Cultural Appropriation vs. Appreciation Political Theory Essay

Appreciation versus Appropriation: The Stolen Culture of Black Women

In today’s society, race and women’s issues are on a rise. Different race and women’s issues have come into question and the topics have become widely discussed on the news, social media sites, and in mainstream pop culture media. News anchors, night show hosts, talk show narrators, and many more have publicly stated racist and sexist comments about a particular person and subject highlighted in the media. For example, Bruce Jenner wanting to have a sex change started conversations all over the nation. He, becoming Caitlyn Jenner, faced very sexist comments from male anchors like Fox News Neil Cavuto and others have openly expressed homophobic and transphobic ideologies on national television. One example of racist comments made in the media this year is when Beyoncé used black power-suggested choreography and fashion during the Super bowl halftime show. Many people felt as though her tribute to the African American extremist group was unnecessary, “racist,” and inappropriate. However, some believe that this brings awareness and education by discussing these issues. Additionally, these topics need to be addressed to avoid fueling the systems of oppression that already exists. These systems of oppression often intersect with one another which prone the possibility of each construct oppressing another identity within it.

Recent feminist issues and ideologies seem to put down or discredit other groups of women, especially black women. Common arguments between black feminists and the feminist movement is that black women felt as though they were left out of the movement and believed that it is a white woman’s movement. This causes tension between the two racial groups and causes both race and women groups is an example how each construct can continue a cycle of oppression within one another. The Collection Woman Collective from the 1977 expressed their stand against the oppression and marginalization they faced from their women counterparts. One proclamation that accurately portrays their experience of marginalization is “as black feminists we are made constantly and painfully aware of how little effort white women have made to understand and combat their racism, which requires among other things that they have more than superficial comprehension of race, color, and black history and culture” (qtd in McCann 122). Even today, white women have continued to marginalize black women and have adopted their customs and traditions as their own. Hence, the discussions of white appropriation of black bodies have begun. In this essay, I want to identify the difference between appreciation and appropriation as well as analyze three specific examples from pop culture and the media that demonstrate cultural appropriation in our society.

There is a distinctive difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation. According to a writer on Psych2Go.Net, cultural appreciation is learning and giving respect to as well as the understanding of one’s culture. In other words, someone is showing love and seeking knowledge from another culture. An accurate example of cultural appreciation would be a person who travels to Africa to learn their customs and traditions. This person most likely would seek to gain more knowledge and insight on customs Americans have adopted such as wearing a dashiki, dancing, the music, etc. They would appreciate the culture and accept it has it is versus try to add their own suggestions and ways of changing it. Therefore, cultural appreciation is acceptable for both the person learning about a culture and the people who value the culture. In result, there is no controversy in cultural appreciation (“Cultural Appreciation vs. Cultural Appropriation”).

On the other hand, cultural appropriation is the action of taking something for one’s own use or gain, typically without the owner’s permission. When a culture is being appropriated, someone takes a culture’s traditions, ideas, or customs and claiming it as their own without any respect or expectations other than to gain from it. A recent example of this would be Kylie Jenner’s lip kit where she makes a profit for selling tools to people in order to enlarge their lips. According to Bakari Kitwana, author of Why Do White Kids Love Hip-Hop?, there are two different kinds of appropriation: “Cultural banditry” and “acknowledged appropriation”. “Cultural banditry is appropriation that comes in the form of an outsider ripping off another culture whereas acknowledged appropriation is when the outsider emulates a culture and redefines it” (qtd. in Desmond, et al. 389). It is important to examine the different kinds of appropriation to further analyze and address the actions of racist aesthetics in our society.

In this case, Kylie Jenner would be exercising acknowledged appropriation. A reason to explain why this is problematic and many appropriations are due to the stereotypes society has placed on a certain racial group, blacks. Cultural appropriation “can be considered a form of racism, oppression, and exploitation and can perpetuate the idea that culture is free for taking” (“Cultural Appreciation vs. Cultural Appropriation”). Throughout history, Americans, specifically Caucasians, have gotten rid of different cultures from its people as well as taken people out of their own native culture and land. A prime example of this is when the colonists captured and forced Indian natives to assimilate into their new American society. In comparison to Africans, they [the colonists] took their land from them, and forced them to abandon their own customs/traditions by obligating them to the “right” way of acting as functioning and civilized individuals in society (Desmond 130). Later on in American history, minstrelsy performances were created for entertainment for Caucasians while disseminating the stereotypes of African-Americans.

