Is A White Person Singing Rihanna Songs Acting Harmful?

If you are White and enjoy Rihanna’s music so much that you sing along to it, now is the time to stop. After all, your “microaggression” might be offending people. At least that’s what a course at the University of Oklahoma is teaching. College Fix has the news.

“A student enrolled in a University of Oklahoma’s human relations theory class sent Fox News’s Todd Starnes some information about the course which, unfortunately, is sadly all-too common these days.”

The article added that the student (who wouldn’t give her real name for obvious reasons) was told that as a White woman, it’s insulting (and even a “microaggression”) for her to sing Rihanna songs because Rihanna is black and from Barbados.

“I was literally told to go sing the Star-Spangled Banner,” the student claimed.

A majority of the comments after the article show that even many college students feel that this course about Rihanna and microaggressions proves that political correctness has gone too far.

“One must be a certified lunatic to be a college instructor theses days,” says Jerry Wilson.

“If I’m singing a Jimi Hendrix song and someone accuses me, as whitey, of microaggression, they’re going to see macroaggression as I smash them in the face,” claims Alan Lindabery.

According to Fox News, the course went even further. The student was given a 100-item checklist to determine how much “privilege” she has. You got “docked” for privilege points if a stranger has never asked to touch your hair. Straight working white guys who go to church get docked for many “privilege” points, while atheists, Muslims, and anyone who works at a fast-food joint get points for not having privilege.

According to the article, some of the items on the checklist include the following: “I am white,” “I work in a salaried job,” “I don’t know what ‘Sallie Mae’ is,” “My parents are heterosexual,” and “I have never questioned any of my identities.”

Some consider it important to talk about unfair advantages one group may have over another, but others think the whole “privilege” movement undermines progress in equality. Many of the commenters under the article at Fox News are also scratching their heads at this course and how it’s not far from typical when compared to courses at other universities.

“Everything that is wrong in this country can be attributed to utter nonsense such as this. Young Americans are being indoctrinated with a point of view that is counter to many of the ideals which made this the greatest nation on earth,” says Oldfitter.

“This is becoming insane. Cultures have always borrowed from each others besides what happened to the great melting pot? Pretty soon we won’t be able to eat Italian, Mexican or Chinese food (unless you are Italian, Mexican or Chinese) because it will be called ‘cultural appropriation,” explains CopperNickle.

The news of this college course dealing with Rihanna and microaggressions caused some sarcastic comments on Twitter.

@PardesSeleh @realDailyWire @UofOklahoma @benshapiro Is it a microaggression when white ppl BUY @rihanna's music, or is that okay?

— SheLooksJustLikeYouJohn (@AsilisArt) April 13, 2016

Some may consider Rihanna the last person to stop white people from singing her songs. It’s obvious that at least some white people are buying her songs as “Work,” Rihanna’s duet with Drake, is the No. 1 song for the eighth week in a row on Billboard‘s Hot 100. Do you think it is insulting for white people to sing Rihanna’s hits? Let us know in the comments section.

[Photo by Brian Killian/Getty Images]