Who says Kpop stars can’t sport dreadlocks, or whatever hairstyle they please? As EXO’s popularity surges in the United States and elsewhere, some prickly issues surrounding ‘cultural appropriation’ are surfacing.
On its face, it all sounds absurd. Why can’t a Kpop group dress, dance, and act however they want? And, for that matter, why can’t any group —from any genre or region — adopt whatever creative and fashion style they prefer?
Sounds like a pretty simple question, except that Kpop has long been dogged by accusations of ‘cultural appropriation’. That’s the questionable idea that certain styles, music, and even mannerisms ‘belong’ to a specific culture, and can be ‘stolen’ or ‘appropriated’ without permission.
On the musical side, groups like EXO, BTS, and Girls Generation have been accused of lifting American r&b and hip-hop, while ‘borrowing’ lyrical and dance styles that are largely associated with African-American artists.
And yeah, there’s a fair amount of ‘borrowing’ going on in Kpop.
But that’s not illegal (at least most of the time). On the contrary, it’s part of a long history of borrowing in music. But it might be rubbing a lot of American fans the wrong way. Now, those clashes are intensifying as Kpop’s influence is rapidly spreading beyond South Korean culture.
Enter Kai, a core member of the super-popular Kpop group EXO (pronounced ‘ex-oh’).
Earlier this year, the group played The Forum in Los Angeles, and courted a highly-diverse group of younger fans. This wasn’t a crowd of South Koreans or Asians exclusively; to the contrary, almost every race and was well-represented (though, most were under the age of 20).
+ Why I Didn’t Kill Myself After Spending 5 Hours at an EXO Kpop Concert
Of course, none of these fans had a problem with the hip-hop style beats and lyrical delivery. But plenty of fans, haters, or followers had a major problem when Kai recently recently sported a dreadlocked look.
“The dreads gotta go,” one fan blasted.
“This is cultural appropriation. Delete.”
“Kai used dread and it is cultural appropriation, he is a grown man who could say no but he didn’t so it’s his fault too.”
“This is cultural appropriation and it is not acceptable. Kai really needs to apologize.”
“Cultural appropriation or racist WILL get dragged. And what’s worse is i bet most of those exols who don’t see kai’s dreads as a problem.”
And so forth.
Actually, this isn’t the first time a prominent Kpoper has donned dreads.
Just recently, Jackson of Kpop group GOT7 got severely dragged for wearing dreads in a Pepsi commercial. On Instagram, the Kpop star weathered thousands of comments from people accusing him of being a ‘culture vulture’ and disrespecting African-American style.
His response was defiant, and may have paved the way for other Kpop stars to sport their own dreads.
“I don’t think I’m the only one doing this and if people are gonna point fingers at this, so be it… haters gon hate. I have all my respect and love for all RACE. But if you think this whole thing is disrespecting or mock a race, I’m really sorry but you are on the wrong page. I made this decision because I was too in love with the culture. No matter if it’s music wise, people, background or anything, and I truly respect it with my heart. It’s a complete misunderstanding.“
And if you hate that, then you’re really gonna hate this:
I LOVE EXO . EXO IS MY LIFE . I LOVE EXO XIUMIN
Kai totally nailed every scene ?
He is superb sexy kpop ifol??
YES ME TOO
the idea cultural appropriation is absurd. nobody should be policing or validating people’s choices to wear dreads. any kpop star (or western artist, or any HUMAN) should be able to wear what they want. wake up triggered kids. every race has made contributions to hair, clothes, technology, language, etc. so it makes no sense to claim dreadlocks as a blacks only thing. some people say the style is trashy, but i think they’re cute boys and they’d look good wearing a plastic bag.
Totally agree regarding who can wear dreads!
ALL hair types eventually dread if left uncombed.
ALL.
Every one of them.
If black people insist “dreadlocks” are their culture. Then we just drop that term and call our natural matted uncombed hair something else. And we don’t have to have 1000 reasons to spot natural hair.
Slavery this, culture that, rasta. Bullshit! It’s simply natural hair.
Actually matter hair and dreads are two different things. Matted hair has never been called dreads
Unless you’re a person of colour and possess culture of any sort, I don’t think you’re in any place to say that. Dreads have been specific to black people for years. We get called dirty, ghetto and “hood rat” for wearing them. It’s our culture. So why should Kai be able to wear them with no problems about it? It’s not right.
say it again for the people in the back! all jokes aside this needs to be blasted everywhere.
