Maybe “you don’t haffi dread to be Rasta,” but do you have to be Rasta to dread? Or, more directly: is it ok for white people to have dreads? This was one of the questions my local paper, the Oregonian, posed to local dreads. Of course, some black people objected to whites wearing locks. When my friend at the paper told me about the story, I immediately regurgitated the myth that ancient Celts used to have locks. But when I noticed that Celts were omitted from the Oregonian’s dreadlock timeline, I got curious about the truth of this claim.

I checked Wikipedia first. Sure enough, I found this line: “According to Roman accounts of the time, the Celts wore dreadlocks as well, describing them as having ‘hair like snakes.’” But the information is unsourced, and someone on the discussion page had their own theory:

I know of no basis for dreads having any place in historical Celtic tribal cultures. The Fianna, for example, had the requirement that you had to unbraid and rebraid your hair every day. This would specifically argue against dreads. And as the Fianna were the “wild”, “outsider” sorts, living rough in the wilderness, if they didn’t have them I certainly doubt the mainstream folks would have. What I think this perception is based on is recent movies or TV shows that have had “Celtic” characters with dreadlocks (the same characters have often had facial tattoos of Maori designs. Real historical, that). There is some folkloric acknowledgment of hair tangling into locks, as seen in the phrase “elf locks” – but afaik this was not seen as a hairstyle or something desirable, but rather the actions of mischievous fairies playing tricks on those who wanted their hair to be without tangles. So, I think if you want to keep this bit in the article, you should footnote multiple people making this claim, as well as note that it’s really not accurate to imply this was true of historical Celtic cultures.

The only shred of evidence I could find was an image of a Roman coin, with some speculation that it may have been a Celtic woman with locks:

I found a few sources that attributed the “hair like snakes” quote to Caesar, but never found a specific source. The author of a “how to make dreads” article did some research:

A favourite claim is that the Celts wore locks and that Caesar described them having “hair like snakes”. Now, According to my professor of Latin at the Uppsala University, all Caesar ever wrote about the Celts is in the very famous “Commentarii Iuli Caesaris de bello Gallico” (my translation: “Comments on the Gallic War by Julius Caesar”) volumes I-VII. The above cited “having hair like snakes” didn’t ring a bell in professor Hans’s mind. Anyway, I eyed through the works quickly but not negligently, this is important stuff, but couldn’t find the desired account. (Using both Holmes’s “C. Iuli Caesaris de Bello Gallico” reprint of the 1914 version and Swedish “Gaius Julius Caesar: Kriget i Gallien” I & II compiled by Åke Fridh in 1963). Furthermore, according to Cassell’s Latin-English/English-Latin Dictionary, Cavallin’s Svensk-Latinsk Ordbok, Meine-Göthling’s Deutsch-Lateinisch Wörterbuch and Lateinische Synonymik, all the words in latin for snake are serpens, boa, anguis, coluber, basiliscus, vipera (poisonous), draco, aspis and two obvious greek loans hydrus (watersnake) and cerastes (hornsnake (what is that?)). NONE of these occur in the “Complete lexicon of the latinity of Caesar’s Gallic War” by E.G Sihler in reprint from 1891. If snake was ever in Caesar’s Gallic War then surely it would have been in the lexicon which has all the latin words occuring in the works and accounts every single use of each word. The words for rope, funis and laqueus, occur a few times but not when talking about hair (but ships and sailing). The words for braid (noun) or braiding (verb) or something braided, woven, put together (participle) etc nexere, connexere, texere, contexere don’t occur either except when talking about woodwork. It must therefore be concluded that Caesar never made such a statement and I don’t know from where the rumour is. Neither does my teacher of Celtic languages and studies at the University.

So there’s no source for the “hair like snakes” quote, and even if there was “hair like snakes” doesn’t necessarily mean locks. So the “prior art” claim of white people wearing locks is shot. And this false claim only justified the accusations of cultural appropriation. White people falsely claiming their ancestors invented the hairstyle don’t do anyone any favors.

