March 30, 2016

"You're saying I can't have a hairstyle because of your culture?"

At San Francisco State University, a white male with dreadlocks responds to confrontation by a black woman in viral video that ends with the woman's hand over the camera lens.



From the news report:
[Cory] Goldstein says this confrontation started on campus quad when the unidentified woman went to hand him a flyer but pulled it back and said “sorry we don’t want people with your hair here.”...

[The woman] tells him in the video that he is appropriating her culture and when he tries to walk away she obstructs his path.

“Yo, stop touching me right now,” Goldstein says he tries to walk up the stairs. She then grabs his arm to keep him from leaving. “I don’t need your disrespect,” Goldstein says as she releases her grip on him and he walks away. Goldstein understands she and her friend were trying to explain why his hair was a form of “cultural appropriation” but he says her approach was not done in a positive way....
It's interesting that this video went viral the same day that Trump's campaign manager got charged with battery for touching a female reporter who was touching Donald Trump. Goldstein is lucky this is on video. At around 0:30, the woman says something about Goldstein touching her, when clearly she is the one making the physical contact.

Touching aside, hair is a touchy issue. It's gentle of Goldstein to see the potential for positive conversation about the politics of what he calls his "hairstyle."

119 comments:

Anonymous said...

She's a woman. Women don't lie about men touching them. And a Sistah at that. Shame on you for representing that she lied...

Brando said...

Ok, I think dreadlocks are gross on anyone, black or white, but as for the issue of "cultural appropriation" it's complete and total nonsense. Think about where this leads:

1) Are you Italian? If not, forget about eating pizza or playing the piano. And Italians might be on weak ground eating pasta to the extent they adopted it from the orient.

2) Are you English? If not, forget about speaking English! Oh, and since English is derived from Germanic and Latin roots, you also have to have Germanic and Roman extraction if you want to culturally appropriate that language.

I could go on, but it's obvious why this is all nonsense. Culture is all about constant sharing and adapting. This woman is not just a bigot, she's a moron and should be expelled from the school not for violating Mr. Goldstein's rights but because she's obviously too stupid to be in college.

damikesc said...

Tell her he'll stop appropriating her culture with his hair when she stops appropriating his by driving cars, using electricity, using computers, studying at a college, etc.

D. B. Light said...

Every day there is some story in the media that makes me so very glad that I am no longer in academia.

Brando said...

"She's a woman. Women don't lie about men touching them. And a Sistah at that. Shame on you for representing that she lied..."

Of course they lie! Several women lied about Bill Clinton touching them. But that's the only time women ever lied.

Etienne said...

It is never appropriate for a woman to confront a man. Women are to remain a respectful distance, and do as they are told.

tim in vermont said...

Liberalism means freedom to do whatever liberals think its OK for you to do. It's very freeing, not having to think for oneself.

Bob Ellison said...

I feel guilty about the Temple hoodie I'm wearing right now. I didn't go there.

Hagar said...

Since AA brings up the Big Lewandoski again, I will take ths opportunity to state that now, having seen the sequence of freezes from that video, I do think Lewandoski grabbed her hand to pull her away from Trump, but that was not an unreasonable thing to do after she touched Trump, and it was not done with unreasonable violence. So far, OK.
But then he lied about it in his tweet, which was very bad, and he should now resign and spare Trump the necessity of firing him.

tim in vermont said...

What a stupid idea it would be if we demanded that Jazz and Blues musicians stopped using Western instruments and Greek musical scales. It's almost as if she buys into "white supremacy."

rehajm said...

Is the culture she's accusing him of appropriating black people culture or crazy homeless bag lady people culture?

traditionalguy said...

Culture war is still war. And the side that uses the best weapons and attacks the other first still wins.

Why have we submitted to the Army of Women Warriors? What is the end game of doing that uber political correctness?

This is not about Christian mutual submission. This is not about social respect for others. This is about showing Dominance of the weak by the strong. This is an occupation army ruling its conquered territory.

tim in vermont said...

Only Greeks should be allowed to play any music derived from modern music theory, and then only on the pan flute and lyre.

tim in vermont said...

On the bright side, the guy is well on his way to becoming a conservative. I voted for Jimmy Carter, after all, in 1976, and Teddy Kennedy in the New York primary because JC wasn't liberal enough.

bleh said...

Wait, she's a "campus employee" and not a student? She should be fired immediately. This is not a teachable moment.

rehajm said...

It's interesting how people walking by fail to react react as if this confrontation is anything except typical for Tuesday.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I wonder how many students major in both Anthropology and Evolutionary Biology.

Sydney said...

I like the ending. "Why are you filming this?" "For everyone's safety " SLAM!

Howard said...

She didn't look or sound Jamacian.
Bob Marley One Love
I always associated dreadlocks with potheads for Christ, not a budding Angela Davis. We get a lot of these wide-eyed boys and girls in our sleepy little beach town 80 south of SFSU. We call them Trustafarians as their pseudo-dharma bum lifestyle seeking instant karma-schmarma is financed by their worried parents from flyover country.

tim in vermont said...

It's tonsorial miscegenation!

Bay Area Guy said...

Needs a " LeftWing Moron" tag.

Seriously, would any small businessman hire either of these two young clowns for an entry level job? At least the young clown with dreads isn't bothering anyone, but still.

I remember my first job out of college. It paid a meager $8.00/hour. Even back then I knew it was meager. My studio apartment was meager too - not even a stove, let alone a kitchen. Just had a hot plate.

Yet, I had to wear a jacket and tie each day to work. Arrived on time, got myself there (bus or long walk), received no $$ from parents, typed up a few Memos on a typewriter, and learned a lot about office life and the working world.

So, at least College did put me on the right path.

I bet these 2 clueless future SJW's in the video ain't on the right path. That's what leftism teaches. How to be stupid, unproductive, yet really obnoxiously concerned about abstract matters.

Heartless Aztec said...

"They've all lost their minds." John Lennon at the height of Beatlemania c 1964.

PB said...

If it's cultural appropriation we're worried about, shouldn't black folk dress in the style of their ancestors in africa? To do otherwise would be appropriating from someone else.

Will Cate said...

Stupid vs. stupid. In a perfect world, they would just cancel eachother out.

Phil 314 said...

He should be lynched.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Two Rhodes scholars?

sane_voter said...

She needs to be expelled from campus. At the very beginning of the video she asked her partner if he has scissors. I assume to try and cut his hair off, the fucking bitch.

Michael said...

A black woman lecturing someone on cultural appropriation is absurd. How many natural "Afros" does one see these days.

Wince said...

In the words of Joe Dirt...

DANG!

Bobby said...

The other day I went out wearing plaid, and a bunch of golfers jumped me for appropriating their culture.

Wince said...

It's interesting that this video went viral the same day that Trump's campaign manager got charged with battery for touching a female reporter who was touching Donald Trump. Goldstein is lucky this is on video. At around 0:30, the woman says something about Goldstein touching her, when clearly she is the one making the physical contact.

Depends on who the local prosecutor is?

Hillary Clinton donor to oversee case against Donald Trump's campaign manager

The Florida prosecutor who will oversee the battery case against Donald Trump’s campaign manager is a donor to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and part of her Florida “leadership council" — but his office shut off any questions about his political stance 
as “inappropriate.”

A spokesman for Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave 
Aronberg scolded a Herald 
reporter for requesting an interview with the Democrat to discuss how he’ll balance his own political leanings with the politically charged case against Lowell native Corey Lewandowski, 
calling it an “inappropriate 
conversation.”

“It’s an inappropriate request, and we’re not responding to it,” spokesman Mike Edmondson said in a brief telephone call.

Virgil Hilts said...

Organized basketball leagues were started and perfected by the Jews, and dunking was not supposed to be part of the game. When blacks stop appropriating this important Jewish heritage I will start paying attention to this woman's complaints about hair styles.

Hagar said...

The "We need some muscle over here!" professor still does not think she did anything wrong; says she just did not realize how student journalism worked on campus.

MaxedOutMama said...

Dreadlocks in some form or another do have a long cultural history in a band of Middle Europe. Unfortunately Caucasian hair does tend to wad up if not washed and combed regularly. I believe in India also. The Romans spoke about Celtic dreads, and, if you want to make yourself sick, how about the Polish Plait? The "dread" style is probably more culturally rooted in Indo-Aryan cultures than in African. But I would think that anything that human hair can do would be done in multiple cultures.

This is just dumb, but I agree that he was lucky that it was filmed. It has come to this!

Todd said...

Looks like next week should have a "wear your hair in dreds if you are white" day at that day care center (I know it is supposed to be a collage but)...

TrespassersW said...

"Cultural appropriation" is bullshit.

The appropriate response to bullshit is derisive laughter.

Curious George said...

He should have punched her if the face. That's what some people need. For example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg2wMhE0xM4

tim in vermont said...

Seriously. Should whites be allowed to appropriate black genetics through interbreeding? Every time it happens, Africa's DNA uniqueness weakens just a little bit more!

Ignorance is Bliss said...

The proper response:

I'm an American. Cultural appropriation is my culture. What gives you the right to engage in cultural imperialism by trying to impose your standards on me?

MadisonMan said...

@sydney, I also love that at the end "Why are you filming this" "For everyone's safety"

I think she realizes right then how absolutely moronic she does look in the video.

It's unfortunate the man with the hair thinks (per the linked-to article) that he needs to apologize. He did absolutely nothing wrong and was far more restrained than others might have been.

MayBee said...

When did dreadlocks start? I don't see many Africans with dreads.

But come on. She was just trying to explain to him how hateful it is for him to appropriate black culture hair. This is how she spreads love!

Quaestor said...

If a white guy wear dreadlocks (jeez, what a waste of effort) is "cultural appropriation", then a black wearing anything but a loin cloth is also guilty.

Wince said...

Curious George...

"You got a question? Ask the 8-ball."

"All signs point to 'Yes'."

Fritz said...

Battery, by Florida rules, for both of them.

Fernandinande said...

At least the person who filmed it is pressing charges against the violent stupid crazy woman.

JSD said...

Wow, this is Robert Crumb territory. It’s just missing the epilogue with him going home and jerking off to a boot licking fantasy while she’s back at the flop house blowing her unemployed misogynistic boyfriend.

whitney said...

This could be amusing.

If I went a week without brushing my hair it would "dread" too. When I was girl we referred to it as getting a "rat's nest"

Ken B said...

Wow. Althouse objects to hair appropriation. And to think I used to take her seriously.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

He says he does not know the girl, they’ve never met before. He also says he would like to talk with her then apologize and have a more civil discussion.

You know why he is saying that? Because he is now officially a racist.

I imagine he is being hounded on social media for not "respecting" the person who was, according to a lot of Trump detractors, "viciously assaulting him." He was exercising his white privilege and micro-aggressing against her.

In the end he is going to be sent to the equivalent of room 101 for some reeducation and the person documenting the behavior will be kicked out of school for violating peoples' privacy. Because if non-indoctrinated people see this kind of behavior they are going to object to it.

AllenS said...

Black Hairstyles Matter

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Press press press those charges. SEND HER ASS TO JAIL. Does anyone think things like this are uncommon? People engage in unwanted touching all the time. The norm now (the new norm) is to press charges. So fucking press them already.

Will the school kick her out? She used actual violence! She made another student unsafe! Or is all the talk about that kind of thing just Leftist bullshit? Just kidding, of course it's Leftist bullshit (Fen's Law, of course)--those are only useful as tools against the Left's enemies, not against themselves.

Good Lord, in the last week I've had to defend members of the Trump campaign and take the side of a white guy with dreadlocks online. What the hell is going on?


Ann Althouse said...Goldstein is lucky this is on video. At around 0:30, the woman says something about Goldstein touching her, when clearly she is the one making the physical contact.

Yeah, he's lucky there is video proof that this woman was lying then, and the video proof will prevent her from lying to the authorities and ruining his life. How often do you think something like this happens w/o video proof? Lucky is the right word. We give women a TON of power in these types of situations and people like ya girl Hillary say that women have "a right to be beleived," but don't go saying that women get unequal special treatment/deference, now.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Something similar happened to my son as he was eating a Cup O' Noodles on the University of Washington campus.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I wonder how many students major in both Anthropology and Evolutionary Biology.

I think what the woman is doing, in dog training, they call "resource guarding."

A dog can be taught to do it only when appropriate.

Boston Bunker said...

It is worth noting that the first recorded 'dreadlock' style hair are from an ancient Greek kouros statues.

Is it not fair to say that the Africans appropriated Greek culture?

Lots of people have worn dreadlock style hair. From Spartans to Hindi to Buddhists to Aztecs. If anything the African Americans are trying to appropriate the history of the hairstyle from other cultures.

MadisonMan said...

If I went a week without brushing my hair it would "dread" too

I haven't brushed, or combed, my hair since 1980.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I guess maybe another way to look at her conduct is as a sort of vigilantism, enforcing a rule of sumptuary law grounded in custom.

It's at this point that we raise a question of jurisdiction, among other things.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Do you think he has bruises on his arm where she grabbed him?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I now suspect that I'm guilty of pointless resource guarding, myself.

For example, I have taken umbrage when someone uses the word "evolution" to mean "change."

I've always seen that personality defect as pedantry, a mild form of one-upmanship, but now I'm thinking that maybe I should see a dog trainer for a cure.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

It is worth noting that the first recorded 'dreadlock' style hair are from an ancient Greek kouros statues.

Hmmmm, maybe that has something to do with the myth of the Medusa.

Rick said...

At around 0:30, the woman says something about Goldstein touching her, when clearly she is the one making the physical contact.

This should be understood as a threat to make a false police statement. Anyone who does this should be fired immediately and any groups not willing to do so should be excluded from any organizing activity. This would happen if activists groups were run by or largely staffed by decent people.

Melissa Click did the same thing, it's a long standing tactic that is finally becoming provable due to the ubiquity of phone video.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Stupid liberals think the alligator will eat them last. "I'm enlightened and Leftist, no way I'll be accused of racism/sexism/homophobia." Idiots all around.

What happens in the next few decades as the black population continues to dwindle as a % of the nation while the latino population continues to grow. Do latinos put up with the racial bullying from blacks that white people have to put up with now? I somehow suspect they don't now and won't in the future...but I guess we'll see.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I once read some sort of anthropological monograph that claimed that the Rastafarians thought of their dreadlocks as some sort of spiritual antennae.

That didn't seem very credible to me.

dbp said...

When I worked at the University of Vermont back in the 1990's, I would see white trustafarians every day. Maybe black people with dreads are culturally appropriating the style of hippy children from affluent backgrounds.

Fabi said...

"'Cause it's my culture."

Spoken in English without a hint of irony.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Maybe it's time I stopped wearing Oxford cloth button downs.

I thought I was merely putting on airs but maybe it's far more serious a trespass than that.

On the other hand, it's not as if anyone has ever demanded to see my CV before they sold me one.

Michael said...

Anyone else think this video was staged?

Roughcoat said...


Concerning the origin of dreadlocks:

I believe that Hadendoa tribesmen of East Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea)fashioned their hair into dreadlocks, and had done so since time immemorial. British soldiers who fought these fierce warriors in the Madhdist War in the late 19th century dubbed them "Fuzzy Wuzzies" for that reason, inspiring a famous poem by Rudyard Kipling. I'm guessing that the hair style made its way across the Atlantic to Jamaica, among other places, via the slave trade and associated cultural contacts with Ethiopia. Remember, Caribbean Rastafarians revered the Christian dynastic rulers (especially, in modern times, Haile Salassie that ruled Ethiopia.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I had a friend in college who had one of those big hanging diver's watches. He freaking loved it. Thought it was the niftiest thing on Earth. He would save it for special occasions like when he went out clubbing, looking for chicks.

