“#BlackOutBTS is made for the fans who get the most silenced within the army: black people. [...] We get constantly ridiculed, ignored, attacked and disrespected..." A fan tweets.
20 July 2019 by Fachana Techamaneewat
#BlackOutBTS trended on Twitter on 15 July, and the hashtag is to celebrate black ARMYs (BTS' fans) as well as allowing them to show their love for their bias in BTS.
Firstly, who's BTS?
BTS is a popular male K-pop group who has recently exploded in popularity in America. They performed live in shows such as America's Got Talent, Central Park, The Ellen Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and last but not least, the American Music Awards (AMAs).
And who are their fans?
Their fans are called ARMYs, and they have a tradition where they participate in #ARMYSelcaDay.
This tradition takes place on the first Tuesday of every month, and fans join in by tweeting a selca of themselves next to a picture of their bias (their favourite member in BTS), with them posing in a similar way to the idol.
However, it appears that within the fandom, there's a group of ARMYs that are often shoved aside. And that, unfortunately, seems to be the black ARMYs.
It seems that some ARMYs believe that K-pop music isn't made for black people and phrases from toxic members are often thrown around from them saying "stick to your own type of music."
Of course, this is a hate comment. Music is universal, and everyone should be able to enjoy any type of music they like. Hence, the creation of #BlackOutBTS.
This ARMY fan, Darren, explains what it is:
“#BlackOutBTS is made for the fans who get the most silenced within the army: black people. [..] We get constantly ridiculed, ignored, attacked and disrespected within the army and we as a cohesive unit are sick of it."
"#BlackOutBTS is a selca day for just us to showcase our beauty, admire our bias in anyway we choose to and for once get some shine. This [...] isn’t to exclude anyone, this is raise up those who don’t receive inclusion.”
#BlackOutBTS has the same concept as the #ARMYSelcaDay, and it first trended last year on 28 February as a way for black ARMYs to celebrate the end of Black History Month as well as to celebrate their equal love for BTS.
Here are some of the tweets celebrating #BlackOutBTS day:
The hashtag has actually attracted so much popularity that some ARMY fans even believe that BTS is aware of the existence of it.
Can you imagine the BTS members scrolling through Twitter and smiling when they realise that they have such great and diverse fans?
And what about you? Did you take a selca and tweeted #ARMYSelcaDay or #BlackOutBTS?
Read More: BTS Fans PISSED at Melanie Joy Fontana for Taking Credit for BTS' Success?
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Fachana Techamaneewat is a news writer at Exclusive Hollywood and is responsible for researching and writing news articles while providing story updates wherever necessary.
Fun fact: On the weekends, she's an avid writer for practically anything. Her current obsession is the Umbrella Academy, and as of now, is writing a book.