Exactly, but don’t ever want to find out why we say they shouldn’t wear them, and not address the problems that come with it if a black person were to wear it!! Why is it so hard to actually understand why we say the things we say? ?
thank you for this omg kpop fans are always defending the wrong just because idols do it.
That is absurdly ignorant thing to say. Every person on the planet comes from a culture no matter what race they possess. Look I am sorry for the way people may of treated you or others due to the way you styled you hair. But that’s just it is a HAIR STYLE. For 1000s of years the human race has adapted, created and added to poplar styles. It’s only of recent triggered snowflakes shout cultural appropriation. If that’s the case, as a british 20 year old girl who used to wear my hair in two buns when I was younger and was taken the absolute piss out because my hair was to thick for them to look decent, should I turn round and shout OH NO CULTURAL APPROPRIATION? due to the fact they are now a popular hairstyle for both white, black and other races alike? No. Because those people are bullies. and there is a difference between racism and bullying. In fact I take it as a compliment. I was so ahead of my time. Culture should be shared not divided. It’s like you’re a child on the playground who wont share a ball because the same kid didn’t want to play with it the day before. Grow up.
You literally said yourself that you’re a 20 year old British girl (Most likely white) so why in all fck would you take it upon yourself to chastise and patronise people who are standing up to defend the longer-than-20-year history and culture of their people?
Sit your ass down
I don’t like the hairstyle in general, but to try to claim it as a “black” thing is laughable. You realize there are records of people, Asian as well as Caucasian who have been noted to have dreads way before black people right? He has a hairstyle, big deal. You want to talk about cultural appropriation, go watch the “Asian-inspired” performance of “All the Way Up” at the BETs.
Look that’s just plain stupid to claim that dreads is a black people thing. White/Caucasians have been known to wear dreads.
It’s like saying perms are only for females yet there are tons of guys who wear perms.
Stop making it racial when it actually isnt.
im asian and i got dreads born and raised south bronx,ny aint nun pressin me or checkin me cuz of my hair
Should I call black people with straight hair styles also displaying appropriation of all whites and asians? Get real, no one owns ‘style’. Matter of fact, they should be appreciate K-Pop stars for imitating them -a compliment.
Cornrows, dreads, etc….have origins all over the world, even in Greece and India. There would be no problem if the foreign race person wearing it does not claim it their own trend. If primates can copy and learn from each each other, why won’t we grow up and be a higher classed specie?
So, gone tell your surroundings who get their hair fucking straight this “don’t get anything like that because it’s not our culture!” Please tell this to fuckin your homie
See in a perfect world black people can do what ever they wanted. They would not face discrimination for their hair and clothing, but it is not a perfect world and black peiple lose job opportunities and can not be allowed to attend school with this hairstyle.
tbh I dont think ANYONE would get away with this hairstyle in a professional setting be it school or the workplace, its not specific to black people
Completely agree. Wear what you want. As long as you’re wearing it respectfully.
Word! Im black and I actually feel proud that other races are into dreads. Yes dreadlocks were started by black people but there is no rule that says ‘no other culture can wear this’ culture appropriation is bullshit
Cultural appropriation isn’t ‘bullshit’, but it is easy to define it as such when you don’t understand the terminology or the history from when it came. Cultural appropriation isn’t about doing something other races created or influenced. It is about taking from a culture that which was originally unique to that culture and presenting it as your own OR presenting it in such a way that results in societal acceptance when and where it previously did not. That said I think what Kai is doing by wearing dreads is cultural APPRECIATION rather than appropriation. Did anyone bother to notice the American flag pin he’s wearing? I don’t think he’s saying anything other than “Respect!”.
I’m sorry but to say dreadlocks were started by black people? You need to do a little more research on your history before making statements like that. If you were to say the idea of dreadlocks started with black people, then I may agree with you, as in black people were the first people and dreadlocks came naturally for them since they didn’t wash or keep their hair. However, if you are trying to say that black people purposefully developed that style, it’s completely false. There have been records of Indian, Greek, Egyptian and even Chinese people with dreadlocks much earlier than most of the prominent black culture that is associated with the style today. I do agree that saying this is cultural appropriation is ridiculous though.
