There is a very powerful video called 'I'm not Racist' You can watch it here. In it, the black man says the white man is taking his slang and his food, referring to barbecue. This got me interested in cultural appropriation.
There is a reasonable short article on Wikipedia. Cultural appropriation is distinguished from cultural exchange by 'a colonial element and an imbalance of power'. It is easy to think of some very painful examples that are nothing different than a ruling culture lampooning a subject culture. Things like white women in hula skirts for 'real Hawaiian entertainment' or a white person coming to a formal party in a dashiki are examples.
The two elements of the definition, however, are subject to much interpretation. England conquered Mogul India, but India became independent in 1947. Is cultural appropriation possible in such a setting? America's Indian Wars functionally ended in 1877, with the surrender of the Nez Perce. At what point is it permissible to use Native American symbols and names for teams, or actions?If the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins are demeaning, how about the equally numerous Spartans and Trojans? What constitutes an imbalance of power? No two groups, let alone the many groups in a society, are ever 'equal'. Is the dominant culture somehow impinging on less prominent social elements when borrowing their customs, dress or language?
In former days it was the less powerful group that attempted to assimilate into the dominant culture. After the Norman conquest of England, the rulers of England spoke only French for more than 200 years. French words crept into daily language as symbols of elegance, power and authority, hence a bureau instead of a desk, and vestments instead of clothing. It is a feature of more recent times that smaller cultural elements fight to publicly maintain their differences, as opposed to the longstanding behavior of keeping those differences private. Among Greek immigrants, for example, it was a source of pride to speak English, but Greek was spoken at home, in the Church, and taught in special Greek schools. Greek, Italian and Irish flags were not flown publicly except at religious feasts or special holidays, although every Greek had (has) a small Greek flag at home. I do, and I did not go to Greek School, do not speak Greek and do not go to the Greek Church. Now immigrant groups and non-dominant social elements defiantly fly indigenous flags at rallies celebrating their native country's independence, and expect the dominant society to provide translators.
Aside from this cultural shift, what constitutes misappropriation? It is deeply frowned on if a white person gets dreadlocks, but perfectly fine for a white person to have a black spouse. Identifying barbecue as a 'black dish' is specious (it is a dish of the poor, and barbecue and cornbread is a better reflection of the American diet of the 1840s and '50s than any other food now available). What about collards? Is it cultural appropriation for a white person to eat barbecue, or sushi, or Chinese food, given the terrible treatment of the Chinese upon entry to the US?
The lines seem blurry to me. Personal grooming, language and groceries seem more important than sex partner or restaurant. The entire concept of cultural appropriation, however, would seem foolish to any of the non-dominant immigrants to the US prior to 1980. You want to eat our food? Great! I'll sell it to you. English is the most plastic language on earth, and words move into English all the time from Spanish, Russian, Scottish slang, black street talk, etc, etc. That process cannot and should not be stopped, and adopting words, foods and stylings is, like all imitation, flattery, not a priori mockery.
Cultural appropriation seems to me like the cultural form of victimhood and rights, as opposed to initiative and responsibility. Given its vague definition, it seems, like so many crimes today, to be defined not by real harm but by the experience of the non-dominant social class member. This is a definition even more vague and plastic than English. Most white people look foolish in dreads, but why isn't that a matter of personal grooming choice? We are not allowed to say a word about someone's weight without it being called fat shaming, but it's OK to attack a white person with dreadlocks eating barbecue.
The motto of the US is E pluribus unum, out of many, one. The behavior of so many social groups is more like E pluribus, plus, out of many, many. Theodore Roosevelt's 1907 speech remains highly applicable. It was given at a time of greater cultural diversity and immigration than now-
“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American … There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
Roosevelt was right. While I think many acts are in bad taste, few are offenses and even fewer worth even talking about. Sometimes cultural appropriation claims seem like nothing more than the complaint of those who have not been accepted by the dominant culture. The solution is not to claim special status, but to assimilate.
Ted
There is a reasonable short article on Wikipedia. Cultural appropriation is distinguished from cultural exchange by 'a colonial element and an imbalance of power'. It is easy to think of some very painful examples that are nothing different than a ruling culture lampooning a subject culture. Things like white women in hula skirts for 'real Hawaiian entertainment' or a white person coming to a formal party in a dashiki are examples.
