NPR mocked for article on 'white privilege' emojis

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NPR was ridiculed on Wednesday for its take on emojis and how some can supposedly denote White privilege.

The article, headlined "Which skin color emoji should you use? The answer can be more complex than you think," claimed that White people using the common yellow-handed, thumbs-up emoji can actually suggest ignorance of White privilege. Its authors were Alejandra Marquez Jans, Asma Khalid and Patrick Jarenwattananon.

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The NPR (National Public Radio) building in Washington D.C. (iStock)

"I completely hear some people are just exhausted [from] having to do that. Many people of color have to do that every day and are confronted with race every day," researcher Zara Rahman was quoted. "But for many white people, they've been able to ignore it, whether that's subconsciously or consciously, their whole lives."

The official Twitter account publicized the article, writing, "Some white people may choose [yellow thumbs-up emoji] because it feels neutral — but some academics argue opting out of [tan thumbs-up emoji] signals a lack of awareness about white privilege, akin to society associating whiteness with being raceless."

Twitter users criticized the article for exploring what they said was a ridiculous topic.

Manhattan Institute senior fellow Chris Rufo tweeted, "Incredible that it took *three* NPR employees to write something this stupid."

Author and professor Dr. Gad Saad wrote, "Thank you for tackling the horrifying racism implicit in emojis."

Senior judicial fellow Casey Mattox tweeted, "Or, you know, maybe people use the option sitting right in front of them. Right click on a windows laptop. Click ‘emoji.’ Type ‘Thumbs up.’ The option is the yellow thumb. Not a mystery. And this is otherwise, dumb. But others will make that point."

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NPR was previously slammed by its own employee in January for alleged race-centric issues. After Audie Cornish, host of NPR's "All Things Considered," announced her resignation, her co-host Ari Shapiro claimed it was a "crisis" that NPR kept losing diverse hosts.

Event moderator Audie Cornish (Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)

"It has been difficult this year to say goodbye to @nprgreene @lourdesgnavarro @NoelKing @RadioMirage and more. If NPR doesn’t see this as a crisis, I don’t know what it’ll take," Shapiro wrote.

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In response, Isabel Lara, NPR's chief communications officer, said in a statement to Fox News: "Continuing and improving our diversity efforts is NPR’s foremost priority." 

Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this article.