Animal Crossing: New Horizons players found themselves at the center of social justice scorn after being accused of cultural appropriation for wearing an in-game hairstyle some say was only for black people.
After new hairstyles were added to the game this past week — including afro and cornrows, to the celebration of black players — those of all races took part in attaching the new pieces to their avatars.
Though non-black players meant no harm in utilizing the game’s new features, they were soon scolded for using the styles — most notably the “afro puffs” — and were instructed to remove them in a scene similar to the viral harassment of a white student for wearing dreadlocks in 2016.
After one player from the UK posted a picture of her character in “space buns” to Twitter, other Animal Crossing fans — many of whom were white themselves — complained about the woman’s “very offensive” decision.
“This hairstyle was made for people of color so they had more hairstyles in the game,” snapped one user in a since-deleted tweet, adding, “so please respect that this hairstyle isn’t for you to wear.”
“They’re not space buns, please don’t wear them if you’re white !!” declared another, while user @acnhcelestial wrote, “They are afro puffs not space buns. Nintendo didn’t add them for white people or any other race that doesn’t have them in their culture. Please educate yourself.”
Many of the angry users have since set their accounts to private following the backlash, however their comments were captured in screenshots.
The Animal Crossing community in a nutshell: pic.twitter.com/xO8abe0Axw
Others made more general comments about white players who were thinking about using the new hairstyles.
black people: went years of not being able to have an animal crossing character who looks like them, fought hard to finally get the bare minimum in new horizons white people who wear their hair in a bun sometimes: pic.twitter.com/SrOsCh23FP
“i dont want to see one white person give their animal crossing characters any of the new hair styles besides the bald one,” one man warned. “dont even think about it”
i dont want to see one white person give their animal crossing characters any of the new hair styles besides the bald one. dont even think about it
But not everyone had a negative reaction.
“im black. my sister is black wear whatever the f**k you want the hair looks super cute on your islander,” one Twitter user declared, while another encouraged, “as a person of color the buns look super cute on ur character 😀 you aren’t appropriating anything, you can wear whatever hairstyles you want on animal crossing :)”
rq im black. my sister is black wear whatever the fuck you want the hair looks super cute on your islander
as a person of color the buns look super cute on ur character 😀 you aren’t appropriating anything, you can wear whatever hairstyles you want on animal crossing 🙂
Since its release on Nintendo Switch in March, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has consistently been in the news.
Just this week, Nintendo issued a ban on politics in the game after Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign used it to their advantage — putting Biden-Harris signs in the virtual world and even creating a Biden HQ island.
In May, animal rights group PETA organized a digital raid on a museum containing fish in the game’s world, demanding that the fish be freed.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
