The difference between cultural exchange and cultural appropriation

[gollygee]

This can be tricky. This article answers some of the "but what about . . .?" questions I've seen. I can't post much of this, but I hope people annoyed or upset about the idea of cultural appropriation will read the article through to the part about what cultural exchange can look like and then to the end.

I keep hearing "they have a right to . .. " Cultural appropriation is a discussion of responsibility, not rights. Yes, Ayn Rand, you have a legal right to do a great number of things that are irresponsible in one way or another.

http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/09/cultural-exchange-and-cultural-appropriation/

The fact is, Western culture invites and, at times, demands assimilation. Not every culture has chosen to open itself up to being adopted by outsiders in the same way.

(snip)

People of all cultures wear business suits and collared shirts to survive. But when one is of the dominant culture, adopting the clothing, food, or slang of other cultures has nothing to do with survival.

So as free as people should be to wear whatever hair and clothing they enjoy, using someone else’s cultural symbols to satisfy a personal need for self-expression is an exercise in privilege.

Because for those of us who have felt forced and pressured to change the way we look, behave, and speak just to earn enough respect to stay employed and safe, our modes of self-expression are still limited.

[cyberswede]

2. Tick tock. nt

[cyberswede]

9. Or you could try understanding the article.

[cyberswede]

13. Why does this concept frighten you so?

If you truly understood it, you wouldn't find it threatening at all, and you wouldn't need to be so defensive about it.

I'm sorry that feminists scare you, too.

[cyberswede]

16. LOL

Yes...white people are so downtrodden because Others would appreciate a little cultural sensitivity.

Oh...and white people are ALREADY treated differently than everyone else. I thought you said you understood this stuff.

[cyberswede]

24. Do you have evidence to support this statement?

People who demand tolerance/respect/empathy/understanding/compassion/cultural sensitivity rarely give it themselves,

...because without any support for your claim, it's pretty thin (anecdotal evidence is not what I'm looking for, either).

How are white people treated differently? Really?

White privilege is a term for societal privileges that benefit white people in western countries beyond what is commonly experienced by the non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. These privileges are unearned and are distributed based on values of the dominant group, which in the west is white people.

Read it carefully, lest you become indignant and defensive.

[cyberswede]

36. Whump...there it is.

Black privilege. Bbwaahaaahaaa!!

SWDR!!!!

[MrScorpio]

43. Damn, I wish that I would've have read that before he left.

I would've busted a gut for sure.

[uppityperson]

47. "there is no white privilege, just black privilege" sort of thing. The usual.

[uppityperson]

39. Alas, poor wsdr, we barely knew you.

it's so unfair!!!!!! 111

[uppityperson]

21. I thought you were serious, sort for mistaking your dry humor

If THAT is all you got out of the article, you are just joking around or didn't really read it. Or are clueless, but you say you read it and understood it, so you must be joking around.

[cyberswede]

27. The OP talks about the difference between appropriation and exchange.

Unless you're wearing a Kurta and speaking with a fake Indian accent while doing so, cooking Indian food is the latter, not the former. I thought you read the article. Quelle surprise.

[cyberswede]

46. Of course they can.

The OP isn't about ethnic food & clothing.

[uppityperson]

20. sometimes it'd be nice to be on mirt but the break is good.

[uppityperson]

33. Instead of a privately owned forum with rules? Is DU denying your 1st amendment rights.

[cyberswede]

31. LOL - maybe they're out caroling...or hitting the eggnog.

It's almost no fun to play with trolls when they're this simple.

Oh no... I hope he doesn't tell me to kiss his ass again...that might break me.

[gollygee]

4. Thank you for kicking my post!!

[MrScorpio]

5. This is correct...

However, I do think that that this conversation needs to be more in-depth, because there will be some who won't exactly get your point.

[gollygee]

7. I'm not sure

if anyone has any desire to get the point. I just see so many people not even understanding what cultural appropriation is referring to. And no willingness to even consider it. I don't get why it gets such a strong negative reaction - even the mention of cultural appropriation.

[MrScorpio]

11. Ever hear of White Supremacy?

Perhaps you need a refresher on the concept

[MrScorpio]

22. Control makes all the difference...

Control, identity and ownership.

In our white supremacist environment, whiteness is the standard by which all else is judged. The purpose of cultural appropriation is to filter non-whiteness in order to make non-white cultural themes acceptable to white people.

Whatever is not filtered can be deemed as "too black" or too-non-white in any way, and thus unable to meet the standard required by white supremacy. Basically, it allows whites to benefit from aspects of blackness (music, dress, dance, hair) without the black people that come with it. It's also a form of white-washing.

In this society, black people are expected to conform to the norms set by white supremacy, even though it's impossible for non-whites to completely meet those norms.

