Kylie Jenner is getting slammed for cultural appropriation again. This time, it’s from The Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg.
Kylie Jenner, 17, shared a new photo of herself wearing cornrows. She received lots of backlash from fans, but it was the comments from actress Amandla Stenberg , 16, that’s been gaining traction on social media.
Amanda took to Kylie’s post to include the following comment: “When u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards ur wigs instead of police brutality or racism #whitegirlsdoitbetter.”
As previously reported via The Huffington Post , screenshots of Stenberg’s comments immediately went viral.
The Jenner teen’s response didn’t address the racial or cultural issues that Stenberg’s comment did. Instead, she decided to clap back at the actress with a weak diss about Jaden Smith . Jenner wrote: “@amandlastenberg Mad if I don’t, Mad if I do….Go hang w Jaden or something.”
Kylie Jenner rumored to have dated Jaden Smith before moving onto Tyga. Amandla recently took Jaden to her prom earlier this year, although it hasn’t been confirmed if the pair is actually dating.
prom. pic.twitter.com/BZVq7TDva8
— Amandla Stenberg (@amandlastenberg) May 30, 2015
It’s obvious that Kylie has already missed the point, especially when it comes to cultural appropriation. This isn’t the first time that the teen has been slammed for appropriating black culture. Earlier this year, Kylie was accused of wearing blackface in a photo she posted on Instagram. The photos showed Kylie wearing bronzer with the following caption: “What I wish I looked like all the time thank you.”
After Jenner received backlash from the photo, she deleted the photo and replaced it with a similar one from the same secret photo shoot, which has never seen the light of day. In the second photo, Jenner addressed the backlash with the following comment: “This is a black light and neon lights people let’s all calm down.”
Back in February, Kylie posted a photo of herself wearing dreadlocks . She captioned the photo: “Dreads” on February 6, which was also Bob Marley’s birthday. It turns out that Kylie’s new hairstyle was for an upcoming photo shoot with Teen Vogue . Dreadlocks are known as traditional black and Rastafarian hairstyles, as noted by Bustle .
Kylie Jenner’s new hairstyle was met with praise from People and Cosmpolitan U.K . Meanwhile, when black women are seen wearing dreadlocks or cornrows, they’re seen as “dirty,” “disgusting,” or “ratchet,” as noted by the Day Of the Girl blog. Black girls and women across the country have either been fired from their jobs or sent home from school for wearing these traditional hairstyles. Amandla Stenberg, Zendaya Coleman, and many other young black actresses have addressed the double standards that black stars and white stars face when wearing the same hairstyles.
Zendaya Coleman was slammed by Giuliana Rancic for wearing dreadlocks at the 2015 Oscars. The former E! News host said that the Disney actress looked like she smelled of “weed” and “patchouli oil.” However, Rancic loved Jenner’s dreadlocks and has called “edgy.”
Jenner’s been receiving all the credit for her “edgy” looks, especially her signature big lips. Giving the reality star all the credit is a mistake, according to Bustle’s Kristin Collin Jackson.
“People of color have inspired numerous fashion trends throughout American history and most often than not, the credit is never given to us. Credit doesn’t have to be an article introducing a trend titled, ‘Thanks, black people, for telling us {blank} is cool,’ but to have Valentino feature at least one WOC in their lookbook would have been nice.”
As for Amandla Stenberg, she’s had a history of addressing cultural appropriation in the media. A few months ago, she released a YouTube video titled Don’t Cash Crop On My Cornrows , which addressed how white celebrities have taken from black culture and have been seen as “edgy” or “trendsetting.” Earlier this year, Stenberg even accused Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry , Taylor Swift, and other celebrities of stealing from black culture.
Kylie Jenner isn’t the only accused of cultural appropriation. Kim and Khloe, even Kendall Jenner were slammed for wearing cornrows in the past, as noted on the previously mentioned Inquisitr article. It looks like Jenner will continue refuse to educate herself on cultural appropriation, and will resort to grade school comments instead.
What are your thoughts on Amandla Stenberg’s comments? Do you think Kylie Jenner should receive criticism for appropriating black culture, especially since she has a large platform? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
[Images: Kylie Jenner via Instagram]
