Appropriation of Dreadlocks

Umaji 1972

[Updated July 2018]

There is a debate about whether white people are appropriating African culture when they have dreadlocks. All cultures have had dreadlocks.

Many people associate dreadlocks with Bob Marley. Bob Marley first sold an album outside of Jamaica in 1973. His band's 'I shot the Sheriff' was covered by Eric Clapton in 1974. Bob Marley became world famous with his album 'Natty Dread" in 1975. Most African-Americans associate dreadlocks with Bob Marley.

Baba Hari Das 1970

In the early 60's, hippies started going to India and studying with Indian teachers. Some even brought there teachers back from India. My first Yoga Guru, Baba Hari Das, was brought to the US in 1970 by western students who had been study for many years with him.

Hippies coming back from India, returned home with dreadlocks (jaṭā) from living in India. One of the most well known was Bhagavan Das, who toured with Allen Ginsberg, opened for the Grateful Dead and sang with Bob Dylan. He released his first album in 1971. Hippies following the Greatful Dead started dread-locking their hair.

The sensitive side of the Appropriation argument is best stated by C.Thi Nguyen and Matthew:

“The second type of argument given in support of appropriation claims is what we call an ‘objectionable symbolism argument’. Objectionable symbolism arguments hold that when a group is suffering under oppressive power structures, members of dominant groups should avoid appropriating from the oppressed group in a manner that draws attention to the power imbalance and the way it benefits the appropriator. For example, take the case of dreadlocks. Black Americans face a systematic disadvantage on the labor market. In order to meet norms of respectability, they are under pressure not to wear hairstyles that signal Blackness. But white people can appropriate Black hairstyles and be seen as “cool” or “edgy” while still enjoying a variety of social and economic advantages.

1970 Bhagavan Das

It is seen as distinctly unfair for members of an advantaged group to benefit in this manner from the cultural innovations of the oppressed. This sense of unfairness cannot plausibly be analyzed in terms of the property rights of the group being appropriated from. A group cannot own a hairstyle. The offending unfairness lies rather in the background power dynamics that are symbolically enacted by cultural appropriation. A white person wearing dreadlocks can be interpreted by a Black onlooker as symbolically enacting the dynamics of white privilege. In this case, white people use Black cultural innovations as fashion accents with impunity while Black people who display such indicators are denied social respect and economic opportunity.”

Cultural sensitivity is always important. My only issue with the above discussion is that white people with dreadlocks ARE discriminated against. Normal jobs do not allow such hairstyles. Most white people with dreadlocks have alternative jobs. And not all white people with dreadlocks do so to be cool in imitation of black culture, especially those associated with Indian traditions.   

I personally do not see dreadlocks as traditionally related to Africa or African Americans more than other cultures, if anything it can be seen as a Rastafarian hairstyle, which is a religious affiliation, not an ethnic affiliation. There are a few tribes in Africa that have dreads and the Kenyan liberation movement by the Mau Mau who wore jaṭā, but it was not a normal hair style and often associated with unkept hair and insanity. A beautiful exploration of the intricacies of wearing jaṭā in African culture can be seen in Augustine Agwuele's 'The symbolism and Communicative Contents of Dreadlocks in Yorubaland. Since the time period of Bob Marley, dreadlocks have become associated with black liberation and black power movements. They were not traditionally worn by Africans or African-Americans before this time period.   

Kainchi Ashram, India, September 1973                                                                                   

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India in the early 1970's

Note: Addition from October 2020
A person said: “My take is the word “dreadlock” and the specific lock style are of black culture only. While other cultures had different lock styles.” After many responses, the person specifically asked me “so what’s your take on the specific nomenclature of the word “dreadlock”? I thought that word was specific to the Jamaican Rastafarian culture. Yes/no?”

I replied, “I personally use the word jata (jaṭā) which literally means matted hair (nothing else). Its a word which is not composed of a adjective and noun: matted-hair, or dread-locks. Jaṭā were so common for so long in India that the word is in built into the language and is used to describes other things- like fibrous roots that look like jaṭā, or poetry that compares 'wild abandon' to 'jaṭā swinging through the air'.

I am just using dreadlock here as that's what's in the post and have seen people not be fond of the word 'dread'. I have heard multiple stories of where the word 'dread' came from, warriors that were dreadful (like the Kenyan Mau Mau), slaves that had dreadful hair, and then the 'fear of god' being that which causes dread- which Rasta's connect to the old Testament. Whatever its reasoning, the word belongs pretty recently to Jamaicans, making any relation to slavery incorrect. Douglas Harper etymology relates 'dreadlocks' to Rastafarian first use in 1974, and google ngrams show no usage before the 70s. In the book 'Dreads', Mastalia and Pagano state that “Confronted with the uncontrollable tresses of Rastafarian men, the conservative segment of Jamaican society deemed the look not just disgusting, but downright Frightening- hence the term ‘dreadlock.’ Intended as an insult the name was eventually reclaimed by the Rastas.”

That said, can you say that the concept of 'karma' only belongs to Indians? The concept of receiving the result of your actions is in most cultures. Loan words are taken in by languages that lack a specific word for the reference point, but that doesn't mean the reference point is owned by the nomenclature source. There are a few Greek loan words in 100 BCE India, and the British pushed that the high sciences in India came from Greece because of those few loan words- so I differentiate cultural ownership and terminology.

In the book 'Dreads', Mastalia and Pagano state that “Like the Nazarites of biblical days, Rastafarians regard themselves as ‘the separate ones.’ Dedicated to pure and holy living, Nazarites vowed not to cut their hair, and so were recognized by the mass of knotted locks upon their head: ‘All the days of the vow of separation, no razor shall pass over his head. Until the day be fulfilled of his consecration to the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the hair of his head grow.’ -Numbers 6:5." So in this case, the vow to not cut the hair is being traced to the Hebrew bible...would it make dreadlocks Jewish, definitely not.