Extinction Rebellion force to apologise for ‘cultural appropriation and racism’ by other climate change activists for using a naked white woman woman with dreads to promote themselves
- Extinction Rebellion posted a photo of a white woman with dreadlocks online
- Viewers accused the climate change protest group of ‘cultural appropriation’
- The activist group were forced to release an apology on Facebook afterwards
A climate change protest group have been forced to apologise after they were accused of cultural appropriation and racism for using a white woman with dreadlocks to promote their cause.
Activist group Extinction Rebellion NSW posted a picture to Facebook last week of the topless female protester holding a whiteboard.
‘If your bathtub was overflowing, you wouldn’t immediately reach for the mop, you’d first turn off the tap,’ the sign said.
‘That’s what we need to do with fossil fuels.’
Activist group Extinction Rebellion NSW posted a picture to Facebook last week of the topless female protester holding a whiteboard
The controversial picture caused a stir in the comments, with viewers slamming the white woman’s hair choice
Other viewers took umbrage with the fact the woman appeared to be naked in the picture
The controversial picture caused a stir in the comments, with viewers slamming the white woman’s hair choice.
‘Guys did NO-ONE question if it was a good idea to propagate cultural appropriation before posting this? A white person with dreads? Really?’ one person questioned.
‘I think the issue of the overwhelming whiteness within XR organising and membership needs to be addressed.’
Other viewers took umbrage with the fact the woman appeared to be naked in the picture.
‘What was up with just the words? What’s with using a beautiful naked girl to advertise it? Seems to send a very bizarre message,’ one person said.
Many were in support of the woman’s message, adding there was ‘nothing racist’ about it.
Others were in support of the woman’s message, adding there was ‘nothing racist’ about it
‘I thought that was a great message on her card. She has some fire in her eyes too. She is just being herself, nothing racist about that,’ one person said.
Another wrote: ‘If you are judging or triggered by this beautiful goddess you need to do some inner work’.
The activist group released an apology the day later, acknowledging viewers had flagged the photo as ‘racist’ and ‘cultural appropriation’.
‘We are sorry about this. This page is run by a group of volunteers, each on a different stage of the scale of political awareness, and we promote a call-in culture and learning together,’ the post said.
Extinction Rebellion defines itself as ‘an international apolitical network using non-violent direct action to persuade governments to act on the Climate and Ecological Emergency’
‘Your feedback is so important and helps us grow, as we don’t often have time to run ideas past each other before posting, since our activists are very stretched out fighting for climate justice.’
The protest group reiterated there was ‘no room for racism in XR’ and criticised those who thought the image was ‘sexualised’.
‘We do not believe it is up to others to determine what sexualises a woman. She took that photo of herself, and there is nothing sexual about it,’ the post continued.
‘The naked human body is not inherently sexual.
‘Peace and love, rebels.’
Extinction Rebellion defines itself as ‘an international apolitical network using non-violent direct action to persuade governments to act on the Climate and Ecological Emergency’.
The activist group released an apology the day later, acknowledging viewers had flagged the photo as ‘racist’ and ‘cultural appropriation’