Poppy Bilderbeck
Jack Harlow is facing backlash online after being pictured wearing a bonnet at the Louisville City FC game.
The musician was spotted attending a soccer game over the weekend and happily posed with fans for some snaps.
However, the images have since become widespread on social media as a result of Harlow wearing a bonnet - a hair cap which holds deep historical and cultural significance, as well as a stigma which has continued to this day particularly around wearing them in public, for Black people.
On an episode of one of Byrdie's Crowned shorts, host Star Donaldson recalls how, historically, the styling of a bonnet used to reflect 'wealth, ethnicity, martial status, emotional state and other facets of identity'.
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But 'during enslavement', the item was 'weaponized' against Black people.
"They were used to visibly distinguish Black women as lesser or even subhuman," she explains.
And such stigma around Black women wearing bonnets in public has continued to this day.
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According to Allure, the main use of a bonnet in the modern day is to protect Black women's hairstyles, lessening frizz and damage to the hair and helping retain moisture.
But the public conversation around Black women wearing bonnets outside their home has remained conflicted, with people such as Mo Worldwide - a.k.a. Mo'Nique - having previously spoken out about the 'representation' people are 'showing' by wearing a bonnet in public.
In a post to Instagram, the stand-up comedian and actor, reflected on seeing loads of 'young sisters in head bonnets, scarves, slippers, pyjamas, blankets wrapped around them' while at the airport.
Mo'Nique questioned: "When did we lose pride in representing ourselves. When did we step away from, 'Let me make sure I'm presentable when I leave my home?"
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Her comments received some divided responses.
"Black women shouldn't have to be 'allowed' to do anything. [...] Hearing people pontificate on bonnets and policing Black women is actual insanity.
"I think it's important for Black women to have the freedom to wear a bonnet in public because, why not?
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"White women can show up to Zoom meetings sweaty with their hair in a bun after being on a Peloton for an hour," co-founder and head of A Very Good Job agency, Crystal Anderson says, as per Allure.
With the conversation around Black women wearing a bonnet in public still a heavily contentious one, people have flooded to the images of Harlow in a bonnet to condemn the 25-year-old.
One Twitter user said: "He wanna be black so bad."
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"Interestingly enough no one is saying he's ghetto or looks a mess but let it be a black woman... the jokes write themselves," another wrote.
A third commented: "Absolutely not."
"If I see a bunch of white kids walking around with bonnets on jack harlow will have to answer for his crimes," a fourth said.
And a final resolved: "Black ppl can't have nothing. [sic]"
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UNILAD has reached out to Jack Harlow's reps for comment.