Dear Kylie Jenner, face it, you’re white.
It’s unanimous; you are the worst. Maybe not in terms of personality, but definitely the worst when it comes to cultural appropriation. What is cultural appropriation you may ask? Well considering how you are the top offender in the whole Keeping Up with the Kardashians family, let me break it down to you. Cultural appropriation is when people of a dominant culture (in this case, Caucasians) “borrow” parts of a minority culture. These are usually another culture’s dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine or religious symbols and they are taken without permission. Basically, Kylie, you’re trying to adopt parts of a culture you didn’t grow up with and don’t know the meaning behind. When I asked people of color their thoughts on your various forms of appropriation, they had a lot to say.
Let’s talk about these receipts Kylie. Tyree Albert, a student at North Carolina School of the Arts did not hold back when he said that he believes that you, the Jenner’s and Kardashians, have gotten away with [cultural] appropriation for far too long and have yet to be held accountable with many other artist and pop culture figures. You, in his opinion are the worst of them all. He said that you are exploiting typical black features like big lips and wide hips, which were first looked down upon for the skin they were attached to. Are you still reading? Good.
Albert added that you continue to profit [from] black bodies like most of corporate America while leaving black people confused, [angry], and ashamed… That the real evil of the whole situation with you is that no one near you, like a group of executives or your friends, tell you [what] it is and most of your family are profiting off the features, attitudes and other characteristics of black women. Features that white Americans have criticized them about for generations. Damn Kylie, I hope you have some expensive lotion for that burn.
Kathi Ayala a student at VCU said that it’s frustrating because she grew up in Brooklyn and little black and brown girls got called ghetto, and were seen as less than because of their hair and how they dressed, and now that a rich white girl like you is doing it, it’s deemed attractive and innovative. She said it makes her feel like a joke.
While you contemplate that let me break it down to you since it’s your year of “realizing stuff.” You make the people of these cultures feel like a joke because you don’t know that brown and black girls were called “ghetto” and “chents” or “Spics” for sporting everything that you like to appropriate. You know nothing of the hardships that the Black, Latinx and Asian communities have faced just for you to take aspects of their cultures and make them trendy. You have taken predominantly black and Latinx features and exploited them for your own gain, without even acknowledging the culture you’re taking these from. It’s a different kind of anger when one is riding the subway, and sees your face, as a white-privileged 19-year-old, trying to portray the struggles of people that deal with this every day, not just on set.
Yet there you are, on a national Puma add, sporting cornrows and pretending to use a payphone as if you’ve ever had to go through that struggle when they could have hired an actual woman of color to play the part – Not just someone that paints their skin brown.
There is more to these cultures than the aspects you choose to appropriate. These are people’s lives. These are the skins that they are living in and they are persecuted every day because of it. They can’t just take a picture with it and take it off at the end of the day.
So Kylie, I hope you stop to listen and maybe grow up. I hope you eventually become comfortable in your own skin. I hope you stop appropriating cultures and start lifting up those cultures instead. I hope one day you become a vocal ally to POC.
Sincerely,
The people of color and their allies who are tired of your appropriation.