Adele

[angieb89]

I don't understand how she is being culturally appropriate for wearing Jamaican bikini and wearing her hair in a Jamaican style in honour of Notting Hill carnival?
She doesn't seem to be doing it to offend anyone?

Call me ignorant but I would like to understand why some people are kicking off? Seems it mainly African-Americans that are offended and Jamaicans are fine with it.

Seems we can't do anything without upsetting or offending anyone?

For context, I'm white British female.

Adele grew up in a very multicultural part of London. I think this makes a difference as Carnival is part of her heritage too really, something she’ll have grown up celebrating and being part of.

It’s different to some white girl from the shires doing it.

Agreed @OrangeCinnamon1, I see it Black British too. And very very London. We watched the Rampage party yesterday, the soca DJ was a white guy. Have seen the same at Berlin carnival.

NHC is still very West Indian but has Inclusively evolved over time. A few years ago we followed a Hari Khrisna band for bit.

I say it again, it’s African Americans not understanding Black Londoners/Brits.

@CuriousaboutSamphire

Sorry I’m genuinely confused by what you mean?

She's wearing Bantu knots in her hair - a style hundreds of years old that is traditionally work by black women. So when a privileged white woman takes a piece of black African culture and uses it for her social media i.e. part of her job, where she ultimately profits from this, she is misappropriating a component of black African culture for her benefit. Meanwhile black women are facing discrimination about their natural hair and traditional styles such as Bantu knots. Not to mention the broader racism that black people still experience. That is why it could be argued that Adele is guilty of cultural appropriation.

If that still doesn't make sense, there's a good quote - 'if you don't understand cultural appropriation imagine that you work really hard on a project and are given an F. Someone else copies you and gets an A and the credit for your work'.

Some good points re the Bantu knots/hair. Who decided it was ‘unprofessional, and why is it so? 🤔

daily.jstor.org/how-natural-black-hair-at-work-became-a-civil-rights-issue/

@BoomyBooms

She's wearing Bantu knots in her hair - a style hundreds of years old that is traditionally work by black women. So when a privileged white woman takes a piece of black African culture and uses it for her social media i.e. part of her job, where she ultimately profits from this, she is misappropriating a component of black African culture for her benefit. Meanwhile black women are facing discrimination about their natural hair and traditional styles such as Bantu knots. Not to mention the broader racism that black people still experience. That is why it could be argued that Adele is guilty of cultural appropriation.

If that still doesn't make sense, there's a good quote - 'if you don't understand cultural appropriation imagine that you work really hard on a project and are given an F. Someone else copies you and gets an A and the credit for your work'.

Thank you! I'll be honest I've tried so hard to understand what cultural appropriation is, so many people have tried explaining it and it can't seem to get my head around it. This is due to me being a little dense to the English language (yes I'm English! Haha) not ignorance, but your quote actually makes a lot of sense and is helping me understand the issue in hand.

@PonfusedCarent

Black people in the US are being killed and treated differently by not only the police but there is a racial divide growing bigger between citizens. Adele can wear her Bantu knots and Jamaican flag without fear of being killed owing to her skin colour. To society it's "cute" and lovely that she's embracing it but to people with genuine fears for their/their child's/partner's/parent's lives over their skin colour it's not cute.

That is why some people may be offended.

Totally agree with this.

It is infuriating when you see white people pick and choose the parts of black culture that they wish to emulate because it looks good but then can choose to remove them when it suits them.

Black people in the US are being killed and treated differently by not only the police but there is a racial divide growing bigger between citizens. Adele can wear her Bantu knots and Jamaican flag without fear of being killed owing to her skin colour. To society it's "cute" and lovely that she's embracing it but to people with genuine fears for their/their child's/partner's/parent's lives over their skin colour it's not cute.

So, she shouldn't wear anything to do with any other culture but her own and she certainly shouldn't embrace it?

So whatever she does she is going to get criticized - if she embraces black culture she is taking advantage of it and it is offensive and if she doesn't then she is a racist for not embracing it and sticking to her own culture .

and if she doesn't then she is a racist for not embracing it and sticking to her own culture confused.

Who said that?

@Merriden Agreed! I spent a while trying to type out an explanation for why its not the same but you put it much better than I could!

I do think that there is an issue around Americans tending to view the rest of the world through their own prism. A few years ago I was told of for referring to my partner as African. I should have said he was African-AMerican. Except hes never been to America .

Thats not to say that racism isnt a huge problem worldwide and particularly in the UK. Or that Cultural Appropriation isnt a problem. I just dont think thats what Adele was doing.

If the bantu knots were being used as fashion, as part of her job or as an end product that Adele either capitalised on or simply had the privilege to wear without experiencing the negative responses others do day to day it would seem inappropriate.

