White People with Dreadlocks

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series White People Dreads

Yay! You found a series
White People Dreads

• White People with Dreadlocks

THIS ARTICLE IS A REPRINT OF AN ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NAANI.COM IN 2002. WE’VE DECIDED TO REVIVE THE DEBATE TO SEE HOW MUCH WE AND VISITORS HAVE GROWN…HOPEFULLY.

I remember back in college that every now and then I’d spot a (dread)locked head on campus. The irony was that none of them belonged to my African-American peers. I didn’t know what to think when I saw a White person with dreadlocks. At the time, I didn’t fully understand their historical significance myself so I thought, “Who am I to judge?”

white people with dreadlocks

Obviously these people were brave enough to embrace a traditionally African style that even some Blacks have difficulty accepting, so why hate?

When I started researching (dread)locks and natural hair on the web, most of the sites I stumbled upon catered to a White audience. I thought dreadlocking African hair was a trial but after reviewing some of these sites, it seemed White people take locking to a whole notha level.

I’ve seen sites that not only recommend using vats of beeswax, but also toothpaste, glue…honey???? On top of that, some boast the ability to lock one’s hair in a matter of just a few weeks which anyone with locked hair knows is a joke.

So it got me thinking and I decided to pose a few questions. What do you think of White people with dreadlocks? Is it a lifestyle or hairstyle for them? Are they ever truly dreadlocked?

• 

67 Responses to “White People with Dreadlocks”

Pages: « 1 … 5 6 7 8 9 [10] 11 12 13 14 15 … 23 »

1. 28
   Armand P. Says:
   February 27th, 2009 at 10:15 PM

   I CANT SEEM TO STRESS ENOUGH THE IRRELEVANCE OF COLOR,OR CULTURE,OR PAST OF ONES CULTURE IN DREDLOCKS.HAIR IS ALL THE SAME,AND GIVEN TIME,WILL KNOT UP AND DRED ON ANYONES HEAD.TO ME,DREADLOCKS ARE A DEFIANCE OF MODERN AMERICAS SENSE OF FASHION OR STANDARD OF CLOSEMINDED LIVING.I THINK ANYONE WOULD AGREE THAT DREDLOCKS ARE A WAY OF LIFE.MEANING THAT YOU SHOULD LIVE NATURALLY,LETTING THE CYCLE OF NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE IN ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE.

   ALSO,ITS SAID IN THE BIBLE,OR ANY OTHER BOOK OF WORSHIP,THAT OUR DESCENDENTS,NOMATTER BLACK WHITE,RED,YELLOW OR PURPLE HAD A HEAD OF DREADLOCKS.

   SO LOOKING DOWN ON OTHERS REASONS FOR LOCKING BECAUSE OF THEIR SKIN PIGMENTATION IS REALLY LOW,AND ITS SAD HOW ONES WITH LOCKS CAN EVEN LET THIS DEMON OF THOUGHT YEILD YOUR MIND IN SUCH A MANNER.WERE ALL FROM THE SAME FAMILY.

   Reply Quote
2. 29
   Lillitt Says:
   March 12th, 2009 at 9:12 PM

   I am black, I love rock music, and my eyebrow and cartliage are pierced, and I am am married to a white man. Needless to say I am constantly being accused of trying to be white. But this is who I am. I could care less about white folks dreading their hair. I mean even if they are accused of copying us, are we not guilty of the same pleasures? A black woman decides to straighten her hair because she saw her girlfriends’ hair and it looked cool. Isn’t that copying too? These clothes, fashions, and everything else under the sun, isn’t that copying too? Bottom line is nothing is original, everything was derived from something else, also known as copying.

   Reply Quote
3. 30
   CJ Says:
   March 20th, 2009 at 8:42 PM

   I have to agree with some of the posts here, that for so long Blacks have heated, relaxed and purchased straight hair to imitate those styles designed for naturally straight haired folk. So, who are we to judge.

   As for the ASSumption that if it is written in the Sanskrit that those that wrote it had straight hair like the natives of India that are in the land today, would be just that, an ASSumption. Without the cloud of white sepremacy to influence the understanding of history, one could gather a greater understanding of what was. There was a time when the ancient stones depicted the Goddess Lakshmi with african features and locks that weren’t smooth, but textured. Those statues still exist today, but were given away to a private museum in France post Ghandi India. You’ll only see a smooth haired Lakshmi today. If one follows written ancient history ALL over the planet, you will find evidence of the African, including the Olmec on the continent of the Americas. In this regard, if they had locs on their head, the peoples in which they influenced would mimic them as well, out of respect.

   Today, the script has flipped and we mimic the straight haired Euro. Don’t know if it is out of respect, necessity or fear, but mimic the texture we do to conform and to participate in the abundance of styles that are marketed to us as being healthy, with body, bounce and shine. Oh and polished and professional. LOL! Those with naturally straight hair, no matter the ethnicity we say have “good hair” ‘cos it comes closer to the texture of nu-gods (Euros). To simply state, it’s just hair, it’s just a choice, one love, one blood is simply blinding ones self to the total white-wash of history.

   First allow those of the African Diaspora and Colonialism to regain their TRUE history and not a sterilize one dictated to them by their former oppressors. Once there is a sound footing in truth and knowledge, no side really looses anything. Then we can frolick through the tulips, sing kumbayah and sincerely mean one love, etc. Hotep!

   Reply Quote

Pages: « 1 … 5 6 7 8 9 [10] 11 12 13 14 15 … 23 »