What does the controversial RCTA term mean on TikTok?

The controversial term RCTA has been appearing across the short-form video platform TikTok, but what does it stand for?

On TikTok and other social media platforms, acronyms become popular as a way of referencing a particular topic without having to use the full name, whether that be to save time or to avoid the apps restricting the content.

Some terms can be controversial, but recently the acronym “RCTA” has been used to discuss an issue that is problematic in itself.

It has been trending as people use the term to discuss a particular issue that is troubling.

What does “RCTA” mean?

On TikTok, the acronym “RCTA” stands for “Race Change To Another” and refers to the phenomenon of people attempting to transition from the race they were born.

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It is also known as “transracial” or “Ethnicity Change To Another” (ECTA), with some high-profile infamous cases including Rachel Dolezal, who presented herself as a black woman despite being white, and Oli London, a white man who attempted to “transition” to Korean with plastic surgery.

People who identify as part of the RCTA community often wish to transition to East-Asian ethnicities thanks to the popularity of K-Pop and other East-Asian-derived forms of entertainment.

But, they have been widely criticised on TikTok with many people using the term RCTA to discuss the harm the controversial community is doing.

Video overlaying on clip read: “Just a reminder RCTA isn’t valid and is racist.”

Another commented: “Notice how they always wanna be [East Asian] too.”

“They all act like [East Asian] people aren’t oppressed too,” someone else argued.

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