In addition, it was common to make fun of blacks for having huge lips, which opens the conversation up to multiple existing problems dealing with black women’s bodies. According to Derrick Clifton, a writer for the Identities.Mic online magazine, minstrelsy performances were famous for perpetuating multiple stereotypes and over exaggerating the size of African-Americans’ lips, hips, buttocks, etc. as well as them eating chicken, watermelon, and being dumb to evoke humor. In other words, black women and their bodies have constantly undergone criticisms and objectification by society. Matter of fact, these issues existed prior to black face in the 1820’s. During slavery, a slave auction block was a public platform of exposing the anatomy and bare bodies of slaves to be examined by slave masters for labor purposes. Black women’s bodies, however, were additionally examined for sexual purposes. Moreover, many women slaves were objectified and forced against their will to share their bodies to men. A slave by the name of Saartjie Baartman or Sarah Baartman was a black woman known for her large breasts and buttocks who was forced to travel around America and Europe apart of freak shows and exhibits. She was constantly objectified and condemned for her “abnormal” body features which are still associated with black women today. Thus, black women struggle to be free of societal expectations and depictions of their bodies (Clifton).

Furthermore, the stereotypes that black women have big hips, lips, butt, breasts, etc. still exist and continue to be problematic in the American culture in our society today. Hence why many people was offended by Kylie Jenner’s lip challenge that quickly became popular on social media and inspired her lip kit product. The Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge was a social media movement that showed people placing bottles as suction tools to enlarge their lips. People of all races, gender, etc. participated in this challenge that mocked individuals with big lips. Her idea not only mocked and made fun of something that is known as a “black [woman’s] feature” but was to gain profit, attractiveness from it, and redefine the idea of beauty (Clifton). Her lip kit and the comments/critics associated with it are far from antiracist aesthesis. Nonetheless, she was not the first or the last person in pop culture to cause controversy in the media for recreating another culture’s feature or idea as her own.

Another example of cultural appropriation that has caused recent discussions through popular media is in 2013 when Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” music video was the topic of conversation where she is seen booty dancing or also known as twerking. Twerking is a popular dance adopted by Rap and Hip-Hop culture dating back to the 1990’s. In the media, women are usually shown twerking in music videos and movie scenes where partying and dancing was going on. The various women, all are predominantly black, have been called various names and faced negative criticisms for twerking, a phenomenon or tradition that is necessarily valued in their own culture. Black women were called video girls, hoes, and other derogatory names that caused them to be judged, looked down upon, and viewed less than a woman in society. The booty, a body feature that society feels is a black woman’s dominating/popular feature, is the main component to twerking.

Before the word “twerk” came about, people called it booty gyrating, booty shaking, etc. Patricia Hill-Collins, author of Black Sexual Politics, state that “the constellation of terms that surround the term ‘booty’ not only associated with the term but also that historical meanings of Black promiscuity are alive and well in contemporary popular culture” (151). The criticism that was associated with these terms was due to the time period in which the dance propagated as well as the societal and traditional standards placed on women. Twerking in music videos or at parties were seen as obscene, inappropriate, vulgar, and unladylike. However, when Miley Cyrus’ video came out, the media took interest in the “new” dance. They called Miley Cyrus trendy, inventive, and all of a sudden, twerking became the hot dance to learn and do; everyone wanted to learn how to twerk. Therefore, society accepted the dance and it no longer had a negative connation as it did when black women were doing it. However, this angered members of the black community because Miley Cyrus did not create the dance but was receiving credit and popularity for something they judged black women about. In a way, she unintentionally participated in the reputation of the dance which misled others into thinking she created the dance. Both types of appropriation could apply to this situation because her actions and the criticisms of her twerking could be interpreted in both ways.

            In her music video, “We Can’t Stop”, the media called it a new dance technique and the dance suddenly became cute and cool. Many African Americans were confused and mad that people had quickly changed their opinion of the dance since Miley Cyrus, a white female, did it. Lauren Duca, a writer for the Huffington Post, analyzed the backlash of Miley’s performance on the MTV VMA’s later that year. One of the comments made defending Cyrus was from white feminist who ignored the fact that she was engaging in cultural appropriation. Instead, they defended Miley against slut-shaming. In other words, they emphasized “to not take her creativity as slutty behavior” (HuffingtonPost.com). Multiple people saw this as unfair, hypocritical, and even called Miley a racist for her borderline racist comments and behaviors.