And then one Saturday night at a club some guy noticed it and tried to talk to my friend about diving because he was a diver and thought he'd found a kindred spirit. My friend never wore the watch again.

I always wondered whether the diver-guy's intent wasn't to embarrass my friend from the start.

Rick said...

Here's another (timely) example:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/30/after-alleged-groping-teen-trump-protester-pepper-sprayed-by-trump-supporter-outside-wisc-rally/


Derek Hauger, the Wisconsin man who took widely shared video of the incident and posted it to YouTube, wrote that the man did not grope the girl, though.

“I was right next to this and saw the whole thing,” he wrote. “The man never touched her like she said. She was just looking for trouble.”

A second video, also taken by Hauger, captures a moment shortly before the incident.

In that video, the girl holds up a sign reading “DAMN DONALD. BACK AT IT AGAIN w/ THE WHITE SUPREMACY.” She and another female protester shout “black lives matter” as a much larger crowd of Trump supporters counters with chants of “all lives matter.”

At one point, a man in a Trump hat and sunglasses shouts, “Stop doing crime, blacks, stop doing crime.”

A third video captures the pepper-spray incident from a different angle and appears to show the man who sprayed the girl.


Note there are three videos including before the spraying and none show any sexual assault. Yet the police state categorically she was sexually assaulted.

This girl should be in jail. The pepper sprayer is likely headed there, but I bet nothing happens to her.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Stolen valor.

Well, that's a pretty dumb name for it. You can't steal someone else's valor.

Resource guarding.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

San Francisco State University Student Body (2011)

Black: 5.5%
White non-Latino: 30.4%
Chicano, Mexican Amer: 14.2%
Latino: 9.4%
Asian: 25.6%

Just puttin' it out there...the student body was/is aprox. half Asian or Latino/Chicano. How do you imagine they feel about black activism/whining about cultural appropriation/racial injustice against blacks?

Just kidding, I'm sure they're all super liberal Leftists. Still, even within the Left the demographics have to be scary for certain groups who've always had priority in the grievance game.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Where is Egypt? About 4,000 miles across the desert from the jungle that crybully came out of.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Identity theft. I don't care for that one, either.

If you pass yourself off as me to a third party, I'm still me.

Fraud.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Rick said...Note there are three videos including before the spraying and none show any sexual assault. Yet the police state categorically she was sexually assaulted.

She has a RIGHT TO BE BELIEVED, Rick. What part of that is unclear to you? President Hillary Clinton will straighten you out, you can bet on that.

William said...

From what I understand, pants were introduced into western society by the Mongols. Well, good on them. If you think shorts are a problem, you should try togas. You have to constantly rearrange the folds and keep your legs together when seated. Pants were definitely an improvement......We should feel free to appropriate any cultural artifact that makes our lives easier. This is sometimes known as the marketplace of ideas. That woman was tryIng to close down the marketplace of ideas----on a college campus yet......And, anyway, I don't see how dreadlocks are ever going to catch on in be marketplace of hair styles. Why go to all that time and trouble just to make yourself look worse. Dreadlocks are to hairstyles what Indian food is to good eats.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I didn't care at all for Bo Derek's hairdo in the movie "10."

Roughcoat said...


In Kipling's poem "Fuzzy-Wuzzy" (pub. 1895) a British soldier refers to the "'ayrick 'ead of 'air" typical of the Hadendoa tribemen:

So ’ere ’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your ’ome in the Soudan;
You ’re a pore benighted ’eathen but a first-class fightin’ man;
An’ ’ere ’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your ’ayrick ’ead of ’air—
You big black boundin’ beggar—for you broke a British square!

