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Their most watched video, asking students about gay marriage, has drawn more than 18 million views.
The Black Menaces have become one of the most popular TikTok accounts for their videos talking to Brigham Young University students.
Here are the six that have been the most viewed on social media (as well as a couple of parodies that may make you laugh).
[READ MORE: How the Black Menaces are using TikTok to address racism and inequality at BYU.]
1. Asking students: “Do you support gay marriage?”
Views: 18.5 million
This video from early March went viral. The Black Menaces asked BYU students — and one man walking on campus — if they are in favor of same-sex marriage. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which runs BYU, does not, telling adherents that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.
Some were surprised by how many students said they align with the faith’s stance.
“Um, personally, no,” one student said, saying he doesn’t support LGBTQ marriages.
2. Asking white students: “How many Black friends do you have at BYU?”
Views: 12.2 million
The responses to this video got people fired up. Most of the white students who were asked said that they don’t have any connections with Black students at the Provo school.
“Honestly none,” the first girl responded.
3. Asking students: “Should queer students be allowed to date on campus?”
Views: 9.9 million
LGBTQ students are not allowed to date someone of the same sex at BYU, based on the school’s Honor Code. When the Black Menaces asked if they should be allowed to, though, one student struggled to answer.
“Oh, that is a tough question,” she said. “Um, I’ve never really thought about it, so I don’t know if I have an opinion right now. I feel like if you signed the Honor Code, you signed your own name to follow the standards of BYU. So I kind of feel like no.”
She also acknowledged, though, that might be hard for queer students.
4. Asking students: “Do you consider yourself a feminist?”
Views: 8.6 million
Almost all of the respondents to this question said, “No.” That included several women.
One replied, “Maybe I just don’t know a lot about it, and I feel like the views are a lot more negative than they could be.”
5. Asking white students: “Does reverse racism exist?”
Views: 8.1 million
Members of the Black Menaces said this was one of their favorite videos to film because it made people think.
One girl started out by saying, “I think any race can be racist to any race. I think it does exist.”
But as she considered it more, she realized: “I don’t really see any examples of that anywhere.”
6. Asking male students: “Would you ever marry someone who didn’t want to stay at home with the kids?”
Views: 7.3 million
In this video, most of the men asked said they would stay home. The first man asked nodded his head, “Oh yeah, I’d be a stay at home dad. That’d be dope.”
One said he wants to be a doctor, though, and would want his wife to stay home to watch their children.
“I’m going to be working a lot, so it’d probably be better for her to do it,” he said.
And a few funny spoofs …
• Local actor Stacey Harkey, who is also a BYU graduate, jokingly pretended to be a white student approached by the Black Menaces in his parody.
In the video, Harkey furiously typed on his laptop, trying to find the answers to questions they might be asking. In the hilarious bit, he Googled whether racism and sexism are bad.
“What if they ask me if women deserve rights?” he questioned. “What do I say? I can’t just say, ‘Yes’ … If they ask if people deserve rights, just say, ‘I haven’t looked into it yet.’”
He also asked a pretend friend sitting nearby: “Hurry, name three Black people of history. Oh my gosh. Martha Stewart. Wait, no, she’s not Black.”
• Another from a TikTok employee, Colin James Mal, made some laugh, too.
In his video, Mal pretended to be asked a question about basic rights.
“That is a tough one,” he responded.
Then he repeated, “I want to say, ‘Yes.’” Until he added at the end, “But it’s just so ewww.”
• This video from Sami Rose Tansel makes fun of how BYU students never seem to have an answer to the questions asked by the Black Menaces.
Tansel pretended to be one of the interviewers, asking: “Do you believe women should have rights?”
Then, she pretended to be a student answering. The student responded: “Um, could you explain what you mean by that?”
The student then circles around, saying they’re not sure and “honestly don’t know enough about this to really be able to like, make a decision.”
• Even the owl mascot for Duolingo, a language education website and app, got in on it.
In their video, the mascot asked seemingly easy, innocuous questions like: “Are you pro-owl?”
Then, they had employees answer them from “the point of view of a BYU student.”
“I guess I would say I’m pro-listening, and I’m leaning toward it, but that’s like a really complicated question,” one woman said.
The mascot then asked a man, “Should owls be allowed to openly date students?”
His pointed response: “I think if you signed the Honor Code, you know what you signed up for.”
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2022/05/02/these-are-most-popular/