SFSU Student Filmed While Accosting Another Student re "Cultural Appropriation"
 

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...329-story.html

--Are dreadlocks a good example of cultural appropriation?

--Who was in the right?

--Is it justifiable to put hands on someone you believe has committed a microaggression?

Shouldn't good taste apply? I'm not a fan of dreadlocks, but they look especially goofy on white people. No, she's not allowed to verbally assault him over it, but also no, he should stop being a huge dork and just wash his hair. Nobody is shocked, you're not being counter-culture, you're not making a political statement. You're just a dorky white guy who looks like he's trying to hard to not try.

I'm from and reside in Oklahoma. I don't know if I've ever seen dreadlocks on a white person--at least in person. I thought this might be a fairly common hairstyle on the west coast? No judgment. I hear they like cargo shorts out there too.

Anne Lamott.

She's written about her dreads and her church has no problem with her hairstyle. This is IMO much ado about nothing.

Judge not...

I know a man and a woman, both white and living out west, who have dreads and who would've probably punched this woman in the face if she'd come after them. Thinking about it--who cares how other people look? Should black people only wear African clothing? Should I never wear my Guatemalan shirt? Should my adopted Asian daughters not wear American and European styles?

See answer above.

Are you kidding?? NO, "good taste" as determined by anyone other than the wearer, does not apply. If he wants to look like this, it is HIS choice. I don't like dreads on anyone, but this is nothing but my flea bitten opinion. Whatever his reasons for wearing this hairstyle are his alone. The style might effect his life when dealing with other people, but it is HIS choice.

She had absolutely no right to say anything to him, question or berate him, much less grab his arm several times. She is lucky he didn't punch her.

I am surprised at your comment, DubaiSis.

According to Wikipedia this is the historical background of dreadlocks. Seems to have crossed numerous cultures and religions over time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadlocks

DaffyKD

I've a lot of white people wearing them (Grateful Dead concert, anyone?), but am not a fan. HOWEVER, not being part of the style police, I don't think there's anything culturally wrong in someone of any race wearing them.

Cultural appropriation is a real thing, and while it is complicated to determine exactly what is appropriation vs. appreciation/sharing, and/or the consequences thereof, it's really disappointing to see (white) people on this thread dismiss it wholesale.

Of course she had no right to lay her hands on him, but it would be nice if you at least tried to understand why a WoC would see this as a microaggression.

What kind of person obsesses over what someone else is wearing, as long as it's not grossly obscene?

I just now turned around and asked 3 of my (adopted) Asian daughters and the Hispanic one about this and showed them the story. They thought the woman was a jerk and commented that if the guy had grabbed at her, the cops would've been all over him. OK, Hispanic SIL just wandered over and agreed with them.

I SAID taste should apply. And you can't legislate that. The guy can dress absolutely as dorky as he wants. But he'll still look like a dork.

Why are college kids so overly sensitive these days? This is stupid, but not as stupid at the "pained" kids at Emory. Are they really this upset or is this just kids looking for things to bitch about, just to bitch about? And yes, I'm referring to them as kids because I don't think they are acting adult like at all.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ger-feel-safe/

What a load of absolute crap.

And I say that with lots and lots of microaggression.

Well, OBVIOUSLY we all know what a horrible, awful, person Anne Lamott is . . .

"Cultural appropriation" as it's called is nothing more than an attempt by one group to appropriate power over another in an area they've marked off as their territory.

Here's some mad cultural appropriation:

http://images.smh.com.au/2015/08/03/...pg-620x349.jpg

And no one cares, right? Does this video not lay bare the fact that at least some want to use the concept as nothing more than a means to feel like they have power over someone else?

Let's change the facts a bit and say here's a picture of the kid who was accosted:

http://www.costumecollection.com.au/...t-e497a20.jpg]

What now and why is this particular thing hurtful? And if one decides to be hurt by this, why should anyone give a rat's ass? It seems to me that if someone decides they're going to go through life with such very thin skin, then perhaps that's on them?

I really am trying to wrap my mind around it, but I don't get why anyone should feel shame for doing something solely because someone else made up a new thing to get butthurt about.

There's cross pollination anytime you have more than one culture in close proximity. Why is it not seen as a good thing, maybe a sign of respect even, when one group adopts the characteristics of the other group?

Ironic that I was at SFSU when I read this story.
*sigh*
The girl was out of pocket.

100%

What a silly thing to get upset about/offended by!!! And a waste of energy that could be usefully expended elsewhere and for a better reason.

What you saw was not the whole story.

Fuck Anne Lamott, too.

It's not silly for her to feel the way she does. You or I don't have to agree with how she feels but her feelings are valid.