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

There was an episode of the Simpsons, way back when, where Homer and the kids go to Lollapoluza, or something like that, and Lisa cautions Homer that his wearing one of those knit tam/cap things (red, gold and green) makes "a bold statement" about his "connection to Reggae music."

I thought that was pretty funny.

virgil xenophon said...

BTW, hasn't it occurred to anybody that much of "all of this" is due to the election of one B.H. Obama and the general belief of of blacks that's its now "our time?" e.g., witness the national explosion of low-grade warfare of black on white aggression like "Polar Bear Hunting," etc., since Obama was elected? (A fact the MSM attempts to keep well-hidden from the general public by things like failure to list the race of the assailants, etc, leading to extreme cynicism on the part of whites, as witness to the multitude of cynical comment replies to such stories submitted to the editors of newspapers--when they do even bother to cover these stories--about "Amish crime waves" which in return has led to even more fevered attempts by the MSM to cover up the extent of this problem by permanently closing comments sections about such incidents entirely.)

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

There was another episode of the Simpsons where, at the weigh-in before a prize fight, the first boxer dedicates the bout to his manager, who just passed away. Then the second boxer (who I think maybe was supposed to be Mike Tyson) says, "I would also like to dedicate this fight to his manager."

"You can't do that!!!" and a fight breaks out.

Pretty funny.

Resource guarding.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roughcoat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

People get sucked into arguments about "cultural appropriation" as if there were anything of substance there, when all it is is people of mediocre (or lower) intellect, "educated" well beyond their level of intelligence, engaging in cargo-cult intellectualism.

Roughcoat said...

From what I understand, pants were introduced into western society by the Mongols.

No. Long before the Mongols coalesced into a tribe, long pants were being worn by the Indo-European peoples. And by "long before" I mean millennia. Celtic and German tribesmen wore long pants and, curiously, Roman soldiers (who wore kilts) disdained them as effeminate for that reason. Yes: kilt- and toga-wearing Mediterranean peoples regarded long pants as effeminate! Persian warriors (who were Indo-Aryans, hence Indo-Europeans) wore long pants. Indo-Europeans were wearing long pants well before they started on their mulitple volkerwanderungen from their homeland on the Eurasian Steppe in c. 2000 B.C.

If you're a white man or woman you're an Indo-European (I typically write "Indo-European" when asked to identify myself racially). So, if you wear long pants, you're not appropriating anyone's culture, you're living true to your own heritage.

bbkingfish said...

I have an idea.

Let's compare the behavior of a prominent, high-level political operative to that of a random college student.

Rumpletweezer said...

In the Woody Allen version of this, the guy would pull Eminem from behind a counter. Or maybe Wayne Brady.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

cargo-cult intellectualism

Best description of "cultural appropriation" I have ever seen.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Let's compare the behavior of a prominent, high-level political operative to that of a random college student.

OK, let's do that.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Hilarious that liberals don't get that charges of cultural appropiation will actually encourage white insularity.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Hilarious that liberals don't get that charges of cultural appropiation will actually encourage white insularity.

I've seen white people in the early 20s line dancing in a Lion's Lodge in a small rural town on a Friday night to hip hop music. Wonder how they would react to accusations of "cultural appropriation?"

For that matter, a lot of recent country music has rap in it. Is that cultural appropriation?

Ron Winkleheimer said...

in their early 20s, I meant to wright.

Smilin' Jack said...

[The woman] tells him in the video that he is appropriating her culture and when he tries to walk away she obstructs his path.

He's just lucky she didn't catch him eating fried chicken and watermelon.

ALP said...

There used to be a black musician with dreadlocks that would play CLASSICAL music on a VIOLIN on the streets of Seattle.

Too bad I never smacked the violin out of his hands in the name of cultural purity.

smitty said...

Is Whoopi Goldberg appropriating Jewish surnames?

Jim Gust said...

