ALLURE MAGAZINE IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
DEBATE, AFTER THEY FEATURED A TUTORIAL ARTICLE TEACHING
WHITE WOMEN WITH FINE, SILKY HAIR, HOW TO HAVE AN AFRO.
SO, THEY SPECIFICALLY FEATURED A WHITE MODEL, WHO IS ñ
IT'S INCREDIBLE, BECAUSE WITH THE AFRO SHE LOOKS BIRACIAL, BUT
WITHOUT THE AFRO SHE LOOKS LIKE THE WHITEST WOMAN ON THE PLANET.
THERE IS THE EXAMPLE.
THE ARTICLE MADE IT SEEM LIKE AN AFRO WAS A COSTUME, OR A
TRENDSETTING THING, OR A WAY TO BE EDGY.
THEY DID NOT MENTION
ANYTHING ABOUT THE SYMBOLISM OF AN AFRO.
OF COURSE IT WAS A
HUGE SYMBOLIC THING FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY DURING THE CIVIL
RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
MEN AND WOMEN WOULD WEAR THEIR HAIR IN AN AFRO
TO MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT BLACK PRIDE.
THIS OPENS UP THE
DISCUSSION ABOUT CULTURAL
APPROPRIATION, SOMETHING WE DISCUSSED ON THE SHOW ABOUT
KYLIE JENNER AND HER HAIR BEING IN CORNROWS.
IT IS A VERY
COMPLEX ISSUE, BUT THE DEEPER
YOU DELVE INTO IT, YOU REALIZE THAT CULTURAL APPROPRIATION IS A
REALLY BIG PROBLEM.
THE REASON WHY IS THAT THERE IS A DOUBLE
STANDARD OF BEAUTY.
WHITE WOMEN GET AWAY WITH DOING THESE
HAIRSTYLES, WHEREAS A BLACK
WOMAN IS CRITICIZED.
A WHITE WOMAN IS BEING EDGY, OR BREAKING STYLE TRENDS, BUT
A BLACK WOMAN HAS TO CHANGE HER HAIR STYLED TO GET A JOB,
OR SOMETHING SIMILAR.
>> I AGREE WITH YOU, IT IS INSENSITIVE.
IF YOU ARE GOING
TO DO THE ARTICLE, YOU NEED TO MAKE REFERENCE TO THE
AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE, THE
BLACK CULTURE.
OUR EXPERIENCE IS, WHAT THIS MEANT TO US.
ALSO, IT IS JUST AS EASY TO HAVE A WHITE MODEL, PUT A BLACK MODEL
NEXT TO HER, OR A BLACK HAIR STYLIST, AND HAVE EVERYONE BE
INVOLVED IN THIS CONVERSATION.
WHEN YOU EXCLUDE THE
AFRICAN-AMERICAN, WHOSE HAIR WOULD NATURALLY BE KINKY AND
CURLY AND GOING TO THE FORM OF AN AFRO, AND SAY THAT THIS IS A
NEW FASHION TREND, THAT IS THE ISSUE.
THAT IS WHEN THIS
BECOMES A PROBLEM.
INCLUDE EVERYONE IN THE CONVERSATION, AND DON'T
MAKE IT SEEM LIKE YOU ARE TAKING AWAY FROM OUR CULTURE, AND
WHAT MEANS SO MUCH TO US.
>> THE BIGGEST ISSUE IS THE DOUBLE STANDARD.
THE DISCRIMINATION THAT BLACK WOMEN FACE FOR DOING THE
EXACT SAME THING THAT AL GORE IS APPLYING FOR WHITE WOMEN.
BECKER, WHAT DO YOU THINK?
>> YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT HOW BLURRED THE AREA BETWEEN
CULTURAL EXCHANGE AND CULTURAL
APPROPRIATION REALLY IS.
THAT AREA IS SO TENUOUS, AND IT ALL
DEPENDS ON HOW YOU INTERACT.
I THINK YOU ARE SO RIGHT KARAMO,
WHEN THE BLACK COMMUNITY IS EXCLUDED FROM THE CONVERSATION
ENTIRELY, THEY DON'T TALK AT ALL ABOUT THE CONTEXT OR THE
RICHNESS OF THIS TRADITION, IT IS NOT JUST A HAIRSTYLE.
THE
FACT THAT IT WAS THE STYLE SECTION, RETRO-MODERN 70S LOOK,
WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT THE CONTEXT OF THE 70S, THE BLACK
POWER MOVEMENT, IT'S JUST LIKE, THIS IS SO TONE DEAF AND
INSENSITIVE.
THAT WAS A MOMENT THAT COULD HAVE BEEN A CULTURAL
EXCHANGE, THAT'S TURNED INTO
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION.
IT IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE, THE
MORE YOU DIG INTO IT, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE WHITE, YOU DON'T SEE
IT.
YOU WALK AROUND WITH WHITE
PRIVILEGE CONSTANTLY, AND SO I WATCH THESE VIDEOS, AND I HAVE
TO CONSTANTLY EDUCATE MYSELF TO UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFICULT IT IS,
AND HOW IT FEELS AS A BLACK WOMAN TO WATCH A LOWER MAGAZINE
PUT THAT IN AN ARTICLE, OR A WHITE CELEBRITY SAYING, WHITE
GIRLS DO IT BETTER, WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMICS.
>> WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE STORY ON THE SURFACE, I KNOW WHAT THE
ARGUMENT IS, BECAUSE A MONTH AGO I WOULD HAVE MADE THIS ARGUMENT.
THANKFULLY PEOPLE CALLED ME OUT AND I EDUCATED MYSELF, BUT IF
YOU ARE NOT DELVING INTO THE ISSUE OF CULTURAL APPROPRIATION,
YOU WILL LOOK INTO A STORY LIKE
THIS AND BE LIKE, WHAT THE FUCK?
WHITE PEOPLE ARE CELEBRATING
BLACK CULTURE AND GETTING CRITICIZED, WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?
BUT THEN I LOOKED INTO IT, AND YOU ARE LIKE, WHITE PEOPLE GET
TO THIS AND THEY ARE CELEBRATED.
BLACK PEOPLE DO THIS BECAUSE IT
IS PART OF THEIR CULTURE, AND THEY GET CRITICIZED FOR IT.
IT
REMINDS ME OF A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE WHO HAS BEAUTIFUL HAIR THAT
SHE WOULD WEAR IN AN AFRO.