Now that black culture is so mainstream, can we really accuse people of appropriation?

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy As the legendary Ms Patti Labelle presented the Billboard Woman of the Year Award to Ariana Grande late last year, she referred to Grande as “that little white black girl” – a statement that was met with a resounding “yasss” from black Twitter stans who were already way ahead of the soul icon. The front cover of Elle has been graced by Stormzy and Jourdan Dunn – a taste of the feature spread which spotlights the young black British stars currently making waves in arts and culture. Though we have a long way to go, we cannot deny that mainstream cultural institutions and media outlets are finally beginning to wake up and realise that young black people – both in the UK and across the pond – are the main influencers of pop culture today. This is a world in which Khloe Kardashian can profit from a clothing range which has allegedly copied designs from a black designer, and a black rapper from Brooklyn who started the viral “Milly Rock” dance has to watch his creation play out on a video game without receiving any kind of compensation in return.