"I typically write "Indo-European" when asked to identify myself racially"

I usually write "American."

wildswan said...

"Michael said...
Anyone else think this video was staged?"

I wondered if it was staged because:

The guy in the back is audio-recording on his phone so when she shouts "you're using your hands" or something along those lines it would be believable on audio. But at the same time someone else is video recording so you can see that the charge - you're using your hands - is a lie. Unusual.

Then the guy never uses his hands - he pushes her away with his arm. And she tends not to use her hands - she puts her hands over and past his arm in a very invasive way but she doesn't grip with her hands or make a fist or hit him. So if he didn't shove with his arm, she could have got him on assault and he would have to say that she never grabbed or hit him or shoved him.

So this is a specialized way of behaving and that suggests staging - either a psychology class video on space invasion or a SJW video on how to behave at a Donald Trump demonstration. How to provoke Trumpites and get them on assault charges.

Having said that, I add from another comment above:
"Good Lord, in the last week I've had to defend members of the Trump campaign and take the side of a white guy with dreadlocks online. What the hell is going on?"

jg said...

I thought it was staged but that was before I watched the whole thing. 50/50.

Also, who cares. Hair is touchy because blacks are touchy. That's it. Unwashed/uncombed hair goes way back. Like prehistory back.

I also couldn't help but notice that everyone is appropriating US+european culture.

Michael said...

She is a campus employee? Unless this was some kind of stunt for some "Studies" class, I hope she is now a former campus employee. Although being black and female, probably not. She should "check her privilege."

Antiantifa said...

Cultural appropriation is the most insidious bullshit on campus today. Without borrowing from each others' cultures, America would have no mathematics (Arabic, Greek), the Irish wouldn't eat potatoes (Peruvian), the Italians wouldn't have pasta (Chinese). We're all immigrants in this country, even those who crossed that Asian land bridge, and we all culturally appropriate. The zipper in your pants, the grain in your bread, the clothes on your back. It's absurd. As Michael said, she needs to check her privilege!

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

There used to be a black musician with dreadlocks that would play CLASSICAL music on a VIOLIN on the streets of Seattle.

This reminds me of one of the most beautiful things, one of my favorite videos--Bobby McFerrin discussing and singing a Bach prelude coupled with a version of Ave Maria. He even throws in a Jewish joke which amuses all and offends none that I can see ("if you're Jewish and have a problem singing Ave Maria, you can sing Oy Vey Maria"). His smile of pure pleasure at the end lifts my heart every time.

Don't know why we can't just love beautiful and useful things without worrying about where they came from and who has a right to them.

lgv said...

There would be a lot of broke rappers if we took this appropriation thing seriously. Should any black person with straight hair be lectured on her cultural appropriation?

Italians should give up pasta, which was appropriated from the Chinese.

Hillary appropriated an accent to address a black congregation.

The appropriation thing is impossible to define. When does culture begin? It's like the Amish. At least they didn't stop the clock at 50 AD or life would be much harder.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Another delightful cultural point made for this fine Wednesday--an African American and an Azerbaijani singing an aria from an opera about a Gypsy composed by a Frenchman and set in Spain.

But yes, cultural silos are a good thing. No one should borrow, learn from or expand on the ideas of someone whose ancestors happened to be born on this different map dot.

Do these people realize how ridiculous they are?

jr565 said...