When will people stop bolstering the ignorant notion that dreadlocks are a consequence of not WASHING your hair. Matted and uncombed hair and DREADLOCKS are not the same thing. While no one is required to correct their ignorance on any given subject they should check it before posting on message boards about that which they have no clue.
They were not started by black people the first account of dread locks is from the vedas. Shiva followers wear dreads and it is sacred to the Hindu culture. Just because black people wear it a lot does not mean it originated from them. The greeks and vikings also wore dreads. I mean dreads started from India, but they have been used respectfully as a style choice and I respect that. Honestly, if anyone should be angry it should be Indians. peace 🙂
Yeah but dreads came form asia too if you look back far you can that a lot of people had dreads
No, dreads originally came from Ancient Egypt. Also, why should Indians be angry?? I certainly don’t see it in their culture today so it doesn’t seem like they care much for dreadlocks.
This whole thing is dumb. Black people wear hair that’s not theirs all the time. So why can’t he have dreads. This can’t be one sided. It has to work both ways to be a valid argument.
On the surface, it seems absurd. But then you get deeper into the matter, and it’s still absurd. Cultural appropriation is a racist, antisocial, phenomenon that needs to be ridiculed to death.
Clarification: by “cultural appropriation” I mean people being offended by so called “cultural appropriation”, not people borrowing from other cultures.
“On the surface, it seems absurd. But then you get deeper into the matter, and it’s still absurd.”
+1, haha!
It should be clear who’s culture he’s accused of appropriating. Because if people of African descent or even Jamaican think they own the claim to dreads they’re mistaken. Rastas began the practice not based on some African tradition but based on the vow of the Nazarite. Numbers 6:5 – “All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.”
Now guess who’s culture that is?
Your point about cultural appropriation in the Black community is well-taken (although I think you’re referring to Samson’s, who was only incidentally a Nazarite), and I am against that as well. However, dreads were around long before Rastafarianism which is really only as old as Haile Selassie. Dreads actually got their name from the state of slaves’ hair when they came out of the ships in Jamaica. One narrative suggests that the practice of fashioning the matted hair in long “locs” was in rebellion against efforts to “civilize” slaves by having them mimic their oppressors. From this perspective anyone but a Jamaican or a Pan-Africanist wearing dreads is deeply disrespectful.
Also, when a culture is foisted on a people, it’s not theft it’s diffusion. At the very least it’s the fault of the culture that propagated it.
The vow of the Nazarite described in Numbers has nothing to do with Samson. And I never heard what you mentioned about slavery in relation to dreads but sounds probable. Rastas take the hairstyle from the book of Numbers since Selassie himself based their movement on him being a direct descendant of David. So the earliest written history of dreadlocks still comes from Israelite culture, not “black” or African. The ancient Israelites were in parts of northern Africa but whether or not people in Western Africa were growing dreads or whether or not any influence reached slaves and people in Jamaica is still all post-Torah.
https://www.knottyboy.com/learn/dreadlock-history/
https://www.knottyboy.com/learn/dreadlock-history/
Dreadlocks actually got there name because , as stated in the article provide “Dreads,” signifying that they had a dread, fear, or respect for God. Emulating Hindu and Nazarite holymen, these “Dreads” grew matted locks of hair, which would become known to the world as “Dreadlocks” – the hair-style of the Dreads.( these are not my words so credit to the person that wrote the article)
https://www.knottyboy.com/learn/dreadlock-history/
Dreadlocks didn’t get there name slaves or whatever. As stated in the article provide “Dreads,” signifying that they had a dread, fear, or respect for God. Emulating Hindu and Nazarite holymen, these “Dreads” grew matted locks of hair, which would become known to the world as “Dreadlocks” – the hair-style of the Dreads.( these are not my words so credit to the person that wrote the article)
there is nothing wrong with “cultural appropriation” as such. however, i think he could consider borrowing from a more advanced one.
your response is exactly what exemplifies the problem. the idea that black cultures aren’t “advanced” when black people have created and built advanced civilizations for thousands of years (Research the empires of Mali, Songhai, Ghana, Kemetic Egypt, etc.) wayyy before Europeans entered the continent. People are so brainwashed that they actually believe white people invented everything. Sad! To simultaneously disrespect the origins of dreadlocks because they come from black people WHILE praising him for wearing it IS the definition of cultural appropriation. Get it? Cause it’s only appropriate in your head in its unoriginal context?
