Justin Bieber Gets Called Out For Sporting Dreadlocks, Accused of 'Cultural Appropriation'

Justin Bieber has stirred controversy with his latest hairstyle. Since he has uploaded his pictures sporting the controversial hairstyle of short dreadlocks on social media, the Canadian singer has sparked cries of cultural appropriation and racial insensitivity. Although, Justin’s new locks have been termed edgy and ‘swags crazy’ by celebs like Jaden Smith, it has not gone down well by the people of colour. They have been offended by the singer sporting dreadlocks as the hairstyle traditionally associates with the culture of black people and wearing them by a white person has been considered offensive and disrespectful. Some sections have come in support of the singer and said that he can wear his hair the way he wants, in his defense.

Stephanie Cohen, the co-founder,and legal and political organiser at the Halo Collective, a natural hair organisation told The Guardian that seeing a white mainstream artist sporting dreadlocks makes her angry because this standard does not exist when a black person simply wears their hair in this way. “You can’t just wear something so historically significant and ignore the struggles behind what the hairstyle purports, ” Cohen added.

She further told that it seems unreasonable for a person to wear something not specific to their culture or ethnicity when he/she doesn’t support minority rights or isn’t consistently an ally to them. “…then they have no right to wear something like locs,” she said.

While the editor of Black Beauty and Hair Magazine stated that annoyance of people of colour arose from the fact that Justin is casually wearing locs which is seen as not respecting the origins of the style. As people still face hair discrimination and stigma for their hair choice “Bieber is seen as a dilettante, a person who’s dipping his toe in the culture, without any real commitment or knowledge of the style’s history."

As Justin’s style created as a storm on the internet, some of the netizens have fiery reactions while others support him. One of the users wrote, “I know you know that. And you’re not a bad person Justin! At all. And the choice to do dreads should be met with accountability."

While another wrote, “I’m so disappointed in you." “Your Black fans are hurt. Wish you would open up and learn," said third. Although many on Twitter also supported him.

Earlier in June, Justin admitted that he been influenced and inspired by the black culture. And he is committed to using his platform to speak about racial injustice and systemic oppression.

Read all the Latest News and Breaking News here