When he started to leave, she should not have touched him.

Oh good grief.

Let's all dig deep to find a way that this fellow's bad hair microaggresively provoked this poor woman. He should be reported to the university race-relations authorities immediately, and a committee formed to examine on-campus hair microaggression. The resulting hair sanctions and new enlightened terminology can be used to inform a national conversation on this all-too-often overlooked societal injustice.

Or maybe she was just suffering culturally-appropriated Dreadlock Privilege with a dash of macroaggression.

This important issue certainly demands further study and attention.

Because the "WoC" is too ignorant to know history?

White people have been wearing dreads for thousands of years.
http://ragingrootsstudio.com/the-history-of-dreadlocks/

If anything, black people are appropriating the style from Egyptians.

What's offensive is that you consider this a microaggression for someone celebrating their own culture. It's like you cannot accept someone elses culture.

Rachel Dolezal = cultural appropriation

white guy with dreads = cultural diffusion

Clearly in my opinion, most people are confusing cultural diffusion with cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation would be taking something from somebody else's culture, using it, and claiming it belongs to the new person using it and not the original culture. Or, in the Rachel Dolezal case, taking aspects of another culture and claiming that you belong to that culture.

Cultural diffusion is the natural transference of cultural aspects from one culture to another. The world does not, and never has, existed in a vacuum. Words, food, hair designs, fashion, etc., naturally criss-cross cultures. And have since time immemorial; and with the advent of technology, will continue to do so.

Whether it looks good or him or not, this kid saw a hair style that he liked and decided to wear it. He's wearing it because he likes it. If he were doing it to mock the other culture (thinking of the "South of the Border" or "Who Rides the Bus" parties that were stupid and inappropriate), then it would be an issue.

No one is supposed to wear a certain hairstyle, unless that hairstyle is specifically from the history of their culture?

No one is supposed to use a canoe or kayak, unless they are Native American or First People (Canada)?

The much more scarier issue is cultural suppression. Denying people the use of their own culture. Think of the Indian schools that the U.S. government used to try and make the Native Americans "white". The same happened in Australia with the Aborigine people and in Canada with the First People. Also, in Korea by the Japanese prior to the end of WWII.

I hope this white guy isn't claiming to be from the culture of Sparta, India, ancient Aztec, Senegal, Niger, Mali, or Tibet- all cultures that historically had people who wore dreadlocks. If he is claiming to be one of these without knowing about them, then he should be schooled on the history.

If this white guy is confronting women or men of color who are wearing dreadlocks and telling them they can't, he is completely in the wrong and I would have no problem with someone holding him down and shaving his head bald.

This is a guy who saw a hairstyle that he liked, whether he knew the history or not, and decided to wear it. He isn't (hopefully) denying anyone else of the chance to do the same or (again, hopefully) claiming that the style came from his culture. If he is looking in the mirror and saying "Damn, I look good", then que sera sera. If I'm allowed to speak French, since my cultural background is Scottish, Jewish, Protestant, and American Indian.

These statements are clearly my own. I have worked with people from other cultures for 99% of my teaching career- 30+ countries. I will never claim to be an expert or that I don't have places to grow, but I do deal daily with cultural differences. They are to be respected, honored, and learned from. Not denied and isolated strictly to one group.

Lane, I have never heard the term Cultural Diffusion, but I knew exactly what you meant and I agree that likely that is what this is.

And I wholeheartedly agree that people, particularly college kids, need to put on their big people pants and stop getting so butt hurt over absolutely everything. "I'm right and you don't deserve to live" thinking is, in part, (IMO) what has caused the political free fall we are currently in. Learn to let other people do things you don't agree with and we will all live better lives.

I have to wonder what it is about skin color that makes hairstyles cultural?

If your hair does something naturally, and mine does the same thing naturally, but we don't have the same skin color, then who is the "aggressor"? And whose culture gets to claim it?

Taking this one step further, would WoC who straighten their hair be guilty of cultural diffusion?

You might could learn a thing or two about writing from her . . .

I'll add my own microaggression and we'll go macro. Unless of course you find that thought microaggressive.

The world is getting more effed by the day.

Actually, the Village People were supposed to represent the most popular gay stereotypes at the time.

And if she was upset, went home and wrote an article or blog post about it, that would have been fine. Verbally and physically assaulting some random person is NOT fine and having experienced it myself, this video made me extremely upset to watch.

You created a new identity just to say that to me? You might as well have said it under your real name, as there's no screen name on this site which means anything to me.

I thought the use of the phrase "might could" when criticizing someone else's writing pretty much negated the validity of the post.