A TikToker has gone viral after sharing a video of various white people donning cornrow braids while on a Caribbean cruise.
Nae Morant (@nae.morant2) uploaded the TikTok. She films two white people with cornrows, using a TikTok sound in the background that says “Look at that bitch braids.”
“They’ve infested my cruise,” the creator added in the caption.
The video has garnered more than 174,000 views and hundreds of comments since being posted on March 31, 2022. The majority of these comments were users admonishing the TikToker for making fun of her fellow cruise-goers.
“Just let them live ma’am. You ain’t gonna never see them again so why you worried about their hair?” one user commented.
“I swear I feel like blk people are obsessed with white people they are having fun,” another viewer wrote.
While it is common for Caribbean destinations to offer braiding as a service to visiting cruise passengers, many believe the act to be a form of cultural appropriation. The term refers to “members of a majority group adopting cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way,” according to Britannica.com. “Historically, though, Black people have faced discrimination for wearing traditionally Black hairstyles including locs,” the online encyclopedia continued. “As a result of systemic racism, Black people face consequences for wearing dreadlocks that non-Black people do not.”
Still, several users argued in the comments that this situation was nothing of the sort.
“Lol do some research locks have been a part of every culture since the dawn of time, it’s ok not everyone can be smart,” one user alleged.
“Braids and dreads have nothing to do with culture. Every culture as far back as we can tell had them,” another viewer replied. “This has nothing to do with black culture.”
Other users accused the creator of trying to “gatekeep” cornrows. Another user went as far as to leave a racist comment, criticizing black people for wearing weaves.
“atleast they rocking it with they real hair unlike y’all,” they wrote.
This isn’t the first time a TikTok has gone viral for showing white cruise passengers wearing braids. User @zoluuuuu posted a similar TikTok on March 12, gaining millions of views. However, unlike @nae.morant2’s comments, some users agreed the act was an example of cultural appropriation. In the end, due to the backlash, @nae.morant2 had to pin a comment clarifying that the TikTok was merely a joke.
“Bra all y’all dtm (doing too much), it’s supposed to be funny then just keep scrolling,” she wrote in the comment. “Y’all are so sensitive.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment for this story.
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