I am the most ignorant person on this Earth but I'd like to say what I think about cultural appropriation.
I get all the fuss over cornrows, they have history, they were part of something important, they were maps that helped the slaves evade.
And I respect this.
But as an half Caribbean black, I grew up seeing my mum's braids, seeing my friends with braids, all kind of braids, even "cornrows".
I came to the conclusion, after studying the evolution in science class, that of course we'll find the same way of dealing with things even in different places.
As the black/mulatto population in Cuba has braids, same goes with the African population, but those braids aren't cornrows, because they don't keep the same meaning or history.
Even tho these braids look the same!
As for the discrimination that some people may have towards black people and their hair, I'd like people to understand this.
My white half would like people of colour to understand that not all white are the same. If your boss/teacher/neighbour doesn't accept you because of your ethnicity, that's doesn't mean other people won't! If you see a person with braids and they seem to like your culture, please don't attack them, the problem comes when they attack your culture and steal just for aesthetic.
My black half would like non people of colour to understand that it's 2019 and globalisation's a thing. You can't just pretend you are the best, you are not.
And please, everybody, don't look at the US as the centre of the universe because as I said, non African American braid hair nonetheless and I feel like a lot less (if not any) schools and workplaces have black hairstyles restrictions in Europe.
[Not to talk about the fact that a lot of aspects such as hairstyles tend to be reflected where they are more in use. The bowl cut nowadays seems almost representative of Asia but it was actually really popular among caucasian young boys in the XX century. Same goes with hip hop, seems as if it came from someone African-American but actually was started by a Jamaican (still of colour, I know, but the culture in Latin America is not the same).]
Everybody can DM or comment this post and say whatever they want, hate is also welcome if there's an explanation.
This is my idea as a mixed child (black cuban- white Italian) and I hope nobody was offended by anything I said. Please do correct anything that may seem offensive.
