Amandla Stenberg's Project About Racial Appropriation Will Change Your Perspective

by N/A, 10 years ago | 3 min read

Amandla Stenberg is most famous for her charming and heart-wrenching performance as Rue in The Hunger Games.Â

More recently, though, she made a video for class about racial/cultural appropriation, particularly the tendency in pop culture for white people to appropriate parts of black culture for their own use, and the video went viral. For good reason, tooâ€”it's an absolutely incredible video.Â

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The video is called "Don't Cash Crop On My Cornrows," and it is a must-watch.

The brilliant actress presented the project on cultural appropriation for a class. She started by explaining how certain "trends" that have been appropriated recently are actually things that have a long important history for some cultures.

The way that celebrities have taken these trends are essentially capitalized on them without acknowledgment of their real meaning is what's harmful.

Of all the things people were bothered about in this video, how was this particular moment NOT more alarming?Â

They play on stereotypes that have traditionally been met with hostility when demonstrated by black culture...but become fun and popular when white culture takes these same looks or behaviors.

She shines some light on why people like Azealia Banks feel so angry about white appropriation of black culture, especially how white celebrities use these "trends" without trying to understand the struggles that black people face.

People like Iggy Azalea and Macklemore, who have made obscene amounts of money in a music genre that was borne of the struggle of black people everywhere.

Her point is eloquently made and it's a very, very important point indeed.

And her final question, "What would America be like if we loved black people as much as black culture?" is a humdinger.