When Adele posted a photo of herself on her Instagram on Sunday evening (30^th August) she probably wasn’t expecting this reaction. Amongst a lot of people who were hyping up the singer and complementing her for her looks, there were also quite a few people who were criticizing her. Why? They’re accusing her of cultural appropriation due to the outfit which she wore in the photo.

“Happy what would be Notting Hill Carnival my beloved London”, the caption to the post that shows the Tottenham-born singer wearing a bikini top with a print of the Jamaican flag, reads. Her hair was knotted in dozens of small buns – this is called “Bantu knots” and it’s a style from the African culture. Now Adele is a white, blonde woman and therefore many were accusing her of cultural appropriation.

The term cultural appropriation means that someone practices or inappropriately uses custom of a culture to which they do not belong to. It is usually used for people who belongs more to a different culture in society than the one they are deemed to be appropriating. For example, a white person using so much fake tan that they seem to be brown or black would be a case of cultural appropriation (though this phenomenon has its own name called blackfishing).

If 2020 couldn't get anymore bizarre, Adele is giving us Bantu knots and cultural appropriation that nobody asked for.

This officially marks all of the top white women in pop as problematic.

Hate to see it. pic.twitter.com/N9CqPqh7GX

— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) August 30, 2020

So why was Adele accused of doing such a thing? The Notting Hill Carnival, which she refers to in the caption, is an annual event that celebrates the black culture. Though this year the carnival had to be held online due to the ongoing pandemic. Adele wearing a bikini top with the Jamaican flag on it is not the problem, however her wearing bantu knots is.

A lot of people on Twitter think that as a white woman, who doesn’t have any connection or relationship with the African culture, the 32-year-old shouldn’t be wearing a hairstyle that belongs to a culture that isn’t hers. However, there are also many people defending her, saying that she just wanted to celebrate African and black culture, like the Notting Hill Carnival does. People of colour were also arguing that though it is their right to discuss it, white people shouldn’t define if it is appropriate or not, as this is a decision that only people from the culture can actually have a say in.

Sometimes the Black Americans get outraged over nothing. There’s nothing wrong with Adele wearing a Jamaican-flag bikini top & African Bantu Knots on her head.

Africans love it. Jamaicans love it. So why are the AA pressed?

Who made them the spokespeople for the black culture?

— Tunde ➐ (@Tunnykvng) August 31, 2020