Both cultural banditry and acknowledgement applies because she posted multiple videos of her twerking on stage at a Juicy J concert, her actions in her music video, her performance on the VMA’s, her social media, etc. all demonstrated a cry for attention and conscious effort to the mocking of black culture. Nevertheless, I do not believe her intentions were to rip off black culture, to show that she wanted to purposely take responsibility for twerking, or to put down black women as her critics would say. Yet I believe she was attempting to receive popularity points from black culture or give her an excuse to be cool or hip with people of color. This is another common reason why African Americans are upset with Caucasians or other races trying to adopt their traditions and customs.

Another example of cultural appropriation is Kylie Jenner's locs/dreads in her Instagram picture. What makes this problematic is because prior to Kylie Jenner doing it, Zendaya wore faux locs/dreads during her red carpet appearance for the Oscars in 2015. Guiliana Rancic, news reporter from “Fashion Police”, criticized her by saying she “looked like she smelled of Patchouli oil and weed” (People.com). The reporter later apologized after receiving backlash from Zendaya, her fans, and members of the black community. Her borderline racist and seemingly judgmental comment made many people furious. On the contrary, other people agreed that the reporter was right for making such stereotypical statement and believed that having faux locs on the Oscars’ red carpet was inappropriate. While Zendaya and Giuliana concluded their situation, African American hair started to become a topic of discussions.

Later that year, Kylie Jenner added a photo to Instagram of her hair twisted into faux locs. Many reporters and supporters of Kylie and her family’s show “Keeping Up with the Kardasians” fell in love with her hair. They said that she was setting a new trend that qualified under the Bohemian Chic look. The same style that Giuliana and those who agreed with her that Zendaya should not wore that hairstyle was the same style others were complimenting and praising Kylie for. Once again, arguments and discussions rose. African Americans were upset about the fact that Kylie can wear dreadlocks and be seen as trendy and edgy whereas Zendaya was criticized for having hers. This is an example of acknowledged appropriation because Kylie stole or adopted the hairstyle idea from black culture and thought it was cool to wear it. The problem does not rely mostly on Kylie in this situation because there is no black-only anything including hairstyles. The true problem that caused it to be appropriation and upsetting is the audience of critics who chastised one girl from the original culture in which the hairstyle originated and not say anything to someone who is seen to not practice or understand the history of the hairstyle. It is important to examine why one is accepted in society while the other is not.

            Lastly, the most offensive and appalling example of cultural appropriation in recent news and media today is the double life of Rachel Dolezal. Rachel was born to a white mother and father with two adopted African brothers. However, she identifies herself as a black woman. With bronze skin, “ethnic” hairstyles, and college experiences at an HBCU, Rachel has taken cultural appropriation to another level. When someone asks her which racial group she identifies with, she will claim that she is black although she was not born that. She is an example of how far someone can take cultural appropriation; to the extent that they will fake their identity and try anything to fit into black culture. Although her reasons are unknown, her actions were not taken lightly by society. According to Aaron Morrison, writer for the International Business Times, states that she is an Africana Studies professor at Eastern Washington University and was the President of the Spokane branch of the NAACP before resigning after her story broke out. Various picture memes making fun of Rachel and even a game to test someone’s blackness were invented in result of Rachel Dolezal. In this situation, I believe that this was so obscured to people that they found humor in it. However, Rachel may try and want to be black but she will still struggle to understand the true African American woman’s experience because she lacks her own historical knowledge and experience passed down from generation after generation. Her story involves good discussions on racial constructs, cultural appropriation, and problems truly understand and assimilating into black culture (Morrison).