Cultural appropriation through white supremacy functions to remove those desirable aspects of non-whites and transfer the control to whites.

[MrScorpio]

38. If you live in America, then you live in a white supremacist environment.

If you were to bother to notice the fact that whiteness is inherently considered the norm in this country and all non-whiteness is classified as derivative, then you would recognize how white supremacy is at work.

Cultual appropriation is theft, pure and simple. Theft transfers control. It wouldn't be theft if those who created the culture also controlled it. It wouldn't be theft if those who adopt the culture of others properly attribute it.

Would you like to take it to the theft of culture phase? I promise, that will be fun.

[cyberswede]

40. You have such a good way of laying it out.

Though it's wasted on people like name removed. The upshot is that other people reading your replies can learn a lot from you (I know I have).

[MrScorpio]

42. Thanks, cyberswede

It's not easy to simplify these concepts to a person like name removed's level.

I'm just curious why this stuff is not so blatantly obvious to him.

[cyberswede]

18. It seems the idea sails over the heads of some people.

You're probably right about an unwillingness to consider it - like those who maintain there's no white or male privilege, for fear of having to confront something about themselves, I guess (even though privilege just exists & those who benefit from it don't ask for it). It's a head-scratcher for sure (the exception being the newbie troll in this thread...I get his motives ).

[uppityperson]

28. And global climate change, aka incorrectly as global warming, isn't real because it's snowing out?

[cyberswede]

34. You benefit from it every day of your life.

By simply not being black. Everything else is irrelevant.

[petronius]

14. Good column, thanks for posting! (nt)

[VScott]

30. If the end result means no white folks should have dreadlocks...

I'm all for it.

[aikoaiko]

45. I think it makes the case for someone like Iggy A as cultural exchange.

If indeed the starting point is respect.

[FirstClassTicket]

49. What a sad way of looking at human innovation.

Ideas like this make it sound like we're talking about radically different species, not just superficially different cultures. The reality is that we are all one people, closely related since repeated population bottlenecks have more than once wiped out all but a few thousand human beings. We are all quite literally members of a single family. When someone in one part of the world creates something new, the whole family is enriched by it. It's absurd to break the human family up into warring little groups who are afraid their own discoveries and inventions might benefit or bring pleasure to someone else.

The world is getting smaller and smaller with each passing year. It's time we took the idea of a global village seriously and stopped looking for excuses to wall ourselves off from the rest of humanity.

[gollygee]

53. This is a kind of color blind racism

Yes it would be lovely if race didn't matter because you're right that we are just superficially different. However, there is a huge power differential and you can't simply dismiss that and ignore the history and context.

[FirstClassTicket]

57. No, it's not racism.

Racism is a belief system that holds (1.) that race exists; and (2.) that some races are superior to others. I said nothing of the kind.

Wanting people to see others as part of a single human family and treat them as such -- wanting people to share their discoveries and innovations with the world and not just their own little in-group -- wanting solutions to the problem of divisions between groups of people -- none of that is remotely racist in any way. Inclusiveness is the antithesis of racism. The results of my vision for humanity would include things like first-world medical researchers sharing scientific knowledge with health care providers and educators in developing countries, or devoting more resources to research on diseases like Ebola that are not a threat to most of the world -- just because it is needed and it is the right thing to do. A racist approach would be to keep our scientific advancements to ourselves and let the rest of the world continue to struggle unnecessarily. As a matter of fact, I saw a lot of people online this summer complaining that Western researchers had not done enough work on Ebola because it only affected "those people." Wanting an end to that kind of thinking, that divides humanity into tribes and ranks them according to their supposed worth, is racist? No, sorry, it is not.

I don't know if you just casually throw accusations like that around at random people or what, but I expect you to have a rational basis for it if you're going to call me or my reasoning racist. You offered no rational explanation for your claim whatsoever. I am a pretty good-natured person, but I do not tolerate false accusations from anybody. Don't do that to me again.

[gollygee]

59. Wrong

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/colorblind/201112/colorblind-ideology-is-form-racism

http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-36-fall-2009/feature/colorblindness-new-racism

http://atlantablackstar.com/2014/02/10/7-things-color-blind-racist-friend-might-say-respond/

[LittleBlue]

55. +2

The OP is cringeworthy.

[lumberjack_jeff]

56. Cultures can choose who uses their symbols?

Seahawks fans better get a new logo.

[Kurska]

58. Since when does a "culture" decide anything.

Should we jews all gather together to have a vote on which races are allowed to use the seal of Solomon? Should gays all gather together to vote on whether straight people are allowed to take part in show-tunes? What if one person from one culture thinks it is fine, but another person from the same culture doesn't. Oh no wait, I'm sure these Internet article authors are entirely qualified to speak for their entire race and culture.