Dreadlocks, in the contemporary sense, has become an integral aspect of rastafarianism and has become culturally synonymous with other African diaspora groups throughout recent history.

However, the use of dreadlocks as a hairstyle long predated rastafarianism, as well as the political and social climate that helped to create (and revive) the numerous Aftican diaspora movements and communities throughout the western world.

Illustrations and paintings recovered as far back as 1600 BCE on the island of Crete, as part of the Minoan Civilization, depicts men and women in common garb with long, braided hair as well as dreadlocks. Mummified Ancient Egygtian remains have also been uncovered bearing deadlocked wigs.

Into the bronze age, numerous civilizations, even the Roman's, extending from the Mediterranean, to the Caucus mountains and all the way to Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) have all contained pieces of art (paintings, illustrations and even statues/busts) depicting dreaded/braided hair as a somewhat common style amongst ranging in peoples of different classes.

Plait/matted hair is considered by many to be the result of unintentional/disorderly dreadlocking of hair through poor hygiene, largely the result of being a member of the lower class. This phenomenon, over time, grew to be commonly associated with people of the the lower classes in parts of Europe.

In Larry Wolff's book Inventing Eastern Europe, he talks about a style of plait hair that had been worn by peoples of the Pinsk and Masovia region at the beginning of the 19th century.

He states that examples range from peasants wearing one large, singular plait, to some members of aristocracy wearing short plaits that similarly resemble dreadlocks to an extent.

It's important to make the distinction however that it is not always clear whether or not the hairstyles depicted in certain pieces of art throughout history are either simply braided or fully dreadlocked.

This is not a politics subreddit so I will not comment directly on the matter that your question relates to. I will, however, leave you with this:

Dreadlock/matted hair, as well as plaits, have been a common hairstyle with many different civilizations spanning from many different continents all throughout known human history. It's generally not a hard style to pull off, especially when it just happens naturally with certain hair types. However, dreadlocks nowadays are deeply embedded in certain cultural movements that arose as a result of recent history resulting in the greater African diaspora, so it would make sense that some people would hold this hairstyle to a degree of significance on a deeply personal level as it is a greater symbolic representation of their ethnic roots.