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Why Is A Twitter User Making People Look Black Or Chinese? The Controversial Raceswapping Series Explained
An X / Twitter user has been turning race swapping and whitewashing internet discourse on its head by taking it upon himself to photoshop people's selfies into different races, stirring up a mixture of humor and controversy in his wake.
Going by the moniker @VLONEPREDATOR online and donning a Smiling Buck Tooth Face profile picture, the user quote tweets people's photos with the caption, "Here's what you would look like if you were Black or Chinese."
Here's how one man's bizarre mission to raceswap people's photos took over Twitter in late 2023 and early 2024, leading to internet users warning each other that a seemingly harmless selfie post could result in a completely unprompted Black or Chinese photoshop using their likeness.
Where Did The "Black Or Chinese" Photoshop Meme And Trend Originate?
The trend in which internet users edit random, oftentimes white, people's selfies into photos where they are made to appear "Black" or "Chinese" began with a post by Twitter user @VLONEPREDATOR on December 6th, 2023. In the initial post, the user quoted an image shared by @notahorror, saying, "here’s what you would look like if you were black or chinese."
The absurd nature of the post drew the attention of internet users whose responses ranged from "?," "bro," "wow," and "delete this," but this was only the beginning of @VLONEPREDATOR's raceswapping antics.
How Did The "Black Or Chinese" Meme Spread And Become Such A Big Deal?
Twitter user @VLONEPREDATOR continued to post "Black or Chinese" edits to his Twitter account in December last year going into January. The user initially chose to edit photos of women and then expanded his repertoire to men as his posts gained traction.
In fact, @VLONEPREDATOR's first male subject was JoCat at the height of his I Like Girls doxxing controversy, which plausibly helped to boost its spread online.
How Did Internet Users React To @VLONEPREDATOR's "Black Or Chinese" Edits?
While initial reactions to @VLONEPREDATOR's "Here's what you would look like if you were Black or Chinese" posts reflected bewildered amusements, followers of his work eventually split into those who found it increasingly hilarious and those who found it in bad taste.
Many detractors saw his characterization of racial features as narrow and offensive, while others found amusement in the absurdity of his posts. Some internet users began to mimic his Photoshop style, as seen in a post by user @RAPGD_, while others made memes about his work as they gained increased prominence.
Things seemingly came to a head earlier this month when @VLONEPREDATOR was doxxed on Twitter. An anonymous user posted an image of a young man claiming to have unearthed @VLONEPREDATOR's identity, only for the race-swapping user to turn around and race-swap himself.
His commitment to the gimmick gathered over 250,000 likes on Twitter in just a week and resulted in even more attention toward the bizarre phenomenon.
For the full history of Here's What You Would Look Like If You Were Black Or Chinese, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.