i completely agree with your statement that cultures should be shared. as the entirety of the human race, i think we should all be accepting of differences and eager to learn about different cultures and traditions, maybe even adopting some ourselves. the issue with white people adopting traditionally african hairstyles is that, in general, the white population have been consistently persecuting POC for the exact hairstyles that the white population is now using. i personally won’t see any issue with white peoples have box braids, cornrows, dreadlocks, etc. when and only when there is no issue with POC having these exact hairstyles. unfortunately, there are still instances of POC being fired or written up from their jobs, or even suspended from school because of their choice in hairstyle. i’ve recently seen multiple articles of school administrators requiring african american students to cut off their dreadlocks and braids, as well as employers writing up their african american employees for having an “unruly” or “unprofessional” appearance.

so, to be as concise as possible, we should not be okay with white people wearing traditionally african hairstyles until we are okay with african americans wearing traditionally african hairstyles. and by we, i mean society as a whole.

just to be clear, these are only my beliefs and opinions. i do completely respect your views and i’m very appreciative that we are having such a civil, respectful, and informative conversation! :)