On point
however he is still hansome as always… it’s his life not yours… why people only see someone’s imperfections….
I love how everyone is quick to support thievery. Especially cultures who never make anything original. First, it was white folks stealing rock and now Koreans want a bite of the apple. Everybody did NOT contribute. I have been studying the music business and pop culture since I was seven and no one has ever been falling over
themselves to buy Korean music or don Korean styles. Indeed, it’s vice versa. The “K” in K-Pop should stand for “knock-off”. It’s almost as bad as the British Blues movement. Wake up folks. It isn’t “borrowing” because we never get it back (look at Jazz and watch Hip-Hop) and stealing intellectual property that doesn’t fit into the West’s illegitimately established intellectual property schema is no less theft; those robbed just don’t have the means to protect themselves or their CULTURAL HERITAGE. What has happened to the Blues, Jazz, Rock, Hip-Hop, and Black styles is no different than what happened with ebony, diamonds, and cobalt in Africa, but per usual, where it can’t be ignored as those commodities have been it is being denied. If people knew what dreads were about they’d be far more respectful of them, but alas people are morons. Black artists have been a bit free with cultural expressions because they suffer from Western ideology poisoning and thus believe in this rugged individuality foolishness, but that’s an intra-communal issue to be dealt with accordingly. Suffice it to say if you wouldn’t just up and put on bindi dots because you think they’re cool, don’t do it with dreads or any other Black cultural expression.
I think you may not be too familiar with dreadlocks and their origin either. Otherwise, solid points. Notice a couple comments up, its spot on.
Ok then why do black people dye their hair blonde?or lighten up their skin? Aren’t they appropriating white culture?
Yes, they are. No one disputed that. So bringing it up the way you did only makes you seem ignorant and hurts the possibility of educating anyone to that fact. Think about that for a while and consider the difference between making an argument and throwing a tantrum.
Right cause when your favorite k-pop stars bleach their hair you see it the same way? Skin and hair bleaching, as well as hair straightening is often done as an unfortunate attempt to assimilate or fit in with a predominantly white culture that both directly and indirectly praises and validates individuals with features more proximal to whiteness. This is why people often attempt to look “whiter” for things such as job interviews, because the perception is that white is better. Also lots of non white people (including black people) naturally have blonde hair so it isn’t cultural appropriation. You guys act like you’ve never heard of google.
You seem incredibly uneducated. Black people are RIDICULED for having their natural hair, their dark skin. The media and westernised culture hound them for having their natural features. People encourage them to bleach their skin, people encourage them to straighten their curls. They wear weaves to hide their natural hair. Even then, people are STILL unimpressed by their painful efforts. We really can’t win, can we?
Agree! So anyone asian or black who dye their hair, using whitening peoduct is cultural appropriation too. Hahhaha
Better not use anything which black culture has. You don’t want them to run to you calling you racist & cultural appropriation even tho you appreciate their culture and people.
White ppl forced black ppl to whitening their skin, straightening their hair for broadcast? Geez, they all are also grown up man like jackson and kai, they can refuse it. Say to the comment on the article. Lol
Look. kpop or white or asian whoever using dreads should not be called a thief of black culture. It calls appreciation. Have seen any black ppl playing violin, piano, classical orchestra ? Is it from black culture? Nobody dispute them huh?
If non black wearing dreads now isn’t it good then? Many people love them and one day school will not disbanned students from using it. If you want your culture be accepted then let the world love it! You make people in this world feel discourage to love your culture and far from loving you!
The way a certain race do up their hair and the way another race color their hair is not the same thing. I mean white people who used to live in caves never used to color their hair back in the days
This guy is so fuckin biased he bashes bts on things that aren’t true, thx for saying all this stuff about exo tho.
Read this guy’s other articles
So if black people wear the kimono/cheongsam/hanbok, is it still considered ‘cultural appropriation’? I’ve seen lots of blacks doing that and nobody has accused them of that stupid ‘cultural appropriation’ shittery. It’s just some people overracting over dumb shit as usual.
Right!5?+
How is this any different than when girls of black descent wear weaves and wigs that are long and blonde?
