Blackfishing is when a non-black person uses makeup like a bronzer or foundation that is too dark for their skin color, or uses photoshop, extreme tanning, and even cosmetic surgery to appear looking like they are black.

Questions that may come up include why do this? What is the point? According to health.com people who blackfish could be insecure about their appearance, have a racial fetish, think it may be an opportunity for social or professional advancement of some sort, and or have a desire to fit in with the race.

There have been multiple cases of the media calling out celebrities and influencers for blackfishing. American media personality Kim Kardashian was accused of blackfishing when she posted a short video clip on Twitter. Many people noticed that the color of her hand was different from the rest of her body.

In 2018 American model, Gigi Hadid, was on one of the Vogue Italia covers and was accused of blackfishing. People stated that her face looked a lot darker than it normally is and looked like it was heavily bronzed. Gigi later apologized saying that everything they do on set is fully out of her control.

TikTok star and influencer, Addison Rae, has also been accused of blackfishing. Rae posted a Snapchat story in 2020 where it looked like she was wearing makeup that was much darker than her natural skin tone. Twitter got on the subject quickly and started accusing her of blackfishing.

“I have heard of blackfishing before from social media. I think we should learn in school so more people could know the offense behind it. I also think we should spread awareness on social media because that is where we get a lot of information these days,” states Isabella Bernier freshman at WHHS.

“I have heard of blackfishing because of the scandals that have happened before with numerous influencers. I honestly think that there is not much that can be done, but I do think educating more people about it would be beneficial” says Arielle Rabukhin freshman at WHHS.