From Kylie Jenner’s lip kit, Miley Cyrus twerking, to Kylie Jenner’s faux locs, I believe that they did not know their actions were already problematic topics between society and black culture. What type of hair one should have or wear as well as hair representing one’s identity are often discussions that those in the black communities examine and fight societal standards over. For example, Julee Wilson, the Senior Fashion editor of the Huffington Post, found multiple studies have come out about what hair is acceptable in the workplace. The results showed that employers tend to hire or prefer black women’s hair to be straight and tamable. The idea and thought behind that is the employers feel as though natural, afro-like hair is distracting and is identified to be associated with a radical black woman. This is a common misconception of black women’s hair and continues to be problematic when they are looking for jobs. Since Rachel Dozelal has participated in this by wearing “black hair” in a firsthand attempt to claim her blackness, she, unlike the celebrities mentioned above, knew the importance and problems of these conversations within black culture. I will assume this because in her experience, she has sued Howard University for discriminating against her (HuffingtonPost.com). Due to her experience, she understands and engages in conversation regarding discrimination against things concerning African Americans (Morrison).

Another hair issue that is often discussed within the black community is the fact that straight hair is associated with being close or assimilated to whiteness. Having straight hair or weave is seen as fitting into societal expectations and standards of how black women should look, dress, and act in society in order to be accepted by them. Patricia Hill-Collins accurately explains “hair texture, a female feature that is far more malleable, also matters greatly in re-creating femininity in the context of the new color-blind racism. Because a good deal of women’s beauty is associated with their hair, this aspect of women’s physical appearance takes on added importance in the process of constructing hierarchies of femininity” (195). Therefore, African Americans, especially women, see and understand the importance of what their hair looks like regarding style, texture, length, etc. Hair is not the only major issue when it comes to dispelling stereotypes against black women within their own community.   

            Body features such as lips, hips, breasts, thighs, butt, etc. have been widely discussed in the black community. Some African Americans find it problematic that the women use their bodies and allow themselves to be objectified for sexual purposes whereas others find it empowering. Black women are seen in comparison to their black men counterparts who value and praise black women for their body features. However, black women are still overlooked and receive lack of support within their own community (Morrison). For all women, their bodies are for their use and choice. However, we live in a patriarchal or male centered society where women do not have a huge influence on what they can do with their bodies. In black culture, women are embraced and praised for having a full body. Hence, if they cannot make ends meet, it is subliminally promoted or taught to do what you have to do even if you have to use their bodies to help them get by. In many ways, one could argue that video girls are similar to prostitutes but get paid to shake their booty in front of a camera which is looked down upon in society. It also perpetuates the stereotypes against black women and their bodies. Although having a fuller and thicker body and body features are valued, health concerns resulting from this continue to be a parallel topic about women’s bodies and health. African-Americans are known from suffering from asthma, diabetes, and heart disease from poor eating habits (Morrison). African-American women struggle with “working towards their own freedom” and consequently, still face these problems today (qtd. in McCann 393).

Many of the problems and discussions existing today can be related back to slavery and minstrelsy which I explained earlier. These problems are constantly discussed in every generation and for generations to come because African Americans go through some form of cultural appropriation on the media every year. Cultural appropriation is a way that African Americans’ culture is taken away from them. Dating back to the times of slavery, civil rights movement, and even today, African Americans have had their culture continuously mocked, disrespected, and criticized. The feeling of losing control over something such as the customs and traditions that belongs to you and your ancestors meaning it contains much history behind them, promotes the authenticity and value placed on them. Thus, African Americans get upset, furious, and critical of the criticisms of their culture and even those who mock it.

            As an African American woman, myself, I took offense to Kylie Jenner’s and Miley Cyrus’ actions against me and my culture. They make it seem as though being black is cool and a thing that they can step away from whenever they want to. Unfortunately, I or any other African American does not have that luxury to choose when and where we can be black or not. My skin color is brown and I am an African American, no matter where I go, people will identify me as that because that is who I am. Being black is not something I find as cool because there are many flaws than benefits that I have as an African American person and even woman. Miley Cyrus, Kylie Jenner, and many other celebrities who, in a sense, want to be involved in and engage in black culture because it is cool and fun do not understand the depths of the issues that African American women face especially when it comes to aspects of our culture. We constantly have to build ourselves up as black women because of lack of support and respect from our black men as well as white men and women in our society. We are taught to be strong for husbands, sons, daughters, and even for ourselves but instead are easily overlooked and taken advantage of.