Or just straight and black!
it’s different because society has been constructed in a way that condemns us for wearing our hair naturally or even in braids. in both my primary school and my secondary school, i was subtley threatened that “they were lucky that they allowed me to wear my braids in the first place” – but they also complained that my natural hair was too distracting. sooooo what did they want me to do, shave my head?!
im so disappointed in jackson’s response because he was one of my favourite idols. his response was so childish and what he basically did was brush aside the struggle that black people face daily for wearing their hair like this. PSA TO EVERYONE OUT THERE, DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS AND THEN JUSTIFYING URSELF BY SAYING “BUT I LOVE THEIR CULTURE” (regardless of if its asian, black, latino etc) ONLY MAKES U LOOK MORE STUPID. what that comment really says to poc is that you dont love the culture as a whole, you only love certain parts of it that benefit you. and im shocked that a grown-ass man is using the excuse that he is not the first to do it, so we should just deal with it.
honestly the only reason it doesnt bother me that much is because k-idols look so stupid wearing dreads/cornrows/braids, like it just doesnt suit them at all and i wish they would stop convincing themselves that it does. but on the other hand it bothers me because so many of these non-poc kpop fans that consider themselves woke are the same ones who praise the k-idols appropriating black culture, but will go out and comment on how it’s ratchet or ghetto on black people.
and ps: people still call black girls ratchet/ghetto for wearing weaves and wigs, but then white girls be out there doing the same thing. hair colour, just like eye colour, is not specific to race. I know pleeentttyyyy of non-white people with naturally blonde hair. so next time, check yourself before you wreck yourself
I agree to some of your points, but saying you love the culture doesn’t make you childish. Saying that it’s childish is childish. What, is he supposed to say I hate this culture, let me wear it so I can offend people somehow. Otherwise, your points make sense.
lol cultural appropriation, i dont even know where to start, anyways the teasers look so badass
Cultural appropriation. It’s a big word. And Jackson’s reply to haters already made it obvious that he’s not trying to offend any race or culture. Same with Kai, he wouldn’t mean to do that too. I never knew having dreads would be considered as cultural appropriation until I entered kpop tbh. I mean why do people have to see everything thru a microscope? Can’t you guys let the idols live? I am still confused why can’t it just be considered as one of the hairstyles the idols have and let go rather than asking them to Apologize ? Poor Kai was worried already.
EXACTLY! Freedom of expression as long as it wasn’t meant to degrade the culture, which clearly was not their intent!
Cultural Appropriation is a thing! There is a differnce between appreciation and appropriating. Example is that you can without stealing. You may love Van Gogh but you have no right to copy his work and pass it off as your own try to make money off of it. That is the same with cultures you can appreciate the culture with out taking it and using it as a fashion trend. People of the African diaspora had our orignal culture stolen from us due to forced assimilation. We then recreated our own culture that is demonized when on black bodies but when branded on non-blacks its cool and edgy.
Last time I checked I don’t see Kai screaming, “LOOK AT MY DREADS! THEY ARE SO AMAZING AND I CREATED DREADLOCKS!” Nope, he’s not trying to pass it off or anything. He’s just wearing dreads? Nothing more and nothing less. As a Jamaican I think he ROCKS them! Also as an artist, if I see an art style I love, I might try and replicate it and toy around with it but most artist know not to sell it for money. Maybe post it online and call it an art trade.
Cool lets bring back segregation separate but equal, white areas black areas ban interracial marriages, ….Ohbahma made race a big issue for 8 years trashing MLK’s legacy where content of character CAME FIRST
———–
People of the African diaspora had our orignal culture stolen from us due to forced assimilation.
Dreads são lindos em qualquer pessoa ,tenho orgulho de ser Brasileira ,onde há a maior miscigenação cultural do mundo .
To say that he can’t wear dreads, is the same as me saying black people shouldn’t be allowed to wear their hair long and straight with the assistance of a straightener. That’s a white style that’s natural to a lot of us. You wanna claim dreads as a one culture style? Then stop modifying your hair to look like anything but that.
Are you guys seriously having a debate over a hairstyle.
A HAIRSTYLE.
It shouldn’t matter what he does with his hair, it’s his; he was born with it, he can do whatever the hell he wants with it.
Please for the love of God stop arguing, you all have valid points, but an invalid argument.