Possibly the best defense of wearing dreads is that it’s just a hair style. Indeed, as the entire notion of intellectual property seems to be on its way out, the idea that one culture or race can own a hair style can seem dated. But this ignores the historical context of dreadlocks, and the reasons some blacks object to whites wearing locks.

Where early Rastas got the idea to wear dreadlocks is unknown. Some claim they appropriated the style from Indian immigrants in Jamaica, others say from Kenyan insurgents responsible for the Mau Mau Uprising. But there’s no reason to think that they didn’t come up with it themselves. Regardless of where the style came from, it is explained by Rastas as coming from the Old Testament.

But the protestations from blacks are not necessarily religious. According to the Oregonian article, “In the United States, African Americans started twisting their hair into locks in the 1960s as the black pride movement gained momentum.” The Oregonian goes on to quote Mark Anthony Neal, a professor of black pop culture at Duke University: “When black people who hold a political consciousness see nonblacks wearing dreadlocks, it erodes the power of their symbolism.” One woman quoted on the subject of whites wearing locks said: “It’s just another extension of them coveting something that is beautifully ours.”

The point is not what it is but what is symbolizes: a sense of identity lost and recovered. The dreadlock is removed from its religious context and brought into a broader context, the post-colonial ethnic identity.

But before dismissing whites wearing locks, one should also understand the full context of the white wearing locks. To do so requires a look at early history of the UK punk scene in the late 70s. Black British DJ, and punk rock documentaryist, Don Letts was a huge fan of both reggae and punk rock. Letts started playing reggae records at the early punk club the Roxy because there weren’t enough punk records to spin, and reggae was a huge hit with the punks (Jamaican music already enjoyed popularity with skinheads, so playing reggae at a punk club wasn’t a leap). Letts also started taking white punks like John Lydon, Joe Strummer, and Ari up to London dancehalls. Lotts:

Whenever white people want a rebellious spirit they’ve got the black music, it’s anti establishment. When people first got into jazz and blues it was dark, dangerous and forbidden! Black culture seems to captive the culture of young white people. I don’t know what reason that is but we don’t need to know why! It’s a beautiful thing to turn each on by what we are and what we produce. It’s through popular culture that you & I are speaking now. It’s not about what you learnt at school. It wasn’t the church or the government that taught you. Popular culture is a great thing!

Eventually, Bob Marley was convinced enough of the common ground between Rastas and punks that he wrote “Punky Reggae Party.” (Or Lee Perry wrote it, depending on who you believe). According to Letts, the appreciation was reciprocated in Jamaica: “The Rastas loved John [Lydon]! To them he was ‘THE punk rock Don from London’ they were aware of all the trouble he had stirred up in London, and yeah, they were into what he stood for and his stance, and they dug it.”

New counter cultural and subculture movements have emerged from punk, including heavy metal, goth, and industrial subcultures. And many have adopted locks (in some cases, entirely artificial locks called “cyberlox” or “dread falls”) as part of their visual identity. While Rastas and other black pride movements were trying to get in touch with their ethnic identities, punks and goths are creating a new identity based not on ethnicity but on choice. Though Lotts said that white kids with locks were bloody ridiculous, I believe that locks represent something that crosses ethnic lines. One of the reasons for wearing locks cited in the Oregonians story is an appreciation for natural hair against advertising-set standards of beauty. But these false standards of beauty effect everyone, regardless of race and gender. Wearing locks is a conscious decision to reject dominate cultural norms and choose for oneself what is beautiful.

Cultural appropriation can have a damaging effect on a culture, but it can also free people from their assigned identities. Today, people of all races have more freedom to choose their own cultural identities than ever. The punks and dreads of the 70s looked past their differences and aligned based on what they had in common. Today, locks can a symbol of racial division or, if whites will be respectful of the true history of the dreadlock and blacks will be open minded about the spread of their culture, a symbol of commonality between individuals.

Klint Finley is white, a fan of Jamaican music, and does not have locks (but is considering growing them). He’s the editor of Technoccult and the executive director of the annual Esozone event in Portland, OR.