To wear a traditional hairstyle while celebrating that culture, and specifically citing the festival where this is done is cultural appreciation imo. Its a fine line, but there is a line.

@spandexonmars

Black people in the US are being killed and treated differently by not only the police but there is a racial divide growing bigger between citizens. Adele can wear her Bantu knots and Jamaican flag without fear of being killed owing to her skin colour. To society it's "cute" and lovely that she's embracing it but to people with genuine fears for their/their child's/partner's/parent's lives over their skin colour it's not cute.

So, she shouldn't wear anything to do with any other culture but her own and she certainly shouldn't embrace it?

So whatever she does she is going to get criticized - if she embraces black culture she is taking advantage of it and it is offensive and if she doesn't then she is a racist for not embracing it and sticking to her own culture .

You can embrace other cultures without appropriating them.

I don’t walk around wearing a shalwar kameez but that doesn’t make me a racist. It just isn’t appropriate for me to do so.

Whilst black women and girls are still being routinely discriminated against for our natural hair in the workplace and at school, it is not appropriate for white women to adopt those hairstyles for fun.

Because it’s getting all the ‘good’ from a culture without having to experience all the negative experiences that often come with being black in a predominantly white country , such as institutional and systematic racism, being told your hair looks unprofessional etc because at the end of the day you are white So will never fully understand.

Except in this case it's not.

I don’t think anyone on either side is calling Adele racist. She’s being accused of cultural appropriation by those who are seeing a white woman possibly taking the piss out of ‘black’ culture.

Whereas many black British (of various cultures, we are not homogenous) get that Adele is celebrating black culture as we recognise that she is very much a multi cultural Londoner. I’m sure she’s pictured at NHC every year.

@PonfusedCarent

As a white person I too couldn't wear that into the office though. But you don't need protective styles for your hear to ensure your "messy" afro hair is "neat" and "professional", do you?

Gosh, I don't even think it's the Adele picture that's the problem. It's the tone deaf responses with the argument.

Did you not read the rest of my post?

@RealLifeHotWaterBottle Agreed. If she'd been going around showing of her "new look" and the media was fawning over the bold new hairstyle or her innovative fashion choices I think that would be a very obvious example of cultural appropriaiton. And that is definately something which has happened frequently with white celebrities previously.

@Brocolibean

Of course she is, she is white so will never face the daily systematic racism what comes with being black . So she gets to wear this hair style for the day and then tomo can get on with her life of privilege and not give it a second thought.

@overtherainbow that doesn't surprise me.

As others have said, this is part of Adele's culture too. Happily multicultural, properly inclusive, everyone welcome to partake of the joys.

Unless of course we want to look back at British culture and berate those who were inclusive. It's a bit like telling Terry Hall he's a racist bastard for singing 2-tone, which did, after all rip off Jamaican music. Maybe Pauline Black was a collaborator.

Or just maybe "cultural appropriation" is another of those well meaning protective ideas that ends up being more divisive, dangerous than the behaviour it decries.

She loves London so much she lives in Beverly Hills!

Plenty of black women dye their hair blonde or straighten it, their hair to do what they wish with it. If cultural appropriation is applied to Adele, surely by the same token altering the colour and straightening naturally curly hair, is the same thing. Surely emulating a style one likes is a way of celebrating a particular look. Why is that wrong?

Cultural Appropriation is TERRIBLE and incredibly out of order...

... unless you’re American and your grannies cats gerbils hoovers candle was 1/98 Scottish or Irish of course.

Utter nonsense. She looks fab.

@Merriden

I’m black British with Jamaican parents and I personally don’t have an issue with Adele’s outfit. It’s up to her.

However, when people (usually white) say that is it not cultural appropriation when black people wear blond wigs etc... it is a little different. Often we do it to fit in. We are told that our natural hair isn’t ‘professional’ or looks messy. Black children are still discriminated against in school uniform policies with locs and braids being banned. There was a case not so long ago where a young mixed race girl was discriminated against at school for wearing her hair in her natural afro...

So whilst I do not have an issue with Adele’s outfit, likening black people often feeling like they have to fit in with what society deems acceptable with white people, who when they are usually accused of cultural appropriation are doing so for entertainment seems a bit off.

They are not the same thing at all.

Yes I hate that argument, the blonde hair/straight hair stuff

To be fair, Adele has always been fairly vocal on race issues.

I didn’t know she lived in the US but clearly she regularly comes back for NHC. It’s who she is.

I’m not a fan btw, I don’t know her music but I know of her through her advocating black artists/grime.

Plenty of black women dye their hair blonde or straighten it,

Why do you think that is?