He says it’s cultural appreciation. She says it’s cultural appropriation.
A confrontation between three San Francisco State University students about a hairstyle was caught on camera on Monday and sparked a debate online about the extent of how far political correctness should go.
In the incident, a white, male student identified as Cory Goldstein is talking to a black, female student who asks her friend whether he has scissors, presumably to cut off Goldstein’s dreadlocks.
“You’re saying that I can’t have a hairstyle because of your culture? Why?” Goldstein asked.
The woman, who has been identified as Bonita Tindle, a student employed by the student government body Associated Students, Inc., responds:
“Yeah, because it’s my culture. You know what locs mean.”
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Goldstein told local media that he had never met Tindle before and believed that she approached the situation badly.
“I just felt really uncomfortable and really anxious and frazzled about the situation, and I just could not understand why this was happening,” he told news station KRON4.
In an interview with campus newspaper Golden Gate Xpress, Goldstein claimed Tindle told him that he did not belong. He also said he called her “rude.”
“She said, ‘Sorry, we don’t want people with your hair here.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, that’s really rude,’” he said.
The situation escalated after Goldstein explained that dreadlocks are found in other cultures, such as in Egypt.
“Are you Egyptian? Where is Egypt? Tell me,” Tindle says in the video.
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In the footage which has been seen over 1.3 million times on YouTube, Tindle can be seen grabbing Goldstein as he tries to walk off. He pushes her away.
“You put your hands on me? You don’t learn,” she says.
Goldstein said he filed a police report but doesn’t plan on filing criminal charges.
In his interview with Golden Gate Xpress, Goldstein explained why he doesn’t believe dreadlocks are cultural appropriation.
“Someone having locs, which is found universally across the world, not just within African culture, but everywhere, actually, that is not cultural appropriation in my view.”
“The fact that I have locs does not mean I’m trying to appropriate anyone’s culture. It means that I love and respect their culture and it’s something that I hold true to myself,” he said.
The university has responded to the video and said an investigation is underway.
In a statement they said, “San Francisco State University promotes the rights of the campus community to engage in free speech, but does not condone behavior that impedes the safety or well-being of others.”
Update: Associated Students, Inc. released a statement on the incident late Wednesday.
“One of the students in the video, Ms. Tindle, is a student assistant employed by Associated Students, and was not acting on behalf of Associated Students in any capacity, when the incident occurred. We are in full cooperation with the investigation being conducted by the University, in order to ensure due process for the students involved.”
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