The Washington Post writer struggled with the topic, saying, “Who can’t identify with a campaign to support the people whose voices are muffled in a culture still dominated by white males?” but then confessed he had trouble fully embracing the food police. He was, however, uncomfortable when, “a white person profits from the cuisine” or “becomes the leading authority on it, rather than a chef born into the culture,” and pointed out that white chefs like Rick Bayless is known for his Mexican cuisine, Andy Ricker for Thai food, and Fuchsia Dunlop for her Chinese cuisine.
If you’re white, I guess it’s racist to cook food other than hotdogs and hamburgers.
Hoop Earrings
An RA [Resident Assistant] at Pitzer College in Claremont, California sent out a campus-wide email telling white students they can’t wear hoop earrings because that too is “cultural appropriation.” She had also painted a sign on a “free speech” wall in the dorm reading, “White Girl, Take Off Your Hoop Earrings.”180
The email read that she and other “women of color” were, “tired and annoyed with the reoccurring theme of white women appropriating styles that belong to the black and brown folks who created the culture. The culture actually comes from a historical background of oppression and exclusion. The black and brown bodies who typically wear hooped earrings, (and other accessories like winged eyeliner, gold name plate necklaces, etc) are typically viewed as ghetto, and are not taken seriously by others in their daily lives. Because of this, I see our winged eyeliner, lined lips, and big hoop earrings serving as symbols [and] as an everyday act of resistance, especially here at the Claremont Colleges.”181
She went on, “Meanwhile we wonder, why should white girls be able to take part in this culture (wearing hoop earrings just being one case of it) and be seen as cute/aesthetic/ethnic. White people have actually exploited the culture and made it into fashion.”182
A writer for Vice News echoed this woman’s sentiments, saying that “Hoop earrings are my culture, not your trend” and cautioned white women to “think twice before you put them on” because “hoops are worn by minorities as symbols of resistance, and strength.”183
Dreadlocks
A white student at San Francisco State University who wore his hair in dreadlocks was assaulted by a black student who claimed he was committing “cultural appropriation” because of his hairstyle.184 The woman, who tried to physically stop him from walking away while she was lecturing him, asked her friend standing nearby if he had any scissors, giving the impression she wanted to start cutting of his dreads right there!
“I felt that I didn’t need to explain myself. It is my hair, my rules, my body,” the white student said after video of the incident went viral.185 But you can’t expect a rabid SJW to understand personal freedom. He was more than polite when she accosted him, and when he finally broke free from her grip and walked away, the woman noticed someone was shooting video of the altercation, and then she assaulted them too, striking their phone.
After pop culture prostitute Kim Kardashian posted a selfie showing she got her hair braided into cornrows, the twits on Twitter erupted in anger and their idiocy made headlines about her supposed “cultural appropriation” violation.186
Pop star Katy Perry apologized for her past “cultural appropriation” during a sit down interview with Black Lives Matter leader Deray McKesson because she had previously worn her hair in cornrows for a music video and dressed up as a “Geisha girl” during a performance at the American Music Awards one year. “I’ve made several mistakes,” she told McKesson. “I won’t ever understand some of those things because of who I am. I will never understand, but I can educate myself and that’s what I’m trying to do along the way.”187
Let’s make a deal with these critics. White people will stop braiding their hair or wearing dreads “like a black person,” if black women stop bleaching their hair blond and stop straightening it too. That means you Beyonce!
Halloween Costumes
It used to be the only people who didn’t like Halloween were a few far-right fundamentalist Christians who see it as a day celebrating the Devil and evil, but now people on the far-left have found problems with Halloween for completely different reasons. Certain costumes and characters that kids have enjoyed dressing up as for generations are now seen as problematic because they are “cultural appropriation” and thus “racist.”
This idea isn’t just something that a few fringe idiots on the Internet are espousing. Every year as Halloween approaches the chorus of complaints gets louder. Just before Halloween in 2016, Disney stopped selling the costume for Maui (a character voiced by Dwayne Johnson in their new film Moana), because people complained it was cultural appropriation.188 The character is a muscular, tattooed Polynesian demigod who wears a grass skirt.
To normal people, the character pays homage to the legends of Pacific Islanders, but some morons got upset and began venting on Twitter that, “culture is not a costume.” Instead of just ignoring these lunatics, Disney pulled the costume from stores and apologized, saying, “The team behind ‘Moana’ has taken great care to respect the cultures of the Pacific Islands that inspired the film, and we regret that the Maui costume has offended some. We sincerely apologize and are pulling the costume from our website and stores.”189
The Huffington Post cheered the move, saying “People shouldn’t wear brown skin as a costume without understanding the experience of brown people.”190 The following year, the Disney costume controversy reared its ugly head again. Cosmopolitan magazine suggested to parents, “Maybe don’t dress your kid up as Moana this Halloween” and said that, “It’s on you to teach your kid not to be racially insensitive.”191
USA Today issued a “guide” on the controversy titled, “Is it OK for a white kid to dress up as Moana for Halloween?”192 Practically half of the Disney characters are now considered offensive. Pocahontas, Jasmine from Aladdin, the crows from Dumbo, King Louie from The Jungle Book, the Indians in Peter Pan, and the list goes on.
One blogger complaining about the Moana costume even criticized Elsa, the star of Frozen, saying that the character perpetuated “white beauty” because she’s white with blonde hair and blue eyes.193
In 2016 when the war on Halloween costumes was really heating up, actress Hillary Duff and her boyfriend dressed up as a Pilgrim and an Indian for a party, and when photos of the couple were posted online the outrage began. She later tweeted, “I am SO sorry to people I offended with my costume. It was not properly thought through and I am truly, from the bottom of my [heart emoji] sorry.”194 Her boyfriend, Jason Walsh, also apologized on his Instagram, saying, “I meant no disrespect. I only have admiration for the indigenous people of America.”195
Amazon.com has also removed certain costumes after complaints.196 MTV News produced a segment titled “12 Racist Halloween Costumes For Kids” denouncing popular costumes ranging from an Indian chief to a “little amigo” Mexican, and even the popular “rasta” hat with fake dreadlocks!197