallenge Across All Social Media Platforms

The 2020 election is the topic on everyone’s minds as we are almost 30 days away from deciding who will be given the challenge to lead us out of the mess of 2020.

Although many minds are made up, voters from all parties tuned in on Tuesday night to the Presidential Debate moderated by Chris Wallace to see the two candidates battle it out on stage.

However, many viewed the debate as a horrible mess as both candidates continually interrupted each other onstage, and one comment in particular from the President did not sit well with many viewers.

When asked to condemn white supremacy and the Proud Boys organization, President Trump said for them to “stand down and stand by” – leading many to interpret this comment as being soft on white supremacy and calling for the racist organization Proud Boys to “stand by” in inciting violence towards the Black Lives Matter movement. According to Governor Kate Brown, “The Proud Boys are white supremacists.”

Since the debate, President Trump has corrected himself and denounced all hate crimes related to white supremacy, but his statement at the debate has sparked social media users to take it upon themselves to denounce white supremacy with #CondemnWhiteSurpemacyChallenge.

With over one hundred thousand posts on facebook and counting, individuals are taking it upon themselves to clearly rebuke white supremacy. Even NSYNC member, Lance Bass took to Facebook to support the movement. He stated, “I unequivocally condemn White Supremacy. Wow, that was so easy! #CondemnWhiteSupremacyChallenge.”

https://www.facebook.com/LanceBassOfficial/posts/10158939460818578

People are going as far as to encourage their Facebook friends and followers to unfriend them if they are still continuing to support President Trump such as Facebook user Christopher Smith who said “#Condemn White Supremacy Challenge. Every last one of my friends must. Not a choice.  Unfriend me otherwise.”

https://www.facebook.com/toeferz/posts/2685489068372202

However, others are upset that this issue has become nothing more than a trend. 

One user said “I don’t know why people are posting the condemn white supremacy challenge? Like is it a challenge for some people? Are you really that scared of pissing off that one racist you went to middle school with or that relative that’s insufferable around the holidays?” 

Another user put it more succinctly by saying “We shouldn’t need a challenge to condemn white supremacy.” 

Although the creation of the trend may have been in good spirit similar to other viral trends like the ACL Ice Bucket Challenge, it can also take away from the seriousness of the issue of white supremacy. We saw this occur earlier this year with the Black Out Tuesday hashtag that encouraged others to not post on their social media for a day of amplifying black voices. 

Do you feel that this hashtag is performative and a step in the right direction? 

Video Produced by Kelsey Morris

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