Reuse Case: Balancing concerns

Many mixed-martial artists, of every racial and cultural background – especially women fighters -- have started adopting the hairstyle of cornrows: tight, low braids. These are traditionally a Black hairstyle. Many Black Americans have expressed that these seem to strike them as insulting cultural appropriation. Black hairstyles have been one of the classical loci of cultural appropriation concerns. The general worry is that Black people who wear such hairstyles are subject to various forms of discrimination and bias – and often accused of being “unprofessional”. But white people who wear such styles appear “edgy” and “cool”. On the other hand, the mixed martial artists simply say that the hairstyle is maximally functional in the MMA ring, and many white MMA fighters who wear such cornrows say that they are wearing them in solidarity with their close friends, who are Black MMA fighters. How do we balance these concerns?

Part of Prompt 07: CC4r case studies (C. Thi Nguyen)