When Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton changed her Twitter avatar to a kinara, the traditional candle holder of Kwanzaa, the social media site erupted. Many people interpreted her gesture as pandering to the black community. Her campaign had previously honored civil-rights leader Rosa Parks with an avatar that incidentally put her at the back of the bus.
Wishing everyone the best this Kwanzaa. To all celebrating—Bill and I send you our warmest wishes. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 27, 2015
To express their frustration, Twitter users did what they do best, creating the mocking hashtag #NewHIllaryLogo to parody her attempts at inclusion.
This was the Clinton logo that started the trend.
If Team Hillary doesn’t stop it with this logo… #Kwanzaa pic.twitter.com/rr4f4C9vxT
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) December 27, 2015
It just snowballed from there.
https://twitter.com/Philosavery/status/680995867868950528
https://twitter.com/elonjames/status/681187757490880512
https://twitter.com/Ziweeee/status/681169790757683200
https://twitter.com/ParkerAtiba/status/681006959483465728
@IntergalacticQ #NewHillaryLogo pic.twitter.com/gd20BfLtP7
— Capital Q (@IntergalacticQ) December 27, 2015
https://twitter.com/Ziweeee/status/681171198919741440
https://twitter.com/Philosavery/status/680989581966229504
Enough is enough! Hillary must be stopped. #NewHillaryLogo pic.twitter.com/RFYxDoo9Ry
— king. (@chrstvphr) December 27, 2015
https://twitter.com/iMadeSmartCool/status/681010487895703552
https://twitter.com/_tyreezy/status/681019077570072576
https://twitter.com/ParkerAtiba/status/680995344189005824
Photo via Marc Nozell/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)