-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Kenyon Martin criticizes Jeremy Lin's dreadlocks, Lin keeps it classy
- Thread starter Rentahamster
- Start date
Honestly, no one in the Middle East would care. We cant. During Hajj, over 4 million people descend on Mecca and Medina from all over the world, and many of them would dress the same way Tyrese did. Go to any mosque in the west, and youll see men of all different ethnicities dress similar. The keffiyeh (head cover) has become a fashion piece that even non Muslims/Arabs wear now, primarily as scarves.
The only thing we have left is insuring our foods are still recognised as ours. *looking at you Turkey and Greece*
They are both examples of cultural appropriation. But cultural appropriation itself is a neutral concept and is not inherently negative. What makes it negative is intent and history. I doubt Katy Perry had any intent to insult Japanese people, but frankly, white people have a pretty long history of distilling minorities to their stereotypes for profit and entertainment all while stomping on their rights so it's harder for them to get a pass on these kind of things now. Lindsay Elllis covered this well in her Pocahontas video essay.
Dreams-Visions
Member
OG Shaka Zulu
Member
Lmao yo Lin played him. Hahaha that dork Kenyon had Chinese tats on his arm when he typed that mess.
cartographer
Member
At least with white people, the ven diagram of people with dreads and people with dreads who are also heavily appropriating some other aspect of a largely black culture is pretty much one perfect circle.
Randy Monk
Member
Also the fact I have yet to see one white person with dreads that don't look dusty as fuck
but that's neither here nor there
Hasphat'sAnts
Member
Spot on. Jerk chicken and Jamaican beef patties are cheap carribean ethnic foods not worth civilized people's time of day but you can bet your ass as soon as a white chef puts their "take" on it it's a trendy cool thing.
It's gross.
Facts
UnemployedVillain
Member
Honestly, I don't understand most complaints of cultural appropriation. They seem more stemmed from a position of disliking the person than them doing anything wrong necessarily. I think it's because a lot of them miss the...exploitative aspect or the ignoring/hiding/misrepresenting of the original culture.
So Lin having dreads of Katy Perry with a kimono don't strike me as examples that fall into those buckets. When I think of it, I think of Chanel calling durags "urban tie caps", or when SheaMoisture had an ad campaign promoting natural hair and proceeded to use a bunch of white models with curly hair, or when designers use styles clearly inspired by certain cultures and don't bother to even have any models from those cultures wear them, or people wearing Native American attire as "costumes", ignoring the fact it was actually their traditional clothing, or chefs creating other cultures food, putting a weird spin on it, and trying to pass it as their own
So Lin having dreads of Katy Perry with a kimono don't strike me as examples that fall into those buckets. When I think of it, I think of Chanel calling durags "urban tie caps", or when SheaMoisture had an ad campaign promoting natural hair and proceeded to use a bunch of white models with curly hair, or when designers use styles clearly inspired by certain cultures and don't bother to even have any models from those cultures wear them, or people wearing Native American attire as "costumes", ignoring the fact it was actually their traditional clothing, or chefs creating other cultures food, putting a weird spin on it, and trying to pass it as their own
StrangeRoboMemory
Member
Lin is okay in my book, always seemed like a very decent dude to me and he came at the whole thing in a thoughtful way.
A couple of the comments on Martin's "just a joke" response post have got me lmao...
A couple of the comments on Martin's "just a joke" response post have got me lmao...
Excuse me it is pronunced "Foe"
Hasphat'sAnts
Member
The people who'd find Jeremy Lin's hair offensive even after reading his article have pretty extreme views and probably aren't really worth listening to.
The examples you listed with Chanel and Shea butter is exactly what's wrong with cultural appropriation. It's taking ownership without actually having engaged with it.
SiteSeer
Member
the gnarliest dreads ive ever seen was on a chinese guy when i visited there in 07. was taking a tour through the country side and we were stopped, i looked out the window and this old guy will huge long aged dreads was just hanging out on the side of the road. i did a double take but before i could get a long look we started up again. that memory remains to this day, it was so unusual.
SuperStiltzkin
Member
What Chinese tats? They are now grid tattoos.
Yea that's a weird topic in and of itself. I understand why it's touchy. But people need to understand that culture is larger than any one race, especially in the melting pot we find ourselves in.
If a white guy loves hip hop and dreads why shouldn't he be able to rock them?
turnbuckle
Member
Goddammit I just laughed so hard I woke my son up.
umop_3pisdn
Member
Cultural appropriation isn't normative, it's a descriptive statement.
And historically the symbolism of dreadlocks had to do with withdrawing from society and not engaging in vanity. What Shiva and John the Baptist have in common is that they're weirdo renunciates relative to civilized sensibilities. Obviously the situation now is different due to the influence of black culture, and no one really wants gross caveman dreads, but I think it can still be kind of a grey area.
entremet
Member
I get that, but it's mostly used in a pejorative sense. The OP article is a good example as used by the Kenyon Martin.
Galactic Barret
Member
Fuck KMart for this. Really. Hypocritical ass.
I've always liked Lin as a player, because he plays with heart and he always seems to give the game his all. Now, I like him as a person. His uncertainty is relate-able and endearing. And I absolutely agree that, if nothing else, minorities need to stick together, elevate each other and have positive discourse on subjects such as cultural appropriation.
I may be biased, as I've loved Asian culture since I can remember and I borrow some of their ideals for my own personal life; I see nothing wrong with him using a "traditionally" black hairstyle, because I put my son's hair into a topknot. These things aren't done out of irony or to patronize, its done out of love and respect.
If we can't enjoy each other's cultures, if we just keep self-segregating and isolating, we'll never obtain peace, for ourselves or our communities. Keep rocking them dreads, Lin, and be proud of them. They look fabulous.
I've always liked Lin as a player, because he plays with heart and he always seems to give the game his all. Now, I like him as a person. His uncertainty is relate-able and endearing. And I absolutely agree that, if nothing else, minorities need to stick together, elevate each other and have positive discourse on subjects such as cultural appropriation.
I may be biased, as I've loved Asian culture since I can remember and I borrow some of their ideals for my own personal life; I see nothing wrong with him using a "traditionally" black hairstyle, because I put my son's hair into a topknot. These things aren't done out of irony or to patronize, its done out of love and respect.
If we can't enjoy each other's cultures, if we just keep self-segregating and isolating, we'll never obtain peace, for ourselves or our communities. Keep rocking them dreads, Lin, and be proud of them. They look fabulous.
The Albatross
Member
Did they even make Kenyon Martin posters after college?
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
*Cough* Greek and Roman Mythology *Cough*.
RedAssedApe
Banned
I cant tell if the poster part was sincere or part of the shade. Lol
Among the things that makes it such an excellent response.
Among the things that makes it such an excellent response.
I'm waiting for someone to take this interpretation of Shiva. I've never seen it before.
BlastProcessing
Member
This is a good joke, I like this joke.
Gully State
Member
Yeah he had a dunk of the month poster in an issue of Slam back in the day. Don't ask me how I know this.
As for cultural appropriation, the issue with appropriation has always been not giving proper respect or citing the source. The difference here is that Lin actually approached it in a way that pays homage to the source. It's fine to borrow from other cultures and build upon it but you gotta approach it with respect for not only the thing one is borrowing but also the people that created it.
More stuff from my boy JLin after the preseason game earlier today(sorry on mobile...)
https://twitter.com/APOOCH/status/916132824218066944
Link includes audio
https://twitter.com/APOOCH/status/916132824218066944
https://www.netsdaily.com/2017/10/5...alk-preseason-win-lin-reacts-to-kenyon-martin
Link includes audio
Durrzerker
Banned
Cultural appropriation is really problematic in a lot of different ways but I have to admit I never understood how it applies to dreadlocks in particular. Isn't there tons of evidence of them being very common among tons of cultures simply because it was a very practical and often ritualistic way to signify certain things?
I'm almost a hundred percent sure that multiple Asian cultures used them waaaaay back, especially Hindus and the Philippines
But I might be outta my depth here and if so I apologize.
I'm almost a hundred percent sure that multiple Asian cultures used them waaaaay back, especially Hindus and the Philippines
But I might be outta my depth here and if so I apologize.
You know those gifts they had to give little kids for losing carnival games.
MHWilliams
Member
It honestly sounds like Lin did his due diligence. The issue with cultural appropriation is not preventing others from never using aspects of your culture, it's about having an informed idea and understanding of where those parts of the culture come from. Lin sounds like he has thought a great deal about the matter and has respect for where the style comes from.
Plus, that's the best of comebacks:
Plus, that's the best of comebacks:
This was Lin's response to Martin:
Hey, I only get my Jerk Chicken from native Trins.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/marlas-caribbean-cuisine-minneapolis-2
https://www.yelp.com/biz/harry-singhs-original-caribbean-restaurant-minneapolis
Shit's delicious.
Gully State
Member
What I wouldn't give to see Linsanity part 2. Wish he would go off on the league like he did those two weeks again.
Dude Abides
Banned
Jeremy Lin is lying. Nobody had a Kmart poster growing up.
Everything he said is so true. Especially the whole minorities need to take each other's side thing, and if they did big changes would happen.
Agreed. When people think of Immigration they only think of Mexicans. In turn even minorities only think of their designated cultural groups when discussing immigration. If Haitians, Asians, Africans, Mexicans, and Latino's all bought in one could argue that immigration reform would be much further along.
I will have to say I disagree with the cultural appropriation a bit. Seeing white folks buy Haitian Art for pennies on the dollar and selling it for hundreds in Miami and New York is just foul. They didn't love Basquiat until he died and could rape his art.
Similar threads
- Locked