Black Twitter collapsed from hilarity when a White woman claimed she invented the sleep bonnet called NiteCap that she is audaciously selling for an exorbitant $100 each.
Based on the torrential downpour of angry responses, Black women could not believe the audacity of a White woman, Sarah Marantz Lindenberg, claiming she alone conceptualized the type of hair covering that Black women have been sporting since Abraham Lincoln was alive – and long before that.
Moreover, Twitter points out that Lindenberg is pawning the product off for the retail price of $98 when you can quickly snatch the item off of a Family Dollar store shelf for under five bucks.
Lindenberg explains to Fashion Magazine how she came up with NiteCap idea:
“I was preparing for my wedding and like a lot of brides, wanted everything to be perfect. My skin was breaking out, and I have quite long hair,” she recalls. “A dermatologist recommended that I sleep with my hair pulled back. Another physician recommended I try silk scarves and I had fun playing around with them, but they didn’t stay on.”
According to the company’s website, “During her pregnancy with twin girls, Sarah was required to go on bed rest – allowing her time to grow the idea of silk sleepwear for hair. She was inspired by the delicate benefits of this luxurious fabric along with the rich history of hair wrapping.”
“My concept came out of a problem that needed solving. It inspired me to create something of my own,” she said to Fashion Magazine. “After much consideration, conceptualization, brainstorming and borderline obsessive research, I literally measured the heads of every person I interacted with,” Lindenberg offered.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BytXMKpg9HG/?utm_source=ig_embed
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzgDUmJAQUE/?utm_source=ig_embed
Black Twitter says the problem with Lindenberg’s discovery is the same one that Christopher Columbus encountered when he said he discovered America: someone had already been there, done that and claimed ownership of it.
For this reason, Twitter pounded Lindenberg and the company manufacturing the product into oblivion. After the roar of disapproval became defeaning, Lindenberg had to backtrack her invention claims.
Everyblack woman and some black men laughing at #nitecap
They just keeping up with that Christopher Columbus tradition of "discovering/inventing" things. pic.twitter.com/tbdApy2QFP— Stacy J. (@StacysFunny) July 22, 2019
not a white lady pretending she invented sleep bonnets and selling them for $100 https://t.co/DYxZNILJCE
— vampire workday (@imbobswaget) July 20, 2019
https://twitter.com/MsNicoleBanks/status/1153292971644727296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1153292971644727296&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheshaderoom.com%2Fcaucasian-woman-being-celebrated-for-inventing-98-nitecaps-aka-bonnets-social-media-reacts%2F
After hours of enduring the backlash, NiteCapCo and Lindenberg hastily released an apology of sorts:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0QX2ElAJ2U/
But the backpedaling did not prompt Black Twitter to cease and desist from calling Lindenberg out for claiming that she spent years of intense research on hair bonnets. They believe even a cursory glance on the topic would have revealed the historical context of hair coverings Black women have sported for centuries.
https://twitter.com/claireshegoes/status/1152696458795192321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1152696458795192321&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheshaderoom.com%2Fcaucasian-woman-being-celebrated-for-inventing-98-nitecaps-aka-bonnets-social-media-reacts%2F
My Grandmother, Mama, Sister, and all the black females in my communities have been wearing a NiteCap for years…$6.99 Walgreen or Target…$4.00 Beauty Supply Store… pic.twitter.com/RFaeSAGGL4
— Dr. Valerie R. Landfair, Ph.D. (@1Firstfruit) July 21, 2019
Pssst…who wants to tell them? 😂🤦🏾♀️😑 https://t.co/k1TLGmXHE6
— Dré Day👑👊🏽✌🏽 (@MsDre20) July 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/itsdiamonddej/status/1153513174525722625
Can’t wait to see what they’ll invent next, first the #NiteCap then its probably going to be Box Braids 🤷🏽♀️ https://t.co/cRfpZgVdsY
— Novia ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@LiquidFro) July 23, 2019
