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The Appropriation of Black Culture by Asian Influencers
Co-opting AAVE, adopting a “blaccent”, and playing characters that make fun of Blackness, a lot of the Asian influencers of today adopted Black identities to propel themselves to success and are now dropping it to obtain mainstream appeal.
Awkwafina, Bretman Rock, and Nikita Dragun are perfect examples of those who appropriated Black culture to obtain fame while defending their own cultures against the same appropriation. This isn’t uncommon though, just look at the popularity of K-Pop to see how Asians have stolen from Black culture to be widely embraced and loved.
Once these influencers have achieved mainstream appeal, they gatekeep their own cultures from appropriation. Awkwafina, for example, spoke out against the dangers of stereotyping Asian characters. Bretman Rock and Nikita Dragun have both frequently stated the importance of honoring their cultures and protecting them against appropriation while themselves continuing to appropriate Black culture by adopting blaccents and Black styles.
Bretman Rock just wore a dress last worn by the late artist Aaliyah on the VMAs red carpet while failing to see how that dress would have been far…
