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Is Planking Racist?

Posted By: Desi Jedeikin on 07.08.11

The Blogosphere and the Twitterverse are all in a tizzy over the latest controversy regarding planking. Turns out that not only is it lame and can possibly lead to a Darwin Award-winning death, but now there are accusations that the trend is racist. I know, right?

All of this candy hit the fan when rapper Xhibit, who we all know as the host of Pimp My Ride and as the star of the ubiquitous 'Yo Dawg!' meme:

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...took to his Twitter account to inform all of his followers about planking's racist origins. Here’s the tweet that started the whole uproar.

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In a matter of minutes, the planking cavalcade came out to defend the meme, getting into it with the rapper Via Twitter. Seriously? Why would you defend planking so vigorously? EVER. But especially under these circumstances. If someone told me that something I was doing was rooted in one of the most heinous atrocities in world history...you better damned well believe I would at the very least take pause and look into it first. But hey, I'm crazy like that! Xzibit shot back.

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Now, Xzibit isn’t the first person to make this accusation. In late June, a blogger named Courtney Luv (which I admit doesn’t sound like someone I would want to rely on for educating me on anything) laid out some intriguing evidence, including eerie illustrations showing the interiors of slave ships, where victims were in positions very much like modern day planking.

Weird.

Now, whether you think planking has racist origins or not, I think we can all agree that the people participating in the viral sensation just seem to be having fun. And I'm pretty sure they are not intending to do anything that would be interpreted as racist. Although I'm baffled by the trend, I'll admit it is pretty funny to see an old broad struggling to keep afloat on top of some kind of...slot-machine?

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And I'm pretty sure the parents of this baby didn't think they were being racist...they were just being really irresponsible parents.

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That being said, if it turns out people who are more expert than Courtney Luv and Xzibit say that planking does indeed seem to have originated from the slave trade…then I think this trend needs to go bye bye. But then again I’m not really a fan so I wouldn't miss it. On this fact I am definitely down with Xzibit.

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But I am definitely not down with him on this statement:

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You'll always be my Yo Dawg, Dawg! But you raise an interesting point. And because I like thinking, I'm gonna stick that interesting idea in my brain and think about it.

What do you think of all the uproar? Is planking racist? Or just stupid? Let’s discuss serious issues in the comments!

Check Out 28 Positively Plank-tacular Planking Pics!

Tags: internet, meme, planking, racist, trend, xzibit

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107 Comments

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SmoshyGiraffeUn...

10 weeks ago

I disagree,planking is my 2nd main pose,after snailing.

PotterNERD

11 weeks ago

or sometimes they'd crouch down because the top was too low

PotterNERD

11 weeks ago

...? I feel like my teacher taught me history wrong...she said there were to many slaves and not enough boats so they had to stand all squished together standing up and they'd get tired like holocaust victims on trains but on boats now I'm doubting everything that has been taught to me...

rosemariehathaway

17 weeks ago

Ok I read all these comments of people talking about slaves and how its bad to plank and too most importantly educate ourselves. Well excuse us if the teachers in our schools don't make an effort to teach us the origins of planking. And do u really think that we would have the patience to google planking and read all that boring crap about slaves? That was probably how it was back then, but this is now and it means something different nowadays

DavionX13

34 weeks ago

The "Planking" or lying down facing the floor or something below is actually the lying of the slaves because they get piled up in a ship during the empires thingy to get transported from another city to get sold, but suit yourself to laugh at planking fails and other use of planking, as long as you know the legend of the so called "Planking"...........

AskFranceAboutIt

43 weeks ago

Planking was made in Australia and is not meant to be racist... it was supposed to be like a "plank" of wood. As an Australian I would know this...(lols)... planking is pretty stupid and dangerous so much that someone in Australia died from it by planking on the edge of an 8th story building's balcony, while intoxicated... (drunk)... pretty stupid. But none the less it's a popular meme, and got old just as other memes have in the past.

find_pdf

44 weeks ago

not sure if this accepts html, but here is the website again:
planking pictures

find_pdf

44 weeks ago

I know a site where you can vote for your favourite plankings.
http://plankings.org

I can't believe how many people are planking now, its just insane haha.
Would anyone of you plank? I think its quite stupid. What is this world coming to?

Tabithaangel97

44 weeks ago

On the last day of school when our group was running around the halls, we stopped and planked in school. I took a picture.

penelopeB

45 weeks ago

Do you know your memes? Are Facebook fads a mere representation of the bleeding edge that is your life? Planking is prepared for the scrap heap. In the interim, coning and forking tried to declare dominance, but they gave way to the new crazy scene that is owling, reports the Washington Post. Owling: Because planking is crusty old. Perhaps planking’s time had come, suggests the Washington Post. The rapper Xzibit and var

plankmasterflex

45 weeks ago

It never took off because slaves didn't have cameras. Otherwise, planking would have been HUGE!! Don't be a Planker Hater.

plankmasterflex

45 weeks ago

Well, actually it's true that planking is related to the slave trade. I mean really, it was like... boring and stu ff on those ships so to pass the time they started planking. Duh. Everybody knows

pocketjam

45 weeks ago

Just because something resembles something bad doesn't mean it is. Also, I'm tired of black people bringing up slavery. No offense, but I'm Scandinavian and you don't see me yelling at other Scandinav

pocketjam

45 weeks ago

lani.rae

45 weeks ago

not racist. it's planking like a plank of wood lol. tripple j FTW

gredandforge7179

45 weeks ago

lol. no, it isn't. it originated from australia, and is just an awesome and hilarious thing to do. it means to act like a plank of wood. calm down, people.

zxxsunshine

45 weeks ago

@dwinone Seriously, there's only been like two people to try to "downplay" slavery. Chill the firetruck out. Before you comment on a topic, you should take deep breaths, count to ten, and not comment.

Darth Belac

45 weeks ago

who cares about slavery that candy was over 150 years ago, you dont hear Jews bitch about their ancestors being slaves planking is funny regardless of where is origins are things are funny because of w

Darth Belac

45 weeks ago

Darth Belac

45 weeks ago

alicepwns

45 weeks ago

Yo dawg, planking was an australian spin-off of the korean 'playing dead game'. Learn your facts before you tweet, mkay?!

alicepwns

45 weeks ago

Yo dawg, planking was an australian spin-off of the korean 'playing dead game'. Learn your facts before you tweet, mkay?!

biarose

45 weeks ago

I'm pretty sure it's just called planking because you lay flat like a plank of wood.

dwinone

45 weeks ago