In result, black women continuously face various forms of oppression within our family dynamics, appearance/beauty, sexual violence, etc. which Patricia Hill-Collins breaks down in her Black Sexual Politics book. Katie Cannon who was quoted in “Defining Black Feminist Thought” by Patricia Hill-Collins stated that “throughout the history of the United States, the interrelationship of white supremacy and male superiority has characterized the Black woman’s reality as a situation of struggle—a struggle to survive in two contradictory worlds simultaneously, one white, privileged, and oppressive, the other black, exploited, and oppressed” (McCann 381). This statement holds truth as the black woman’s standpoint is unique and share “distinctive group consciousness with one another” (382). Thus, someone like Rachel Dozelal and the celebrities that want to adopt or be like black women will not get that same experience or be a part of these unique experiences.

A culture is not something one makes up as they go but the traditions and customs that are generational or passed down over the years. Just like any culture, black culture was developed over time. When we did not have anything else in America to count on, our culture that we adopted gave us comfort and a sense of heritage for our people. For example, dancing and singing (mostly the blues) were ways of escape from fear and freedom for African Americans during slavery. Dancing and singing is a form of expression and love for themselves. Unfortunately, society during minstrelsy saw this as an opportunity to make fun of African Americans and enforce a stereotype onto them.  Similarly to society then, society now does not understand the importance of the history of black culture and keeping its customs and traditions as their own. This is to not say that only African Americans can practice and participate in these traditions but those who are not African-American should evaluate the history and understand the depths of adopting this culture. One must have respect and understanding to avoid conflict and the engagement of cultural appropriation which brings into perspective the ideas of cultural authenticity and ownership (Desmond et. al 394). Both ideologies are debatable and need further examination and boundary lines clarified. In other words, there must be a system or culture created to avoid problems stemming from cultural appropriation and who can or cannot take part in a culture’s art or expressions.

On the contrary, many could disagree with the validity and effects of cultural appropriation against black women. Even if cultural appropriation was for one’s taking, some might argue that there is no such thing as cultural appropriation of African American people especially women because they are already oppressed and therefore cannot obtain their own culture to themselves. More specifically, one could also argue that comments made about women twerking in music videos could be due to the fact that they exploit themselves for the attention of their male counterparts. In other words, many Americans believe that cultural appropriation is a predicament that African American women put themselves in. Black culture has rappers and artists who degrade their own women and the women just allow it. Thus, African Americans cannot tell other people to not treat their people one way but they treat themselves in the same manner. Additionally, other people may argue that Kylie Jenner, Miley Cyrus, and Rachel Dozelal were not mocking black women or engaging cultural appropriation but instead were appreciating black women. In fact, they were admiring black women by aspiring or trying to be like them. All these contrasting views could hold some truth to them depending on the epistemology of the reader and firsthand evidence of those engaged in cultural appropriation.

To complement these opposing ideologies, one must evaluate societal morals and standards of one’s identity. Regardless of any views, morally, no human being should be defined or judged by what they look like or what they are wearing, etc. However, no one should also pretend to be someone that they are not or act according to what they want to be. Unfortunately, African Americans have this problem of choice; they must try harder to combat stereotypes and judgment against them for the color of their skin. Throughout the years, historically, they have been discriminated against and DO have ownership of their own culture, something that has been disrespected and chastised. This is proven from the development of this country and the strength and community created by slaves. As mentioned before, black women face oppression from patriarchy and sexism from their black male counterparts as well as being African-American in society. Patricia Hill-Collins conveys this by stating “in societies that denigrate African ideas and peoples, the process of valuing an Afrocentric worldview is the result of self-conscious struggle…which is needed in order to reject patriarchal perceptions of women and to value women’s ideas and actions” (Desmond 384). This proves that standpoint theory and understanding another’s perspective is important in opening one’s mind and consciousness to the thoughts, actions, and experiences of groups. This theory promotes a move for change and action and thus, is important to note that conversations about celebrities play a big factor to why and how the type of appropriation applies. One must take steps in promoting this change and find possible solutions to avoiding cultural appropriation and promote a change in the way we think about sharing cultures with one another.

There are possible solutions to avoid cultural appropriation. We must get rid of and stop enforcing stereotypes placed on people in our society. From young ages, we are taught to associate certain labels with a particular racial group or gender, etc. We can take steps to find alternative and truthful labels or wording if we must classify a group of people. For example, using replacement words for these stereotypes such as saying positive and proactive categories that promote allyship and empathy are steps we can take to eliminate stereotypes and negative labels. Another possible solution to avoiding cultural appropriation is to be open-minded to discussions and possible disagreements when it comes to who could participate in a certain aspect or tradition of one’s culture. One way of monitoring this would be to have guidelines that are understood by everyone in our society. These guidelines can be enforced by everyone and made into a social norm. It should be something everyone sees as a problem and take active steps to avoiding it.

