steamboat28 wrote: The point I mentioned is definitely cultural appropriation because it took something another culture created, whitewashed it, divorced it from its creators, and then continued to deny those creators basic human rights for another hundred years. That is a textbook example of cultural appropriation. It continues to this day, especially musically, in the US.
It is currently doing no harm. What you're doing is pointing towards something, saying it's awful because of the loosest connection to something which is bad, and rolling with it despite you can't demonstrate how the actions themselves are morally wrong or even ambiguous. If you're going with some kind of warped Utilitarianism, I'm not seeing it.
If you really think it's just "a hat," then you really have missed the entire point of this conversation and are actively contributing to the problem.
I don't see it as a problem. I can't tell if you're serious or not. And yes, it's just a hat. Just like a mala is just a necklace/bracelet-like object. Just like a dream catcher is just a knickknack. I honestly don't care if a headdress is some kind of power image only to be worn by male chiefs. And you know what? I think it's wonderful that it's a white person wearing that, and I think it's something that we should disrespect. That headdress symbolizes both inequality between the sexes and inequality between social classes. Nor am I upset over Burger King's paper crowns, which show disrespect towards monarchs.
But that fact is that these things aren't worn to show disrespect or promote ignorance. They're worn because they're deemed fun, good looking, whatever. There's a BIG difference between a cartoonist drawing Muhammad and a cartoonist drawing Muhammad in provocative scenes.
Then you haven't looked into either of those topics closely enough to see the erasure of the original cultures at the hands of fluffy-bunny new-agers.
"You disagree with me -- you must just not be educated enough on the subject."
That's SO pompous.
Also, in response to the article you linked, "
You Can't 'Steal' a Culture
", saying that cultural appropriation is a compliment is about the same as if I groped your significant other and told you "Hey! I thought they were hot! It's a compliment!"
Absolutely false. Are you honestly telling me that if I learn how to play a Spanish instrument, like the guitar, and play Spanish music, possibly with a rock 'n roll or blues twist, it's somehow racist or cultural appropriation? Yes, I'm using a Spanish tool to play a modified and not authentic Spanish style of music, but what harm is it doing? What if it even sounds better than the original? Is it somehow offensive?
No. It isn't.
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