Black metal not Black-metal: White privilege in online heavy metal spaces

Abstract

With an increasing online presence among Indigenous Australians, it is worth examining the ways in which online communication technology allows the persistence of racism and White privilege in these spaces. I draw on my experience of conducting research in online heavy metal spaces to highlight technological affordances which allow heightened visibility and permanence of racism and White privilege. That is, language in these spaces tends to construct White bodies as superior and positions non-White bodies as other. I conclude that the affordances of heightened visibility and permanence in these online heavy metal spaces present new challenges for approaches to the fight against racism in everyday Australia.