We Wuz Kangz

The phrase We Wuz Kangz which is usually accpompanied by “Kangz n shiet”, is a prevalent racist meme used on 4chan’s /pol/ (politically incorrect) board to make fun of people who adhere black-Egyptian hypothesis.

The hypothesis is a heavily disputed theory of ancient Egypt, where people part of this movement think the civilization and the most notable royal figures were African ethnicity; including Cleopatra, Tutankhamun, and Pharaoh Khafra.

Pharaoh Khafra is generally believed to be the face depicted on the great sphinx of Giza.

The “We Wuz Kangz” meme is also widely used by people online, to take shots at the Black Lives Matter movement, aiming to hinder the movement’s goal of advancing black empowerment.

It is frequently paired with racist caricatures, depicting stylized, racist imagery of black people, popular or white supremacist and nationalist sites, pages and forums threads.

WeWuzKangz

The phrase has first appeared in late-2015, on the message board website 4chan’s subpage called /pol/ due to the the increase in sceptical and critical stance towards the new African-American civil rights protest surrounding the racially charged police brutality, which has spawned countless controversies, most notably the #blacklivesmatter movement, and civil unrest in Baltimore.

Image macros and even YouTube videos, using “We Wuz Kangz” soon started appearing on a wide variety of sites, including 4chan‘s boards, Reddit’s subs, as well as social media sites like Facebook, and Twitter.

The popularity of the “We Wuz Kangz” meme was increased in 2017, when in June, the first trailer of Assassin’s Creed: Origins was released, revealing the game to be set in Hellenic Egypt.

Comments quickly emerged, mocking the dark complexion of the videogame’s characters, paired with the notorious expression.

Racist parodies quickly followed the release of the trailer on YouTube, and following the release of the game, photoshop edits were also made of its cover, replacing the title to Assassin’s Creed: We Wuz Kangz n’ Shiet.

The most recent target of the “We Wuz Kangz” meme is Marvel‘s Black Panther, which has been hailed as a groundbreaking movie for its depiction of Africans in a positive light.

Fans of the meme have been using it to point out the irony of Marvel making a movie about black people who are actually kings, while at the same time making fun of black people who are trying to assert their rightful place in society.

Since the appearance of the first trailer of the film in October 2017, hateful comments, mocking the project have been popping up both on YouTube, as well as forums and other sites across the web.

• ADL – We Wuz Kangs
• Urban Dictionary – we wuz kangs