'Hunger Games' star criticizes Taylor Swift, Madonna for 'rampant' appropriation of black culture

[venusian 4,686]

I wish people would just listen a little harder, look a little closer, try to really understand. This girl is so smart. Dismissing her as young, or dismissing the issue as "tired" is so close minded. Obviously this is a real issue that so many people care about, and when you just roll your eyes and dismiss it, in a way you're proving her point.

"What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we love black culture?"

The difference between white women wearing cornrows and Beyonce having a blonde weave is that blonde hair is celebrated no matter who is wearing it, black styles of hair are often seen as unprofessional but once it becomes a trend with white people it's seen as a "cool, new, and interesting" fashion statement.

Most people will see the image of a black man wearing a grill and jump to the conclusion that he's uneducated or "ghetto", but Katy Perry can wear a grill to the VMAs and it's just ironic and amusing  

That's the difference. 

​THANK YOU that is exactly my point and then black people started wearing baby hairs down and it was deemed weird and unprofessional an ugly but then katy walks out with some " oh wow new trend its so beautiful everybody slick your baby hairs!!!11!!11" its bullsh*it tbfh

[Didymus 32,745]

​bc they have adopted it and put into there everyday lives for centuries 

​So basically twerking and other appropriated elements need to be in popular media and mainstream "white" consciousness for an extended period of time and it ceases to be a problem?

That's great news! Then I guess it's no use complaining about it, since it will solve itself in time.

[venusian 4,686]

​So basically twerking and other appropriated elements need to be in popular media and mainstream "white" consciousness for an extended period of time and it ceases to be a problem?

That's great news! Then I guess it's no use complaining about it, since it will solve itself in time.

​yeah pretty much bc when black people do it they called trash or ghetto and when white people do it "oh there just being silly there grown ups they can do what they want" its bull****

[Didymus 32,745]

​THANK YOU that is exactly my point and then black people started wearing baby hairs down and it was deemed weird and unprofessional an ugly but then katy walks out with some " oh wow new trend its so beautiful everybody slick your baby hairs!!!11!!11" its bullsh*it tbfh

​Celebrity culture isn't the same as something you see on the street tho The same mechanics work within one race. Something people think is ugly when it's not seen on a celebrity can turn into a hot fashion item over night. That has nothing to do with anything related to this discussion.

[venusian 4,686]

​Celebrity culture isn't the same as something you see on the street tho The same mechanics work within one race. Something people think is ugly when it's not seen on a celebrity can turn into a hot fashion item over night. That has nothing to do with anything related to this discussion.

​what people see in the media is what inspires normal everyday life trends that they say are in people will follow them

[420 1,042]

*sigh*

[LePetitGAGABLover 21,234]

 

[SychosSoChic 9,995]

Shes only 16. The haters should give ha a break.

​

If you've got an opinion you're well up for slating.

[Vernier 3,786]

I don't have the strength tonight  

[CannaeDrive 3,393]

So basically, everyone should be restricted in what they do or wear based on their skin color? How ****ing ignorant. We're all one race and she thinks that the color of your skin should dictate whether or not what you're wearing/ doing should be based on the stereotype of what skin color or tone you have?  

​I love this post.

[Jed 7,716]

Very disappointed by some of these posts... Once again because some people don't see a certain concept in a certain way it must immediately be considered wrong and "delusional" (the word of choice on this site).

There is definitely a distinction between appropriation and misappropriation. Paying an homage to a genre (rap, jazz, etc.) or  certain style that you like is different than adopting an "exotic" aesthetic just to look cool without having to deal with the negative implications of the people you are dressing as. Now I'm not as eloquent or as well read as some of you so I'm gonna use some quotes that I've found online either through my old English teacher who was a black feminist or just through the cultural appropriation page on Wikipedia.

First, please nobody quote me or argue with me unless you've looked at some of the pictures on this site http://www.thegloss.com/2014/10/17/culture/dear-white-people-review-racist-college-parties-blackface-mexican-stereotypes/ Whether you think these celebrities are guilty of cultural misappropriation is one thing but please don't act like it just doesn't exist. Adopting a "ghetto aesthetic" for your latest style reinvention or your latest party theme isn't, in my opinion, an homage or a tribute.

My best friend in the world is Bengali and she in particular has seen cultural appropriation in her life. She knows many old people in India right now who practice Bikram Yoga as a part of their religious practices. Now over here all these americans are spouting off about "ooh bikram yoga, let's go do some bikram yoga" because it's the latest trend. 

 

I understand that many of you guys disagree with me and the girl in the Hunger Games video but please understand that it's coming from a well intended place.. She isn't trying to own her own culture and say "hands off it's all ours" she's just trying to stop what she sees as exploitation.

[Redstreak 6,651]

Yall get so ANGRY over these topics  heaven FORBID someone told a white a person they can't have their hands all over everything and make stereotypes of it.

[ItsTommyBitch 12,640]

Most of the comments in here . They are some legit "oh, but this is a post racial society, we should all be colorblind" bs . Cultures DO change and merge over time, but its also important to historically oppressed groups to be able to actually retain their culture, for some groups its all they essentially have left after what has happened to them (usually at the hands of white people  #sorrynotsorry) It's not about being "exclusionary", its about respect. And it also isnt universal. Culture itself does not refer to negative stereotypes or actually force anyone of a race to follow the culture.

She spilled some serious tea, and if the fact that people realizing things are wrong or what is wrong in society in a domino effect makes it a "trend" and therefore, not worth caring about, you need to get your priorities straight tbqmfh .

Snarl words do just that, and it takes a little bit of consideration to not just hear something and immediately discredit that  Like, what a terrible attitude to have about something as potentially serious as this. 

What shes saying isn't even new, its something PLENTY of people who are actually apart of said cultures are saying . 

 

EDIT* I will say that some of her examples arent as serious as others though, because it is possible to simply appreciate a culture and not appropriate it negatively  

[Jed 7,716]

Snarl words do just that, and it takes a little bit of consideration to not just hear something and immediately discredit that  Like, what a terrible attitude to have about something as serious as this.

​And therein in the bolded part is the problem. It isn't serious to them. They don't see it as serious and they don't care that other people do. I just wish I could show my professor these posts so she could counter them in a better way than I could 

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

So what happens when black people aren't twerking or eating watermelon?  They're appropriating white culture?..  I doubt black culture is all about grills, twerking, etc...