Cultural Appropriation

I think your fine. Your not calling it "Mid west fried circle bread meaty salad wrap" and selling it as such.

Goken wrote: I'm just wanting to make sure it's not offensive if I make tacos.

Cultural appropriation is typically discussed in terms of systemic exploitation. You, personally, cooking tacos in your home, do not constitute systemic exploitation. lol

You do, however, have the choice of whether or not you participate in the continued systematic exploitation of people by supporting obviously appropriating things.

On the subject of systemic exploitation and tacos...is Taco Bell a no no?(honest question. My grandma's mexican AND my wife and their food is WAAAAAAY better than taco bell)

rugadd wrote: On the subject of systemic exploitation and tacos...is Taco Bell a no no?(honest question. My grandma's mexican AND my wife and their food is WAAAAAAY better than taco bell)

I feel like claiming that it's authentic is bad, but eating it knowing full well that's it's crap (in more ways than one) is not bad, right? I hope it's okay because I love me some horrible Taco Bell. :lol:

taco bell....home of the 10 pound turd burrito :whistle:

Panda Express?

RyuJin wrote: taco bell....home of the delicious 10 pound turd burrito :whistle:

:laugh:

another thing i see as bs in this is the way that complaining about something we dont like lets us off the hook for actually doing something about the conditions of things in the world

its like pointing fingers at me for wearing a sombrero at a party and meanwhile not doing anything in regards to nafta for instance or immigration policy in general which always in every case is a result of the conditions and context of the immigrants home country

no one ever leaves their land and their culture behind because theyre happy and prosperous where they are

its a way of feeling self righteous AND ignoring whats really going on

or with the martial arts - and im not saying this is what youre doing steamboat - im running with an example given

pointing fingers at "appropriation" but doing nothing to fill the role that is being filled by the activity

all the finger pointer sees is someone doing something they think is wrong

this completely ignores the reality that in virtually every case the activity is filling a positive and functional role

even the kid with the sombrero is doing something positive in its own way - hes not intentionally disrespecting anyone
he is feeling good and expressing his good feelings
.but finger pointers feel crappy and so they point their fingers at everything and say "this is crappy - that is crappy"

because they feel crappy they see everything as being crappy
but by venting their feelings of crappiness on the harmless or even beneficial expression of a phenomena they ease or vent the emotional tension which would otherwise motivate them to actually provide a solution

talking about a problem is not at all in any way the same thing as providing a solution

of M.A. competitions are appropriating cultures then open your own dojo (but you cant call it a dojo obviously) a d host your own competitions

complain about eminem all you want
but he elevates the popularity of hip hop in general
which does a helluva lot more to better the experiential lives of black people than your finger pointing ever will

the unfortunate reality is that for many blacks in america

the experiencial perception is that there are three accessible paths to economic empowerment


drugs
sports
hip hop

now if youre not doing something to either
make these avenues more readily accessible

promote the skills which will lead to greater success within them
or
working to elevate the level of perception among economically disadvantaged black americans so that this perception is shown to be underdeveloped

then frankly stfu about eminem cause you dont know anything about whats going on and you dont really care

youre "appropriating" someone elses cultural struggles to feed your own ego and express your own crappy feelings

rugadd wrote: Panda Express?

I know a lot of Chinese people, and while they do find all the best more authentic restaurants to go to they still also go to the same Americanized ones I do, like Panda Express. I think we're good there.

Funnily enough I have a friend who is half Japanese and half Chinese who once made fun of me for standing in line at a Sarku Japan in our mall's food court. She laughed until I pointed out that she was in line for the Panda Express next to it. :laugh:

Steering away from fast food: tattoos.

I don't really see a problem with tattoos of, say, a Chinese word (except that I've seen numerous incidents of it meaning something other than intended. :laugh: ) but then there's tattoos that are supposed to mean something. I believe that Maori people have tattoos that represent some sort of status or accomplishment. (I could be wrong, but some culture out there has that). Those I can see as being something that we shouldn't get if we haven't deserved them.

prison actually has a lot of tatoos with specific meanings

most people dont realize that the "gangs" or criminal organizations with the most influence "on the street" are the results of inmates in penitentiaries

with groups like these the symbols sometimes change when they become understood by mainstream society but a lot of the tats that inmate have relate back to specific things within the lifestyle

some of them are rank related
some identify a persons associations or loyalties
many have to be "earned"

someone who "earned" a tear drop or a spider web for instance might not be too happy to see you mimic the image/placement if you havent earned it