Amandla Stenberg Calls Out Kylie Jenner

When it comes to cultural appropriation, Amandla Stenberg is known for putting celebrities in their rightful place. This time it was Kylie’s turn to get a dose of the 16-year-old Hunger Games star. Kylie posted a photo wearing a crop top and rocking the cornrows hairstyle which captioned, “I woke up like disss.” While the photo surpassed over 1 million likes, Amanda was not having it. She commented, “When u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards ur wigs instead of police brutality or racism #whitegirlsdoitbetter.” Moments later, Kylie took the comment lightly by responding with this statement, “Mad if I don’t...Mad if I do.. Go hang w Jaden or something.” #ClapBack

This isn’t the first time Kylie has been called out for appropriating blackness. She appeared to be wearing blackface in an Instagram photo she posted earlier this year. Amandla Stenberg felt like she needed to teach Kylie another lesson. She did this by posting a video on Youtube back in April, educating people on what it means to appropriate blackness. “Appropriation occurs when a style leads to racist generalizations or stereotypes where it originated but is deemed as high-fashion, cool or funny when the privileged take it for themselves.” Class is in session!

Amandla may only be 16, but she has raised cultural awareness by posing one question: What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we loved black culture? #DontCashMyConrows. She has a point there! Many people enjoy the black “look”, but do not take the time to understand the circumstances that go beyond the hairstyles and outfits.

Do you think Amandla was rude or right?

-Alexandria Moreland