Recently, a haircut characterized by Macklemore and other celebrities has surfaced — and not in a good light. The haircut, called the "undercut," was popular in the 1920s and 1930s. And, unfortunately, is the classic haircut the Hitler Youth sported.
It wasn't long before the internet's social justice warriors learned about this interesting tidbit of information and got ridiculously outraged. Macklemore quickly came under fire for this haircut and he subsequently responded.
And indeed he did get rid of it with his new hairstyle: the buzz cut. But anyway, even if he didn't get rid of it, would it be so bad?
It's sad to me that in the year 2017 we have to point to anything and everything at all and claim that it's racist. These days, costumes, face paint, hats, jewelry, and haircuts can be racist. Yup, even you, the person reading this article could be inherently racist.
Do I even have to explain why it's ridiculous to say that a haircut is racist? Sure, Hitler Youth men and boys sported this haircut, but does that mean Macklemore is on the same level as the Hitler Youth? I guarantee you that Macklemore probably didn't even know his haircut's history when he had it, and he probably just got it because it was trendy and popular at the time.
Here's another example, in case you have any doubts: Stalin had a very noticeably full and thick mustache, and if a guy were to grow a mustache like that today, would that mean he supported Stalin's policies and was totally fine with the murdering of millions of Russians under his rule? No, of course not! We need to learn how to separate items we use and have today with things in the past. Macklemore is not a neo-Nazi and a racist for sporting a haircut that Hitler Youth happened to sport.
This is like saying that I'm a white supremacist because I listen to classical music, the same music that the KKK enjoys (note that I don't really know if the KKK listens or does not listen to classical music, I'm just using this as another example).
Now, obviously, there are always boundaries when it comes to this. If someone got a haircut where they literally engraved some racial slur into their head, then, yes that's obviously racist. If I listened to white supremacist music that continuously sang on about the greatness of white people, then, yes that would be problematic. But, we're talking about a hairstyle that has no inherent or overt racism, that even Americans in the 1920s and 1930s sported because it was trendy.
Macklemore does not need to "denounce" his haircut because there was nothing to denounce in the first place. It's a haircut people, not a middle finger to a race.
