Ice-T's wife CoCo Austin copped some braids for the summer. She's not the first white woman to rock the style, but when she said she is renaming them the "Coco Swoop," folks lost it. Get into her ish-starting response about cultural appropriation inside...
CoCo T went and got some braids for the summer. After she got through the tight-scalp pain almost every black woman has ever suffered from, she talked about naming her "new" style the CoCo Swoop.
Commenters lit her Instagram page up with accusations of cultural appropriation. Some of her followers defended her saying no one can lay claim to a hairstyle (white people seem to love telling folks who DO invent things what they can and can't lay claim to). Of course, others offered up an education about why they're painfully wrong.
Now, CoCo has responded basically telling people to get over it and they don't have a reason to take issue with her renaming her braided hairstyle.
This "explanation" right here, though. That's where she messed up. Do you have a right to do and wear whatever the hell you please? Absolutely. Do others have a right to lay claim and expect respect and credit be given to them for what you have taken and repurposed? For sure. A white woman telling an offended underrepresented group what they can and can't take issue with, esp. when it comes to something bred out of their own culture, isn't a good look boo.
Folks aren't saying one is never allowed to wear styles bred out of a culture different than their own. People take issue when you not only refuse to acknowledge where things came from, but you show your entitlement in claiming you invented or even reinvented it. Respect and acknowledgement are all anyone of any culture wants. Learn it.
Photos/Videos: Instagram
