About

I Sat My White Ass Down And Listened refers to a phrasal template that meme creators use ironically to infer that they need to "sit their white ass down and listen" to a piece of media centered on or written by people of color. The catchphrase was first used in late 2021 on Twitter where it picked up traction going into 2022.

Origin

On September 18th, 2021, Twitter^[1] user ipadbabygf posted a tweet that referenced the movie Get Out, stating, "I didn’t 'watch' Get Out. I sat my white ass down and LISTENED." The tweet (shown below) earned over 120 likes in four months. It is the first known use of the catchphrase.

Spread

A month later, on October 20th, 2021, Twitter^[2] user ipadbabygf posted a follow-up to their original tweet, instead, referencing The Cleveland Show by joking, "I didn’t 'watch' The Cleveland Show, I sat my white ass down and LISTENED." The tweet (shown below) received more engagement, earning roughly 54,700 likes in three months.

The first meme creator other than ipadbabygf to use the snowclone was Twitter^[3] user gothgirlvictim. On October 23rd, they posted a tweet that referenced a Tyler Perry movie, earning no likes after being posted, however (shown below, left). Later that same day, Twitter^[4] user Z_Nation31 posted a tweet that replaced the word "white" with "lightskin," earning only one like (shown below right).

On November 22nd, 2021, Twitter^[5] user zuza_real posted a tweet that used the snowclone, referencing the 2004 movie Shark Tale by reading, "i didn't watch shark tale i sat my white ass down and listened." The tweet (shown below) received roughly 3,000 likes over the course of three months.

More use of the phrasal template ensued going into 2022, where in February 2022, it received increased usage after a tweet from Twitter^[6] user s4m31p4n received roughly 13,400 likes in two days. Posted on February 8th, the tweet (shown below) referenced the HBO show Euphoria and replaced words in the phrasal template to read "sat my white ass down and jerked off."

Screenshots were then exploited on Instagram, like one posted on February 8th by Instagram^[7] page hoodjoerogansatire. It referenced HBO's Succession and earned 60 likes in two days (shown below).

The phrase's usage continued into 2023, like on January 12th, 2023, Twitter^[8] user cooIboobs added a screenshot to their own thread that showed a tweet from Twitter^[9] user Coscorrodrift reading, "When someone has just left the African American history and culture museum I sit my white ass down and listen." Twitter user cooIboobs' screenshot received roughly 24,100 likes in five days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References