Event Spotlight | Diaspora Wars and Going 50/50: Sowing Disunity in Black Communities Through Digital Propaganda

Cross-posted on the DSI website

by Lauren Brace

Panelists Brooklyne Gipson, Jamilah Lemieux, and AE Stevenson, in conversation with Catherine Knight Steele, discuss the need to divest from short-form content that fuels polarization.

As everyone knows, social media is the healthiest and most productive place to engage in controversial conversations… right? Content creators on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok frequently post their “hot takes,” sharing ideas on what we really should be doing. One post can generate thousands of comments—everyone fighting for their voice to be heard and save the world with their (obviously correct) opinions.

To discuss the origin of these polarizing conversations and their impact today, the DISCO Network* hosted a panel titled “Diaspora Wars and Going 50/50: Sowing Disunity in Black Communities” on Nov 6, 2025. This event featured panelists Brooklyne Gipson, Jamilah Lemieux, and AE Stevenson in conversation with moderator Catherine Knight Steele.** They explained that within the Black community, there are cultural debates regarding who does and doesn’t belong. Identities related to race and gender are constantly challenged, argued, and questioned.

For example, the panelists brought up the meme “Me no Black, I Dominican.” In an interview with Godfrey, a Nigerian-American comedian, he mocks Afro-Latinos who look like him for denying their African heritage. Whether or not Caribbean people should identify as “Black” is a highly contested debate among both the African American and Latino populations. AE Stevenson also critiqued the comedian Druski for turning serious topics about race and African-American identity into jokes. In a 2023 video, Druski pretends to be a Black college student who adopts the characteristics of his White frat brothers. Although Druski’s skits are funny, they also diminish the importance of online conversations.

The first step in working through these debates is to historicize them. Gipson stated that the current content on race and gender that circulates on social media is “age-old.” She explains to her students that “Just because something is new to you doesn’t mean it’s new. We’re seeing the exact conversations from 5 years ago and 25 years ago.” We need to understand where these debates come from and look into why they’re resurfacing now to spark discourse. 

We’re all susceptible to rage-bait. Television content containing sexist or racist ideas from the 1980s that have been debunked are now resurfacing without the timeline context. Controversial posts generate more clicks, more shares, and more enraged comments. In turn, this increased engagement garners profit for the creator. 

Designing a social media platform is like building a casino; programmers implement every strategy possible to keep users playing, pushing buttons, and feeding into an addiction. Gipson said that it’s easy to fall into an “echo chamber” where everyone thinks the same. No one is immune to the algorithm, so it’s more important than ever to be intentional about what we consume. 

Lemieux implores us to divest from short-form content—to find alternatives for communication and entertainment, resisting the temptation to scroll endlessly. Aside from the detrimental impact that YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikToks have on our attention spans, these short videos fail to communicate crucial information. Lemieux explained that “there’s so much that needs to be said, and so much can be taken out of context when you only see 30 seconds.” We rarely feel better after diving into the short-form rabbit hole, yet we give in when it feels like there’s nothing else to do. 

According to Gipson, social media does not bring us together, but rather “takes us out of physical spaces and increases polarity.” The spread of misinformation, the algorithms we’re susceptible to, and the addictive design of short-form content work together to sow disunity. If we resist commenting on rage-bait and return to real conversations, we have a chance of creating understanding instead of discourse.

*The DISCO (Digital Inquiry, Speculation, Collaboration, and Optimism) Network is a collective of interdisciplinary researchers working to envision a new anti-racist and anti-ableist digital future.

**Brooklyne Gipson is an Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University - New Brunswick. 

Jamilah Lemieux is a renowned cultural critic and writer with a focus on issues of race, gender, and motherhood.

AE Stevenson is an Assistant Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago. 

Catherine Knight Steele is an Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Maryland.