After a video depicting an African American student at San Francisco State University accusing a white student of cultural appropriation for sporting dreadlocks went viral, we were left with a series of questions. Namely, was this absurd encounter staged? And, are white-guy dreadlocks still a thing? Also: Don't these kids know that this argument about cultural appropriation got tired about 20 years ago? A reporter with Golden Gate Xpress, SFSU's campus paper, caught up with the dreadlocks guy and her interview further proves our thesis from yesterday — basically, everyone involved in the situation comes out looking like an idiot.
The Xpress reports that the dreadlocks guy is environmental science major Cory Goldstein, and the woman is photography major Bonita Tindle. The filmed bit of the encounter took place around 4 p.m. on Monday, but it began earlier.
"I looked at her, and she said 'Sorry, we don't want people with your hair here,'" Goldstein explained to the paper. This is after Tindle allegedly offered him a flier for an event, but then retracted the offer. "I was like, 'Wow, that's really rude,' and I walked away from the situation. She then apparently followed me down two flights of stairs to approach me about this whole situation."
Goldstein further says he "tried to leave multiple times," but "she kept grabbing me, pushing me back."
Now, regardless of what you think about Goldstein's hair, we can all agree that no one deserves to be accosted for his or her hairstyle. It is this vital bit that Tindle seems to have missed — a fact which is made abundantly clear in the beginning of the original video when she can be heard asking another individual "you got some scissors?" Implying, of course, that she's going to cut off Goldstein's dreadlocks right then and there.
“Someone within an activist group thought that she could attack me based on my locks and that’s not okay — it’s not even a part of, like, the colored community’s culture,” Goldstein whitesplained to the Xpress. “I felt that I didn’t need to explain myself. My hair, my rules, my body.”
As to the charge of cultural appropriation? Goldstein isn't buying it, furthering that "someone having locks which is found universally across the world, not just within African culture, but everywhere actually, that is not cultural appropriation in my view." He might want to reconsider using the term "colored community," however, in future.
Goldstein says he will not press charges, however KRON 4 reports that the person who filmed the encounter (which ends with the camera being smacked) has asked that charges be filed.
“I really am hoping that the campus is able to fully resolve this issue without any more issues basically," noted Goldstein. "I don’t feel that me getting attacked should cause more of an attack.”
Previously: Video: Dreadlocked White SFSU Student Accosted For 'Cultural Appropriation'