Is It Cultural Appropriation to Dress Up as a Rapper?

Every few months, there is a discussion on how not to dress up for Halloween, a costume party or music festival. It’s an argument that boils down to: Try not to be racist or disrespectful to other cultures. And if basic respect for your fellow human beings isn’t enough to make you think twice before slapping on a Native American headdress, the backlash after being exposed on social media for doing so may be an incentive for some.

One 17-year-old girl faced the wrath of social media after an image of her costume of a rapper was shared on the Internet. As part of the Homecoming festivities at her school in Clearwater, Fla., Countryside High School student Claire Kempe came in as rapper Kodak Black. For her costume, she donned a T-shirt, cargo pants, sneakers, a denim vest, gold fronts, a watch and a chain, and decorated her body in fake tattoos to achieve the rapper’s likeness. Kempe also styled her hair in Black’s signature Bantu Knots to complete the look.

Apparently, some people were not too pleased with her style choice. “It’s October 2nd and white people are already trying my fucking patience,” Twitter user @sinamonnroII wrote. When people asked why the user was upset by the girl’s look, he wrote, “bantu knots are cultural appropriation gtfo out of my mentions.”

But not everybody was as upset about it as this particular user was, noting that although Kempe was wearing Bantu Knots, it was to portray a character — and one people wouldn’t otherwise recognize if she had chosen a different hairstyle. Bantu Knots are truly a part of Black’s look. Kempe also didn’t darken her skin tone for the costume, so some people found her interpretation of the rapper respectful, considering how it could have gone.

Kempe told the Daily Dot she didn’t think her outfit would be an issue. “People kept saying it was racist. I had never even heard of Bantu Knots until today — I thought I was just doing Kodak’s hairstyle,” she said.

Khloe Kardashian recently came under fire for sporting Bantu Knots in an Instagram post , which she captioned, “Bantu Babe.” Some people on the Internet took issue with her style, even though she called it by its correct name, possibly to avoid accusations of appropriation.

Appropriation is an issue worth unpacking, but sometimes, in the name of social justice, people get a little zealous with policing other people’s actions. It’s like when someone learns a new word and wants to use it as much as possible, without fully grasping its true meaning. As with everything, context is key. Sure, there are times when white women wearing Bantu Knots is appropriative, but there are times when it simply ain’t like that. How else was Kempe supposed to style her hair if she was dressing as Kodak Black? If a white girl wanted to dress up as Janet Jackson’s character in Poetic Justice, she might need a box braid wig for people to understand whom she was portraying. If a black girl wanted to dress up as Marie Antoinette, she’d also need to get the hair right.

Sure, it can be tricky, but this Kodak Black debacle seems like another example of people simply needing a bit more understanding as to what appropriation actually is and when it is a problem.

What do you think? Is this girl’s costume offensive or no big deal?

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