Justin Bieber defends his dreadlocks amid cultural appropriation controversy on social media  

by: Tristin Manus

Summary: Recently Justin Bieber has gotten dreadlocks and got severe backlash over the

 hairstyle. Justin Bieber defended his decision to get dreadlocks amid a cultural appropriation controversy on social media. He claims that “[People say] you wanna be black and all that stuff, I’m like ‘its just my hair,’” the “Sorry” singer reportedly told rapper Big Sean..Former fan @fab—nate tweeted that, “I love Justin so so much but I wish he would stop appropriating black culture over. And over. And over. And over again.” This isn't the only time Justin has appropriated black culture, the time he got cornrows with Hailey Baldwin. Many people have been educating him over his wrong doings and he just won't listen to the truth and the oppression that comes with dreads and many other black hairstyles. Sorry Justin, it is never "just hair".

Analysis: Let me break it down for you. Cultural Appropriation :The most simple definition of cultural appropriation is that it occurs when members of a dominant culture borrow from the cultures of minority groups without their input. Typically those doing the “borrowing,” or exploiting, lack a contextual understanding of what makes the cultural symbols, art forms and modes of expression significant. Despite their ignorance of the ethnic groups from which they borrow, members of the majority culture have frequently profited from cultural exploitation. Another analogy: Okay so imagine you stay up all night studying for a super hard test. The next day during the test someone is copying off of you, word for word. You end up getting an F and the person who copied off of you received an A+. That is cultural appropriation. Dreadlocks are specifically apart of black culture, we have been oppressed from that hairstyle: we have lost our jobs and is deemed as unprofessional, we have been stereotyped, kicked out of school and many many horrible things. But as soon as a non black person has that particular hairstyle it is deemed as "exotic", "cool" ,"trendy" which is totally offensive. I, myself have been bullied for wearing black hairstyles, like braids, weaves etc. BUT IT'S JUST HAIR RIGHT???? It"s never just hair people. Cultural appropriation is an extension of racism, genocide, and oppression. So before you buy that native attire from urban outfitters or want to get "boxer braids" aka cornrows , etc, ask yourself these questions: what culture does this style reference and what's my relation to that particular culture?  Why am I wearing it? Who made the product and who is selling it? How accurate/respectful is it to that culture?

link:http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/justin-bieber-defends-dreadlocks-cultural-appropriation-article-1.2587756

For more in depth detail about cultural appropriation: http://www.interruptmag.com/article/appropriation-vs-appreciation