We all engage in cultural appropriation. That's what happens when you live in a multicultural society. I eat chinese food, japanese food, italian food, brazilian food etc etc. There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, if I didnt' have these options I'd consider that the society was lesser because of it.
Cultural appropriation therefore is good.
I notice that those having a beef with it only do so when they think their culture is being appropriated. They ignore all the times they themselves appropriate and no one calls them on it.
It seems like its black people who have an issue with other people wearing "their hairstyles". I dont really get that argument from say asian people (some asians might say doing Yoga is appropriating). but in the case of hairstyles, why is there a beef? I really dont get it.
First off, you dont need permission from members of another culture to do your hair anyway you want. Who do these people think they are telling others what is or isn't appropriate asa hair style. I woudl agree that the guys hair looks ridiculous, but its his hair to wear.
We dont know which culture came up with which hairstyle first. Did blacks come up with the dread locks? I was just reading how the dread locks made its way to Jamaica by way of Hindu monks. So, really it was the rastafarians appropriating Indian culture when they took on the dread locks.
If thats true, then maybe black people should stop wearing dread locks. Hmm?
Even if it was Hindus and not blacks, so what? since when is it true that a hair style that is worn in one culture can't be worn in another culture? I've never gone to a barber shop and asked for a hair cut and been told the etymology of the hair cut and then been told that I couldn't get it cut that way because it would be appropriating someone's culture. I could give two shits. If I want dread locks and Im paying you money to give me dreadlocks then give me dreadlocks. That's the extent of any conversation I'd ever have with a barber.

Only no barber would EVER tell me I couldn't have the hair style I wanted. So, my hypothetical conversation would never even happen.

How are black people diminished if white people start having dreadlocks? Does a white person having dreadlocks prevent a black person from also having dreadlocks? The whole idea of cultural appropriation as a negative is logically absurd.

Alex said...

Muh privilege, derp.

jr565 said...


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2015/06/30/misty-copeland-makes-history-as-first-african-american-to-become-principal-dancer-with-american-ballet-theatre/

Strides for african Americans? Or cultural appropriation by black people? You decide. If this guy can't wear dreadlocks I dont see why Misty copeland should be dancing Ballet. did black people invent ballet?
You always hear how Miley Cyrus doing the twerk is racist because she didnt invent the twerk. And somehow somewhere its been proven that black people did (if they want to take credit for such an ugly "dance" go for it. but I dont think they were the first people to ever shake their ass.) by the same logic then, Misty is culturally appropriating when she is doing ballet. and it might in fact be racist.
We should have no more black people doing ballet. Just like we should have no white people doing yoga.

Charlie said...

Kudos to the person who filmed and uploaded this.

walter said...

Would love to know what the flyer was about.
Does the woman stick to culturally appropriate grass tampons?

walter said...

Uh..how many professional sports have African origins?

Lydia said...

They look to me like nothing so much as goofy, very young college kids. And the young woman doesn't look angry; she's smiling most of the time. She's pulling at the guy’s sleeve to get him to talk with her, nothing else. What I find the most unsettling in this is the person with the phone/camera -- what's with the impulse to record every interaction we witness?

walter said...

Hello?
Especially in the extra-legal environment of the Unis, various protected classes get the benefit of the doubt regarding accusations. Absent due process, the only defense is video.

OGWiseman said...

I think cultural appropriation actually is a thing, but your own real hair, on your own head, styled how you dig, is not someone else's culture. If those words mean that, then they mean nothing.

Clyde said...

She probably needs to stop culturally appropriating things like the English language, electricity, internal combustion engine vehicles, indoor plumbing, etc. I wish her well on her return to Africa and living a culturally authentic existence. But keep the cornrows, babe.

Twelve said...

That kid is repellent with his pimp walk and yo and practiced looking gangsta gesticulations. I'd slap him just for being such a calculated fool of a whigger. Cultural appropriation? Maybe. Nobody likes being aped, though. Even though cultural appropriation is a charge aimed only at whites, a fool is a fool.

eddie willers said...

So why is Grace Jones in the video?

walter said...

Well Throop, then you too need to learn your actions might be recorded. Though..you're most likely just a commando behind the keyboard.

Jupiter said...

It's not like he had a bone through his nose.

Maddad said...

She's wearing western clothes.

JAORE said...

Maddad said...

She's wearing western clothes.

Worse. I think those are LEVI jeans.

kentuckyliz said...

So has she been fired yet? Her physical intimidation and asking her friend for scissors has created a hostile environment that does not comport with the community values of a university. She is making the learning environment unsafe for a student.