The two elements of the definition, however, are subject to much interpretation. England conquered Mogul India, but India became independent in 1947. Is cultural appropriation possible in such a setting? America's Indian Wars functionally ended in 1877, with the surrender of the Nez Perce. At what point is it permissible to use Native American symbols and names for teams, or actions?If the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins are demeaning, how about the equally numerous Spartans and Trojans? What constitutes an imbalance of power? No two groups, let alone the many groups in a society, are ever 'equal'. Is the dominant culture somehow impinging on less prominent social elements when borrowing their customs, dress or language?
In former days it was the less powerful group that attempted to assimilate into the dominant culture. After the Norman conquest of England, the rulers of England spoke only French for more than 200 years. French words crept into daily language as symbols of elegance, power and authority, hence a bureau instead of a desk, and vestments instead of clothing. It is a feature of more recent times that smaller cultural elements fight to publicly maintain their differences, as opposed to the longstanding behavior of keeping those differences private. Among Greek immigrants, for example, it was a source of pride to speak English, but Greek was spoken at home, in the Church, and taught in special Greek schools. Greek, Italian and Irish flags were not flown publicly except at religious feasts or special holidays, although every Greek had (has) a small Greek flag at home. I do, and I did not go to Greek School, do not speak Greek and do not go to the Greek Church. Now immigrant groups and non-dominant social elements defiantly fly indigenous flags at rallies celebrating their native country's independence, and expect the dominant society to provide translators.
Aside from this cultural shift, what constitutes misappropriation? It is deeply frowned on if a white person gets dreadlocks, but perfectly fine for a white person to have a black spouse. Identifying barbecue as a 'black dish' is specious (it is a dish of the poor, and barbecue and cornbread is a better reflection of the American diet of the 1840s and '50s than any other food now available). What about collards? Is it cultural appropriation for a white person to eat barbecue, or sushi, or Chinese food, given the terrible treatment of the Chinese upon entry to the US?
The lines seem blurry to me. Personal grooming, language and groceries seem more important than sex partner or restaurant. The entire concept of cultural appropriation, however, would seem foolish to any of the non-dominant immigrants to the US prior to 1980. You want to eat our food? Great! I'll sell it to you. English is the most plastic language on earth, and words move into English all the time from Spanish, Russian, Scottish slang, black street talk, etc, etc. That process cannot and should not be stopped, and adopting words, foods and stylings is, like all imitation, flattery, not a priori mockery.
Cultural appropriation seems to me like the cultural form of victimhood and rights, as opposed to initiative and responsibility. Given its vague definition, it seems, like so many crimes today, to be defined not by real harm but by the experience of the non-dominant social class member. This is a definition even more vague and plastic than English. Most white people look foolish in dreads, but why isn't that a matter of personal grooming choice? We are not allowed to say a word about someone's weight without it being called fat shaming, but it's OK to attack a white person with dreadlocks eating barbecue.
The motto of the US is E pluribus unum, out of many, one. The behavior of so many social groups is more like E pluribus, plus, out of many, many. Theodore Roosevelt's 1907 speech remains highly applicable. It was given at a time of greater cultural diversity and immigration than now-
“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American … There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
Roosevelt was right. While I think many acts are in bad taste, few are offenses and even fewer worth even talking about. Sometimes cultural appropriation claims seem like nothing more than the complaint of those who have not been accepted by the dominant culture. The solution is not to claim special status, but to assimilate.
Ted
Gray area abounds in this subject. To add to your comments, is it cultural appropriation for black women to flat iron their hair? Why shoukd barbecue, fried chicken and cornbread belong to black culture. I see it as a southern thing. Cornbread or corncakes were shared by native Americans to colonists. Does that mean cornbread has been culturally appropriated by everyone else? We are a melting pot. Why not share our cultural gifts? I do think it ridiculous when white middle class teens or young adults appropriate black street talk. But my sense is they do it because they think it's cool, because their rapper heros talk that way. Is tap dancing by anyone other than blacks who originated tap be inappropriate?
ReplyDeleteBottom line for me is that most everyone currently is too eager to draw lines between me and you and us and them: the right vs the left, black vs white, Christian vs Muslim, et alias. Fear of differences drives resentment which drives hate. Why don't we embrace all the things that are similar, as well as celebrate uniqueness?