Photo: Instagram/Adele
Adele is under fire on social media for wearing Bantu Knots after sharing a photo to mark the canceled Notting Hill Carnival in London. The British singer posted the photo on her Instagram on Sunday, wearing the traditional African hairstyle finished with a Jamaican flag bra top and leggings, leading fans to criticize her for what they term “cultural appropriation.”
The photo was shared with a caption that says, “Happy what would be Notting Hill Carnival my beloved London 🇬🇧🇯🇲.”
According to the critics, Adele is profiting off black culture by going the African way for a carnival that’s not associated with African culture.
A user wrote on Twitter, “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.”
For another user, Adele should be jailed for cultural appropriation. “If you haven’t quite understood cultural appropriation, look at Adele’s last Instagram post. She should go to jail no parole for this,” a fan wrote on Twitter.
But while there’s a bit ambivalence with the term “Cultural Appropriation,” for a white woman wearing an African hairstyle, a quick search on Google reveals that “Notting Hill Carnival represents the resilience and cultural diversity of the communities of London.” Apart from that, Adele is rumored to be dating Skepta, an African-British rapper of Nigerian descent.
While the reason for the criticism is not clearly valid, however, some fans came for the singer’s defense, stating that anyone is free to wear any hairstyle. For instance, an Instagram user with the name Dare Lee wrote: “Black Americans think they are the custodian of ‘blackness’. Imagine people who put on wigs ( thereby appropriating white culture ) and even shaming Africans who put on ‘ashy wigs’ getting angry because Adele did Bantu knots. Bantu knots originated from Zulu tribes of AFRICA. Africans are not angry with her making that hairstyle. Anyone is free to make any hairstyle. Leave this woman.”
In another tweet by Jason Okundaye, the Twitter user defended the fifteen Grammy-awards winner by explaining that she once lived in a black-dominated community. “Adele grew up between Brixton, West Norwood and Tottenham, they have some of the highest Black populations in the country. She’s not some any posh girl from Sussex,” Okundaye tweeted.