Society and fans of celebrities who engage in cultural appropriation should ignore or reprimand the artists and celebrities who abuse or violate these guidelines instead of giving them the publicity and attention they seek for their actions and behaviors. In some cases, celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, Miley Cyrus, and one we did not discuss like Justin Bieber, say and do things to fit in and receive attention. Ignoring these unacceptable and discriminatory comments, behaviors, or attitudes from celebrities will eventually influence their fans and society because they are the ones that people look up to and have a great influence on societal standards and beliefs. We also much get rid of claims belonging to or associated with a certain racial group. These claims are different from stereotypes because they contribute to cultural authencity and ownership for other cultures. For example, the belief that African Americans are better dancers and athletes “can be used to reify and naturalize racial divisions that continue to create stereotypes on one group” (Desmond et al. 394). Another example of this is stating that all Asians are good at Math and Science. Therefore, no one should be interested in those subjects or careers because only Asians can participate in them. If people get rid of these comments that force a false belief or standard on a certain racial group, then we will be on the path of taking stereotypes out of our society and possibly eliminating racial biases, discrimination, and prejudices.

In conclusion, mainstream media, social media, and the news are the most used tools for voicing one’s viewpoint as well as advocating for cultural ownership, appreciation and acceptance. It also draws attention to the problems of prejudices, discrimination, and biases stemming from our society that needs to be addressed and discussed to avoid cultural appropriation and other issues that continuously oppress others. People should use these tools to enforce the possible solutions of overcoming cultural appropriation and to also research different culture’s customs and traditions before they participate in them. Simply doing some research before engaging in possible cultural appropriation situations can avoid problems and biases that upset another one’s culture and offends them. On the contrast, these tools can also encourage more discussions and dialogues about what is seen as problematic and moral in our society. Thus the guidelines will be created and mutually understood by people in our society such as celebrities, their fans, etc.

It is possible for white women and black women to work together to eliminate sexism from their male counterparts and the marginalization of each other across racial lines. It is essential that each racial group participates in the activity, authenticity, and beauty of their own culture without another stealing it, mocking it, judging it, etc. This shows respect and an understanding that a culture is important to one’s identity. Additionally, it is important to preserve or keep the traditions and customs within each culture. The sense of appreciation for another culture will come once active efforts of allyship and learning the meanings behind certain customs and traditions are mastered across cultures and entities. Intersectionality is an essential tool for understanding how each entity is appropriate for another entity. In other words, one cannot have respect for one without another. For example, women cannot combat men to fight against sexism but not combat racism to stand together as women. Women must learn to stand with one another without stepping on each other or putting the other one down. There needs to be actions towards progression and the success of women’s freedom and liberation. In a way, we keep each other the cycle of oppression by combatting each other’s views and beliefs in one’s ability and culture. In the end, we all have the same common goal of fighting oppression and having a say in one’s life choices.

Intersectionality has the potential to examine cultural appropriation in cross-sectional groups. In addition, it can explore the way African American women and Caucasian women interact under one entity as well as present possible problems that society places on women altogether. It is essential to note that although I focused on black and white women, there are examples of cultural appropriation of other cultures. For example in recent news, Beyonce and Coldplay filmed a music video in India that contained stereotypical Indian customs and traditions of their people. Moreover, taking steps to eliminate cultural appropriation across groups and finding the possible solutions to avoid offending another culture will help no only the feminist movement progress but all other movements of overcoming oppression as well.

Works Cited

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Hill-Collins, Patricia. Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism. New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2005. Print.

McCann, Carole and Seung-kyung Kim. Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print.

Morrison, Aaron. Rachel Dolezal, Iggy Azalea, and Cultural Appropriation. N.p., 18 June 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. <http://www.ibtimes.com/rachel-dolezal-iggy-azalea-cultural-appropriation-when-admiration-black-culture-1971610>.

Wilson, Julee. Black Women Worry that Their Natural Hair Could Affect Job Retention. Huffington Post, 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/black-women-natural-hair-at-the-workplace_n_2811056.html>.