Another day, another celebrity commits a cultural appropriation faux-par. Adele posted a photo to Instagram today bizarrely dressed in a Jamaican flag bikini with her hair in Bantu knots, um WTF??
The photo of Adele was taken at The Notting Hill Carnival in London, an annual event led by the British West Indian community. The Carnival carries huge cultural significance for the Black community in Britain and is an opportunity to celebrate their identity in colourful carnival dress.
Of course, I literally sprinted to the IG comments and the internet is quite understandably losing their shit. The image reeks of cultural appropriation and is yet another example of white celebrities engaging in performative allyship.
If you are confused about what cultural appropriation and performative allyship are, there are some good definitions amongst other common terms when discussing race outlined by Harper’s Bazaar.
Also, peep this explanation from some of the commenters about why it can be offensive to the Black community.
Many people on Twitter are collectively outraged, but equally as confused. This tweet from Award-Winning Journalist Ernest Owens sums it up nicely.
If 2020 couldn’t get anymore bizarre, Adele is giving us Bantu knots and cultural appropriation that nobody asked for.
This officially marks all of the top white women in pop as problematic.
Hate to see it. pic.twitter.com/N9CqPqh7GX
— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) August 30, 2020
Adele, we love you, but this ain’t it sweetie.
