Who 'owns' culture? Does anyone?

One thing that is important to remember is that we don't know everyone's background. My fiance has a good amount of Native American in her and you can only sort of tell. She's a little darker than I do but it mostly looks like she just gets more sun. So if she's wearing something Native American and a person freaked out on her it would be unfair. Or like the conversation Edan and Lightstrider had about someone who grows up with that culture even if they aren't "genetically" from that culture. We can't know everyone's story so we shouldn't assume.

Also, I believe that culture is more about where you are from than your DNA. As an American I should probably do more to learn about and support Native American culture. It came from where I did, right?

Notice that I said learn in there. If I'm going to be doing something just because I think it looks cool I do feel like I should understand it's origins. But that's just me. It's something that I think everyone should do but who am I to tell them that they have to.

If you do it, it's your culture.

Imo the SJWs who think culture is linked to race/dna -and based on the previous similar discussion we have plenty of them at TOTJO- are just a bunch of racists. It'd be as if I forbade people who don't look like me from using technology developed by people who look like me. And not just technology. Want democracy? Better be white, because the "white race" patented this 2500 years ago....

And how do you define the groups anyway? for democracy, is it just Cleisthenes' family? Just athenians? Greeks? Europeans? All whites? Do turks and arabs count as white? What about hispanics, I'd always thought of them as white next door neighbours, but english speakers seem to think they're a different race, Are they culturally misappropriating democracy?

The dreadlock thing makes me laugh though. Any white person who does not use shampoo or scissors will have dreadlocks.

I don't think blood determines your culture, although it usually plays some part. My genetic makeup puts me primarily with the Irish, however I identify very little with that culture.

I also have a very small amount of Cherokee blood in me, and identify far more strongly with that culture. This is primarily because while my bloodline is stronger in the Irish mix than it is in the Cherokee mix, my native american heritage was put in the spotlight as the main focus growing up.