Keziah Daum is back in the Twitter spotlight after a now-deleted clip of her and a friend poking fun at Asians recently resurfaced.
The 18-year-old senior from Utah was accused of cultural appropriation last week for posting prom photos of herself wearing a qipao, also known as a cheongsam, while posing with her date and friends.
The short video, which is part of a compilation of Vines posted on Twitter, shows Daum’s friend Rebecca Hudson saying, “Not to be racist or anything, but Asian people suck!” as both girls cough and laugh hysterically.
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While the one and a half minute Vine received more than 18,000 views since it was first posted in March, not everyone seemed to enjoy the joke.
“Right at the 0:50 second mark, that must be the racism you tolerate, especially after wearing that qipao incident…,” one Twitter user replied.
“Dont bother ‘taking this down’ already saved on the hard drive and uploaded! #goingviral #promdress #CulturalAppropriation,” another wrote.
One user simply commented, “racist.”
However, it’s most important to note, for those of us who aren’t meme lords, that this was just a remake of a popular vine that went viral not because of the racial angle, but because of odd way the person said the word “suck.”
Context is everything in this situation, so it may not be accurate to characterize the vine as “racist,” but that’s ultimately up to viewers to decide.
