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I’ll probably regret this, but let’s do it. There is a reason that a certain contingent of white people insist on using hairstyles most reflective of Black hair in AC; & their insistence of the innocent nature of the act is a form of gaslighting in the highest degree. Thread 
Spoiler alert: it’s racism. Although some will decry that, it is. But the specifics are complicated.
There are 3 different convos embedded in this issue:
1. The pathology behind the issue
2. Why it’s a problem in real life
3. Why it’s a problem in the digital space
There are 3 different convos embedded in this issue:
1. The pathology behind the issue
2. Why it’s a problem in real life
3. Why it’s a problem in the digital space
First, the U.S. but the world broadly was built on white supremacy. This goes all the way back to English imperialism and when Britain tried to colonize the world.
The short of it, white people are used to being in control and having unfettered access, to everything. Always.
The short of it, white people are used to being in control and having unfettered access, to everything. Always.
For example, remember when (and it’s ongoing) the debate around if white people should get to say the N-word? Like that’s an actual debate, often argued with the logic “well y’all say it so I should be able to” for some of us that sounds absurd, to other it’s reasonable.
However, that desire is rooted in whiteness. Coates stated: “When you’re white in this country, you’re taught that everything belongs to you. You think you have a right to everything. … You’re conditioned this way. It’s not because your hair is a texture or your skin is light...
Cont...”It’s the fact that the laws and the culture tell you this. You have a right to go where you want to go, do what you want to do, be however — and people just got to accommodate themselves to you.”
You see this is the pathology. While people still desire to own, & conquer.
You see this is the pathology. While people still desire to own, & conquer.
It’s baked in the fabric of society and for some their DNA. So someone comes along and tells you, you can’t do something and it’s an outrage. You can speak, you know how to say the word, it’s just a word why can’t you say it? This seems unfair or “racist against you”. It’s not.
But that’s your whiteness. You gotta contend with that. (p.s. more on Coates assessment of white folx and the n-word issue).
https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/identities/2017/11/9/16627900/ta-nehisi-coates-n-word
https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/identities/2017/11/9/16627900/ta-nehisi-coates-n-word
So let’s talk about hair. Hair is political for Black people. It’s not “just hair”.
We can be fired for our hair: https://www.ebony.com/culture/black-news-anchor-fired-unprofessional-natural-hair/
Told our hair as it grows out of our head is unprofessional: https://daily.jstor.org/how-natural-black-hair-at-work-became-a-civil-rights-issue/
Told our hair is ugly, dirty, and unkempt.
We can be fired for our hair: https://www.ebony.com/culture/black-news-anchor-fired-unprofessional-natural-hair/
Told our hair as it grows out of our head is unprofessional: https://daily.jstor.org/how-natural-black-hair-at-work-became-a-civil-rights-issue/
Told our hair is ugly, dirty, and unkempt.
So knowing that, we have seen over time, white people start to rock our hair/styles in real life (well their version of it) and get this, be celebrated for it as cool & edgy. The same hair we get fired for. This is cultural appropriation, and it’s wrong. https://link.medium.com/bsPZ8SIaQbb
And yes there is a difference between appropriation & assimilation. So your argument (well Black people straighten their hair!) 1. Some Black folks have naturally straight hair 2. Dominant culture told us our hair is unprofessional so we we have to ASSIMILATE to survive. Keep up!
So will decry appropriation as harmless I will point you back to the beginning that is white supremacy in action. “We own everything, we can do anything, It’s a free world, get over it” This is the issue is an annoying cycle.
https://twitter.com/drtj433/status/1333459806980542464
https://twitter.com/drtj433/status/1333459806980542464
So let’s say folks concede and shouldn’t wear styles of others in real life. Now we go to the digital world! What’s the big deal, it’s harmless, it’s just a game? It’s fun right? Wrong. B/c of the way white supremacy functions, it will go wherever the people are, including games.
There have been many issue of digital black face which is problematic and harmful. Here’s a brief primer on the term: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/digital-blackface-reaction-gifs
Well it’s not just GIFS it’s in gaming too. We already saw this earlier this year in the AC community with people selecting skin tones darker than their actual skin. But whether intentional or not, it’s harmful and is rooted in oppression.
Example: https://slate.com/technology/2019/04/black-feminists-alt-right-twitter-gamergate.html
Example: https://slate.com/technology/2019/04/black-feminists-alt-right-twitter-gamergate.html
We’ve seen professors, community organizers, and all types of people exposed for pretending to be Black or POC online and it’s disturbing. It creates conditions that mock our realities, our issues, and our histories and legacies (now it’s just digital). https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/blackface-birth-american-stereotype
So when AC dropped we had limited hair options (we’re used to this). We made due, & some of us protested and petitioned for more representation. This isn’t there is a whole body of scholarship on racism in gaming. My favorite author is Dr. Kishonna Gray
http://www.kishonnagray.com/books.html
http://www.kishonnagray.com/books.html
Finally with the update we received a few more options. Yay! But then we have to contend w/ the space whiteness takes up. Remember earlier in the thread with the n-word? I have a mouth, I can say it, I should be able to. Now we have, it’s in my game I paid for why can’t I use it?
Well you can, just like you can loc your hair up in real life or sport an Afro wig, or even pretend to be Black online. The question is why do you want to? What’s the root of that desire? Why can’t people have things that are are for them including their skin and hair? Answer https://twitter.com/DrTJ433/status/1333459806980542464
https://twitter.com/DrTJ433/status/1333459806980542464
You can claim they are space buns all you want (they are not) but space buns are just a bastardization Mexican revolutionaries and of Afro puffs anyway. George Lucas even said the inspo from Princess Leia were from POC!
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/hair/news/a42149/princess-leia-hair-buns-history/
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/hair/news/a42149/princess-leia-hair-buns-history/
So to try and say they are one thing (space buns) when even that is rooted in non-white histoy/culture is pretty damning. The fact that Nintendo presented those styles of Black/brown characters is damning. Like you want to dig your heels in why? Are you not embarazzed?
To call them space buns is to gaslight and to..
1. Ignore the political & sometimes painful aspects of our hair
2. Ignore the history and contemporary issues of Blackface/digital black face
3. To diminish appropriation
4. To embolden whiteness broadly.
1. Ignore the political & sometimes painful aspects of our hair
2. Ignore the history and contemporary issues of Blackface/digital black face
3. To diminish appropriation
4. To embolden whiteness broadly.
The point is this, you can do what you want. It’s your game, you paid for it. But you DO NOT get to control the narrative. It’s appropriation, it’s racism, it codifies painful histories, & any attempts to say otherwise silences the people who know best, Black ppl, bc we LIVE it.
To my Black folx, don’t give this another ounce of your energy. I understand the pain it causes and the frustration. The dismissive ness it can be anger you to tears. But at Toni Morrison said, racism is a distraction.
Find your community & your white accomplices/co-conspirators who get it and enjoy them. Find joy in and through each other. Educate if you feel like it, speak up when you feel compelled but just make sure you know who you are outside of struggle. It will kill you if you let it.
I love y’all to life. I love us. Stay excellent. 
I am accepting the typos I cannot change. I type fast and don’t proofread but y’all get my drift. If you have questions, in good faith, shoot me a tweet or DM.
