by Shonette Reed
In a weekend Instagram post, the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, Kylie Jenner, posted a photo of herself wearing cornrows, and ‘Hunger Games’ actress, Amandla Stenberg, called her out for it.
This isn’t the first time Stenberg has spoken about cultural appropriation, making it clear that her culture is not a costume in YouTube video posted earlier this year titled “Don’t Cash Crop On My Cornrows.” However, Jenner didn’t take it too well when the actress spoke her mind.
The 17-year-old posted the photo with the caption: “I woke up like diss.”
Stenberg, 16, caught glimpse of the photo and replied:
"@novemberskyys when u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards ur wigs instead of police brutality or racism #whitegirlsdoitbetter."
The “white girls do it better” hashtag was another controversy over the weekend, causing thousands of Twitter users to reply, creating a significant amount of backlash for whoever started it. The timing of this trending hashtag could not have been better. The hashtag featured hundreds of tweets from people calling out white girls on their cultural appropriation.
"Appropriation occurs when a style leads to racist generalizations or stereotypes where it originated but is deemed as high-fashion, cool or funny when the privileged take it for themselves," Stenberg said in her Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows video.
Stenberg took to twitter to rid of the “angry black girl” narrative, stating that “It’s just another attempt to undermine certain perspectives.”
Stenberg concluded the whole discussion with a question to the public. So often black culture, and black women, are appropriated and fetishized. The young actress used her influence to shed some serious light on an ongoing issue, and seems to be sticking to her guns.
Photo: Instagram
Shonette Reed is regular contributor for Coloures and For Harriet from Los Angeles, Calif. With plans to break into the fashion industry as a fashion reporter, she runs her own style blog. Her aim is to highlight the important contributions of women of color in the fashion industry as well as give women of color more exposure within the leading magazines in fashion. You can follow her on twitter @ShonetteReed.
