Culture appropriation can be a bad idea, especially if you're a white woman who's decided to wear an Afro wig to a fried-chicken festival. Still, Salon contributor Linda Villarosa says she's indifferent to the aforementioned antics of Michelle Joni, a white female blogger at Before and Afro. Instead, Villarosa writes that African Americans should loosen our grip on the meaning of black hair — who doesn't feel powerful while wearing a crown of big, curly coils?
So maybe you're thinking that I'm going to do more of the same — go off on her, all Angry Black Woman. You want to see me snatch that wig off her ig'nant head and give her a good beat down. You'd pay to watch me force-feed her chitlins and collard greens and ham hocks until she apologizes to all black people — plus our ancestors and unborn children. You think I need to lock her in a room and make her read "The Bluest Eye," "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and "Aint I a Woman" — and then watch "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" followed by "The Help."
Trust, this fakey-dake sistagirl is totally annoying. No thoughtful person is naive enough to think it's OK for a white woman to parade around in a big black afro wig, then slip it off when the mood has shifted. Not in this country. Her blog hits one last nerve, because it's not just about hair; it's about being a black woman in Amerikka and all the hurt and pain behind it.
Read Linda Villarosa's entire piece at Salon.
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