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Tom Hanks' son, Chet Hanks, was under fire for declaring the summer season will be a "White boy summer."
Given his history of coopting Black culture and periodically talking in "blaccent"–a manner of speaking that mimics the stereotypical speech of African Americans–Hanks' predicting an entire season would be dedicated to White people was hardly surprising.
The scion of the beloved Hollywood actor's colonizing use of the phrase, as has been pointed out online, was posted on Instagram with the caption:
"Is it bout to be a #WhiteboySummer or am I trippin ???? Tag a REAL vanilla king #Respectfully."
In the video he said:
"I just wanted to tap in really quick; I just got this feeling, man, that this summer… is about to be a White boy summer."
"Y'know, take it how you want."
"I'm not talking about Donald Trump, NASCAR type White; I'm talking about, y'know, me, Jon B, Jack Harlow type White boy summer."
"Let me know you can vibe with that. Get ready, you know, because I am."
You can see the Instagram video below.
Hanks allocating an entire season for White people to own was slammed in the comments.
@chathanx/Instagram
@chathanx/Instagram
@chathanx/Instagram
@chathanx/Instagram
He was further ridiculed on Twitter.
Someone tell Chet Hanks that we’re already several thousand years into a white boy summer.— Kylian Shambappé (@Kylian Shambappé)1616814715.0
Chet Hanks is proof that you can do everything right in the world and kids will still embarrass tf outta you— 🌸🌼🌺 (@🌸🌼🌺)1616814008.0
Are we sure that Chet Hanks is Tom and Rita's biological offspring? Something's just not adding up. https://t.co/2zXXZUsrme— Da Magdalene (@Da Magdalene)1616813501.0
Hanks followed his post with an outline of "White boy summer rules and regulations" on Instagram Stories, which was shared by Twitter user @neurot**d.
White Boy Summer Rules and Regulations https://t.co/bbuCuKusFG— jack 🤪 (@jack 🤪)1616874482.0
The White boy summer movement is a play on words based on rapper Megan Thee Stallion's "hot girl summer" song and internet meme that encouraged women to embrace and flaunt their sexy side during the summer season.
Hanks' attempt at popularizing his own moment, however, fell flat on social media and he was mocked with a slew of memes.
“chet hanks says he thinks its gonna be a white boy summer,,,,, don’t worry not like trump, nascar type of white...… https://t.co/spHeufjRnB— that dumb redhead (@that dumb redhead)1616862129.0
@AverageAnCom @neurotard I thought he meant the Ralph Lauren Polo kind of plaid shirt. https://t.co/K0GraT8y4r— polythene spam (@polythene spam)1616911388.0
white boy summer https://t.co/MbBlEx9wVG— Shakira (@Shakira)1616864534.0
I heard it’s a white boy summer?!? https://t.co/6aF7zx6OrF— I Wanted A Goth Girl (@I Wanted A Goth Girl)1616947009.0
HEARD IT WAS A WHITE BOY SUMMER https://t.co/DNWxI1nPL3— ItsTheReal (@ItsTheReal)1616908975.0
How Chet Hanks is about to make it a white boy summer https://t.co/gh99hjat8c— Rich (@Rich)1616813734.0
White women being cancelled left and right just as Chet declares white boy summer. Something is happening— Mr. Chau (@Mr. Chau)1616868350.0
white boy summer https://t.co/YQ5xONJYgy— Shasti (@Shasti)1616859194.0
the way chet hanks is able to declare white boy summer without a hint of racism is masterful. da vinci at work— raandy (@raandy)1616879715.0
Hanks has defended himself after also being criticized for his frequent use of a Jamaican accent, claiming he was "not trying to offend anybody."
His first use of the accent shocked the public in January at the 2020 Golden Globes–where his father, Tom Hanks, was being honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award.
In a video clip taken from the red carpet, Hanks said:
"BIG UP FIMI WHOL FAMILY SOON COM AT DI AWARDS NA SEEN. CHUNE IN."
After facing backlash, Hanks explained why he saw nothing wrong with speaking in a Jamaican accent.
In a discussion back in February about cultural appropriation in a now-deleted clip called, "Chet Chat Vol. VI (Part 2): Cultural Appropriation", he said:
"If you don't have a problem with a Black person wearing cowboy hats and cowboys boots and loving country music, then why do you have a problem with White people wearing braids and gold teeth and getting into hip-hop music?"
"It's this whole idea of theft, of they steal it from us."