White People and Black People Are Fighting Over Dreadlocks Now
So in the latest viral video to sweep college campuses, a black woman on a college campus confronts a white guy with dreadlocks on a college campus and accuses him of cultural appropriation.
I saw this yesterday and was convinced it was a staged viral video with actors because I didn't believe this could actually happen. But now San Francisco State University has issued an official statement and a million people have watched this video on YouTube and I'm not sure if it's elaborate satire or not. This is how dumb college controversies have become. They're so absurd even when I think they're fake they make actually be real.
Here's the official statement from San Francisco State University:
"We are aware of the video made of an incident which occurred on campus yesterday afternoon. University police were called to the scene of the incident when it occurred. The two individuals involved in the incident are not San Francisco State University employees. Further, no criminal charges have been pressed at this time to the University's knowledge.
San Francisco State University promotes the rights of the campus community to engage in free speech, but does not condone behavior that impedes the safety or well-being of others. We are taking the matter seriously and will promptly and thoroughly investigate this incident through applicable University channels, including our campus student conduct procedures."
My thoughts on the video:
1. I don't believe that cultural appropriation exists.
That is, I believe cultural appropriation is just a made up term that PC bros have decided exists and the PC bro community is running all over the place screaming about it, but when you break down the idea of cultural appropiration it makes zero sense.
I don't believe that cultures can own hairstyles or foods or music or condiments. The entire purpose of America is that we're a melting pot and we steal the best things from everyone's culture and make it our own. Salsa's a prime example of this. I love salsa, chances are, you do too. Could a Hispanic person accuse me, as a white guy, of culturally appropriating salsa because I eat chips and salsa every possible time I can?
If cultural appropriation actually exists, sure. But that's stupid because it would lead to only members of certain cultures being able to eat certain foods. Like, only Asian people could eat rice and only Italian people could eat pasta, I mean this is patently absurd, right? (You may think this is absurd, but Oberlin students recently protested the student cafeteria for appropriating other cultures' foods. Really, this happened).
You could flip it to music too, only black people can listen to Jay Z, only white girls can listen to Taylor Swift and only Jewish people can listen to Barbara Streisand. How dumb is this?
My point is simple here -- cultural appropriation doesn't exist. It's a PC bro charade. The entire point of our country is to culturally appropriate everything and create a melting pot of American exceptionalism.
2. How about the white dude knowing the history of dreadlocks?
This is the most white dude with dreadlocks move possible. Like, of course, he knows Egyptian people started dreadlocks. (Honestly, I have no idea if this is true, but I believed him because I don't know anything about dreadlocks.)
If this white dude knows the history of dreadlocks, doesn't that make him one of the most knowledgeable people about dreadlocks in the country? There's no way the average person knows the history of dreadlocks.
3. Assuming it's real, how about this chick feeling emboldened enough to tell someone that they can't have a hairstyle because her culture owns it?
There's just a random dude walking through campus and she stops him and tells him he can't have dreadlocks. What an incredible decision on her behalf and what a privileged thought process. It takes so much self righteousness to even think of doing this.
She legitimately believes she is in the right and making the world a better place by policing white people's hair.
How in the world have we ended up here?
4. Social media is destroying race relations in this country.
I used to think politics was the worst thing that could happen for social media -- how many people on Facebook do you need to see trying to convince you that their candidate is right? -- but now I'm convinced social media is destroying race relations.
Every race is represented by their worst possible representative on social media. As a result, everybody hates everybody.
Why can't people just chill out?
There has never been a better time to live in America than right now. None of us have ever been safer, none of us have ever been treated more fairly, this is the best America has ever been. If you want to get worked up about things, go join the peace corps and work on issues in other countries.
...
Anyway, assuming these college kids are real, these are the worst college kids in American history.
All of you are pussies.
