A recent post Khloé Kardashian liked on Instagram has caused controversy and is reigniting talks about the Kardashians and their use of cultural appropriation.
In the Instagram video, a user lays audio over a video of Kim Kardashian showing off dozens of diamond necklaces and bracelets. It is clear the video has been altered, but the user adds audio of her appearing to say the following:
A post shared by Lisa Timmons (@timmonslisa)
“My favorite part of having these many diamonds is knowing just how much conflict went into getting them. So these are from Wakanda – Wakanda Forever. So now I own Blackness!” the audio in the video says.
Clearly, the video was meant to be funny, but Khloé liking the post has the internet up in arms about the Kardashian’s history of cultural appropriation, which is far from humorous – especially when a member of the family finds hilarity in it.
Talks of the Kardashians and their use of cultural appropriation began since the beginning of their careers in Hollywood and was most notable when Kim appeared on a 2014 cover of Paper magazine posing with a champagne glass sitting on her backside. The image was shot by French photographer Jean-Paul Goude, who has been accused in the past of capturing images that fetishize Black women.
It was later discovered that the shot, which broke the internet, was the exact replica of another image he shot in 1982 of a Black model in nude for his book, Jungle Fever.
It would be the first of many instances in which Kim and other members of her family would be accused of unacknowledged adoption of Black culture and identity, including the time she referred to her Fulani braids as Bo Derek braids. Bo Derek is a White actress who wore Fulani braids in a 1979 movie.
Khloe has also been accused of cultural appropriation more than once, including the time when she made fun of her pattern of only wanting to date Black men.
She also faced backlash for reposting a meme of herself, Kim, and Kourtney in a picture that read the following “The only KKK to ever let Black men in.”
But Khloé has consistently denied that she fuels cultural appropriation and has said in the past that her family does “not see color.”
