Hipster racism

Hipster racism, is engaging in behaviors traditionally regarded as racist and defending them as being performed ironically or satirically. This includes wearing blackface and other performances of stereotyped African Americans, use of the word "nigger" and appropriating cultural dress.^[1][2]

Background

Van Kerckhove used the term hipster racism in an article, "The 10 biggest race and pop culture trends of 2006",^[3] citing "Kill Whitie" Parties and "Blackface Jesus" as examples.

"Kill Whitie" parties, as described by the Washington Post, were parties held for hipsters in Williamsburg, Brooklyn by Jeremy Parker, a DJ that goes by the name of The Pumpsta, in an attempt to "kill the whiteness inside". These were parties in which white hipsters mocked the black hip-hop industry, and essentially a part of black culture, for the sake of irony.^[4]

Van Kerckhove also regarded the use of blackface by white people and the normalization and acceptance of such use from other individuals as hipster racism. Van Kerckhove contends, quoting Debra Dickerson that the use of blackface by individuals such as these was an effort to satirize political correctness and racism.^[5]

Matt Pearce of the Los Angeles Times characterized the appropriation of cultural artifacts as fashion without recognizing the significance of the article as hipster racism. Examples include wearing native headdresses, or more specifically, Urban Outfitters selling clothes with Navajo and other Aboriginal and African tribal prints without giving tribute, acknowledgement, or compensation.^[6]

See also

• Hipster sexism
• Nipster
• Hipster (contemporary subculture)

References