Let’s stop with the cultural appropriation already: Johnnie Jae discusses why this kind of behavior is completely unacceptable.
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ELLE UK released the cover of their July Special Collector Edition featuring Pharrell Williams, singer of the hit song “Happy” and ELLE Style Award winner, wearing a War Bonnet. Within minutes of its release, Natives took to social media to voice their disgust at the continuing tradition of celebrities engaging in cultural appropriation and disrespecting the sacredness of the War Bonnet in order to play “Indian” and appear exotic and trendy. Pharrell is just one of many celebrities in recent months to come under fire for engaging in cultural appropriation, previous offenders are Christina “Hipster Boo Boo” Fallin, Wayne Coyne, Emerson Windy, Miley Cyrus, and Cher.
GIVEN THAT IT’S A TOPIC THAT HAS BEEN CONTINUALLY TALKED ABOUT IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS, THERE’S NO PRETENDING THAT IT WAS AN ACT OF HONORABLE INTENTION OR A SIMPLE SLIP IN JUDGMENT. CONSIDERING ALL THE DISCUSSIONS AND RESOURCES AVAILABLE ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CULTURAL EXCHANGE AND CULTURAL APPROPRIATION, THERE’S A POINT WHEN THESE ACTS BECOME A DELIBERATE SCHEME TO PROFIT FROM THE CONTROVERSY.
Although this kind of behavior is relatively normal coming from the fashion, entertainment and sports industries, it is extremely shocking and disappointing that Pharrell went along with their ploy. While Pharrell is predominantly known for being a multi-media superstar, he does a lot of humanitarian work. He is the founder of the From One Hand to Another foundation that funds the Pharrell Williams Resource Centers that focus on helping youth in at-risk communities. It seems hypocritical that someone dedicated to helping under-serviced and underrepresented youth would willfully mock and disrespect the culture of the under-serviced and underrepresented indigenous people.
On June 5th, Pharrell responded to the backlash by offering the following apology:
“I respect and honor every kind of race, background and culture. I am genuinely sorry.
There’s a point when these acts become a deliberate ploy to profit from fetishizing and marginalizing ethnic cultures…it’s almost as if the offenders are encouraged to engage in cultural appropriation and mockery because the controversy results in free publicity.
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ELLE UK has yet to issue a statement. As I mentioned before, there’s a point when these acts become a deliberate ploy to profit from fetishizing and marginalizing ethnic cultures. With the increasing frequency of these acts, it’s almost as if the offenders are encouraged to engage in cultural appropriation and mockery because the controversy results in free publicity, increases the “buzz” factor of the offender, and with a meaningless apology all is forgiven. As you can tell, Pharrell really put a lot of thought into that 15 word gem of an apology, and it’s because there are no real consequences to his actions and there should be.
It’s time we stop settling for meaningless apologies and demand that celebrities and brands be held accountable for their actions. It may seem overkill, but we should still be bombarding ELLE, ELLE UK, American Express, and Pharrell’s label and discussing why this is an issue that cannot be fixed with words. Corrective actions must be taken because the only way to stop this willful ignorance is if the offenders feel the consequences, whether it’s through fines or being dropped from labels and tours or losing sponsorships. At this point, an apology doesn’t it cut it because the magazine will still be released with the same cover and the same disrespectful photographs. Pharrell and ELLE magazine will still be promoting and profiting from their blatant disregard of indigenous people and that is unacceptable. Our ancestors did not sacrifice their lives to preserve our cultural heritage so that vapid celebrities, designers and hipsters could feel superior, exotic and trendy by playing “Indian”.
This article originally appeared on Native News.
Photo credit: Merlijn Hoek/flickr
Well-to-do city folk should quit appropriating the working garb of rural people as “casual” clothes. Rich people should not appropriate the work clothes of working people.
Hi Johnnie,
Can you expand upon the sacredness of the War Bonnet – I feel an article like this deserves to inform those less knowledgeable, like me, about Native culture from a Native member – a quick wiki wouldn’t do it justice and wouldn’t have the power of elaboration or the authority, as in first hand experience and initiation, to fully convey the significance and symbolic power.
Thanks
S
Ah when asked, I usually refer people to this blog post by Dr. Adrienne Keene of Native Appropriation. http://nativeappropriations.com/2010/04/but-why-cant-i-wear-a-hipster-headdress.html .