Sam Forster, a Canadian writer and journalist, is getting obliterated on social media after announcing he disguised himself as a Black man in order to personally experience racism.
“Last summer, I disguised myself as a Black man and traveled throughout the United States to document how racism persists in American society,” Forster wrote on Monday.
He documented his experience as part of his forthcoming book, “Seven Shoulders: Taxonomizing Racism in Modern America,” that he described writing as “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done as a journalist.”
The book’s description on its Amazon pre-sale web page deems it “the most important book on American race relations that has ever been written.”
But Forster’s approach is not going over well, with many pointing out he had to use Blackface to accomplish his goal—and that there is no shortage of Black people who could tell their stories instead.
“U had to do blackface to understand the issues black ppl face….?” remarked one X user.
“Drop the pic, Samuel. I’m trying to see something,” replied New York Times reporter Astead Herndon.
“You did what now,” replied journalist Philip Lewis.
“You could have spoken with Black Americans…” noted someone else. “I have serious questions as to WHY and HOW you disguised yourself as a Black American to write this book!”
The social media fury drew the attention of Nikole Hannah-Jones, a journalist known for her coverage of civil rights, who spotlit the “most important book” declaration on Amazon, joking “No comment.”
“Also: It’s already been done,” she added, referencing the book “Black Like Me,” which was similarly written by a White man in disguise.
Like most commenters, Elie Mystal of the Nation similarly appeared dumbfounded.
“Option A: Talk to actual Black people. Option B: [whatever in the Tropic Thunder Fuck this is]” he wrote.
In a separate reply, Mystal wrote: “[Eddie Murphy voice]: Excuse me??”
Lambasted someone else in an X post: “As if just listening to Black people about our experiences wasn’t sufficient, you had to do this wild experiment to prove the existence of racism.”
Forster has yet to post on X since the viral post. His book drops tomorrow.
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