I think some people are missing the point here. I am mixed (half African-American), and I do not mind if someone of another race/ethnicity sports another culture’s hairstyles, so Kai wearing the dreadlocks is not the problem here. The problem is that his skin color is usually white-washed in his other photoshoots (whether it be by fans or his company), and then, now that his company is making them do a summer-vibe concept, he gets to be seen as tan, as he usually is. Now, that in and of itself is not problematic. The problem comes into play in that now that he is allowed to show a skin tone that is closer to his natural complexion on top of the dreadlocks (which is suggestive of black culture and people). Now add in that he is trying to portray a “bad-boy” image, and his aesthetic now implies that black people are inherently bad (whether this was a conscious or unconscious subtlety, it doesn’t matter). That’s what made my friends and me uncomfortable. If he wasn’t normally white-washed and only “tan” when he wanted to emulate something “bad” or “scary” (i.e. the Monster concept), then I wouldn’t have a problem with it.
(I also think it’s important to note as some already have, Kai is praised by most of his fans when wearing this hairstyle while black people are degraded for it, but again, that does not mean that he cannot wear it, that is only a commentary on how society treats black people unfairly).
Honestly those dreadlocks look really cool and I like that the musician did it out of respect for the culture. It’s just hair, & the fact that more people are trying out different styles without trying to emulate a bad stereotype is kind of a good thing. Maybe not comfortable for everyone, given our human history of conflict with each other, but the less a bad rep gets brought up the less the bad stereotypes stick.
I DON’T GET WHY KPOP GETS SO MUCH HATE AND WHY THIS MUTHAF**KER IS WRITING SO MUCH SHITEU.
I agree with this article. I think the hate should be non-existent. Many people in different cultures actually praise people of different race borrowing and acknowledging things from their culture. The same should go for dreads and people of African Culture because it means things of your culture are being spread and known around the world. This is the age of knowledge and technology so many people have the chance to access information of culture and the image of the world.
Except that other cultures don’t actually like us black people. On top of that, a lot of Koreans are racist towards blacks. They use “blackness” when it can make them money. Make them seem “cool” or “hip”. However, towards actual black people they use derogatory terms. Even if dreads “supposedly” aren’t originally black, they ARE associated with being “black”. The very “blackness” we of African decent are put down for. The very “blackness” that we were first made to hide under scarves (during slavery), and later forced to straighten and hide under weaves just to be accepted by whites (segregation anyone?). Often times it’s those who don’t see a problem with these situations (often due to their ethnicity and upbringing) that are helping to perpetuate the issue. Everyone who praised this artist on this page skipped over the comments about how blacks aren’t allowed to be black, but everyone else is. It’s as if you just don’t want to admit to the wrongs that someone of another ethnicity faces simply because YOU haven’t experienced it. The main point still remains, Koreans (and many other ethnic groups) have a major issue with “borrowing” (really stealing) from black culture, but NOT accepting black people.
It is pathetic that the anti black crowd (which is universal around the world) are the ones cropping up trying to pretend they have a culture of their own via stealing and washing out the originators in an attempt to discredit people they hate. I will be honest it does not look good on non African people.
Wow, all because of hair. pssshhh nobody owns anything. Hair, skin color, etc etc… stop feeling sorry for your asses for having born the way you are. Seriously… interracial marriages produce mixed cultured humans. Does humanity need to be put inside a blender to completely get rid of anything that divides us. Even this so called culture appropriation can cause a rift between people. Geez. Nobody has the right to say a certain style doesn’t suit people because of their race. That’s racism right there. Using culture appropriation accusations as a means to throw racist remarks. People are addicted to hate now? Coz for Just a mere hairstyle? really? If he flaunts it and feels good about it, then there’s no offense meant and there shouldn’t be offense taken. Adults are acting like their lollipop’s been stolen.. huhu fight against the more serious and damaging oppression because we all dont like that, but over some hairstyle you gon bully some person and justify it by shouting culture appropriation?! GROW UP.. seriously.
They were not started by black people the first account of dread locks is from the vedas. Shiva followers wear dreads and it is sacred to the Hindu culture. Just because black people wear it a lot does not mean it originated from them. The greeks and vikings also wore dreads. I mean dreads started from India, but they have been used respectfully as a style choice and I respect that. Honestly, if anyone should be angry it should be Indians.