The daughter of Oklahoma's governor, Christina Fallin, is taking well-deserved heat for posting a picture of herself in a Native American headdress on Instagram.
The picture apparently happened while Fallin was overseeing a photoshoot for So6ix, a "hipster" magazine that The Lost Ogle, which broke the story, seems to be bitter about. If the shoe fits, I guess. What Fallin is doing here is the epitome of hipster racism.
The reaction was overwhelmingly negative, especially after The Lost Ogle posted the photo to Twitter.
Some choice tweets in reply:
This then prompted Fallin to release an "apology" through her band, Pink Pony, on Facebook. Below is an excerpt:
Growing up in Oklahoma, we have come into contact with Native American culture institutionally our whole lives—something we are eternally grateful for. With age, we feel a deeper and deeper connection to the Native American culture that has surrounded us. Though it may not have been our own, this aesthetic has affected us emotionally in a very real and meaningful way. Please forgive us if we innocently adorn ourselves in your beautiful things. We do so with the deepest respect.
When hundreds of people are telling you that what you did was racist appropriation, then how can you continue to assert the right to "adorn" yourself with the signifiers of a culture that's not your own, that your racial group has oppressed in the past? Not surprisingly, the reaction is still unfavorable. This comment in response is my favorite: