Dreadlocks on White Folks?

[waltky]

Granny says if Uncle Ferd gets dreadlocks - she gonna kick his butt...

Is it OK for white people to have dreadlocks?
Sat, 02 Apr 2016 - Can it be wrong for white people to wear dreadlocks?

A viral video has started a debate about "cultural appropriation" and the racial politics of hair. The footage picks up in the middle of a confrontation between two young people - one a white man, the other a black woman. The argument centres around the man's hairstyle. Specifically, his dreadlocks. "You're saying I can't have a hairstyle because of your culture - why?" the man says. "Because it's my culture," the woman answers back. At one point she pushes him and tries to stop him from walking away. The video, which has been watched more than three million times on YouTube, kicked off a debate online.

The man was later identified as Cory Goldstein, a student at San Francisco State University, where the video was apparently filmed. During the argument, Goldstein at one point declares: "You have no right to tell me what I can wear." Most of those commenting seemed to agree - many were critical of the woman. "Props to the white dude for keeping it civil," read one typical comment. But beyond the specific incident in the video, what of the charge of "cultural appropriation" - the use of another ethnic group's fashion, art, or in this case, hairstyle? In a later video response, Goldstein made a distinction between "appreciation" and "appropriation".

"When people wear Native American headdresses, that's cultural appropriation," he said, because only people with "high standing" in the Native American community have traditionally been given the right to wear them. (It's this thinking which led the Glastonbury Festival to ban the sale of headdresses, which were once somewhat fashionable). "The fact I have dreadlocks doesn't mean I'm trying to appropriate culture, it means I love and respect their culture and it's something I hold true to myself," Goldstein said. "These things should bring us closer together."

The woman in the video has apparently shut down her social media accounts and did not respond to requests for comments. Her personal details were quickly circulated on message boards and social networks. Alongside the discussion about this particular incident there was also a lot of chatter online about the politics of hair. Yesha Callahan, an editor at The Root, a website aimed at African-American readers, told BBC Trending radio that she didn't agree with the woman's actions, but can understand why some people are uncomfortable with white people with dreadlocks.

"People may be showing appreciation, but they should be careful of sidestepping into appropriation," she says. "I understand where [the woman in the video] is coming from. She sees someone with a hairstyle who's wearing it freely, who probably doesn't get as much push back as she would, if she had the same hairstyle. Sometimes people call dreadlocks 'dirty' or 'ghetto' if they see them on a black person."

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[koshergrl]

Celts have worn dreads for millennia.

 

[PredFan]

It isn't ok for anyone to wear that natty looking shit. You can't wash your hair? Fucking dusgustng.

 

[Coloradomtnman]

It isn't ok for anyone to wear that natty looking shit. You can't wash your hair? Fucking dusgustng.

I have had white friends with dreads, and seen more than a few white people with dreads (this is Colorado afterall) and it is fucking stupid. If you think growing your hair long and not taking care of it is a hairstyle, then put the bong down and get a job, brah.

Black people with dreads, typically, have paid money to have them done by a hairstylist. They take care of them, keep them clean, and have dreadlocks as an alternative to a fro or braids. Looks good on black people, too.

It's when some trustafarian white kid has dreads that it annoys me. I choke slammed a trustafarian shithead cause he was a shady piece of shit pot dealer who dressed like a hippie and talked the talk but was just a slimy braindead scumwad. Treated his girl like shit.

By the way, I'm a white-guilt ridden liberal deadhead with long-haired hippie friends. White people shouldn't have dreadlocks; Rastafarianism does not allow white people, ignorant wannabes.