Cultural Appropriation: I want to keep eating sushi
It’s not just white people but we totally do it
I went to a symposium where a panel discussed Native American Issues.
I’m a liberal, it’s what we do.
The panel discussed several issues that are still bubbling in the stewpot of my brain.
One of the things that rose to the top was cultural appropriation.
My favorite restaurant is Cheddar’s. It’s not expensive and the food is adequate-to-excellent depending on what you order.
When people ask me what they serve, I say “basic American food like spaghetti, nachos, etc.” They don’t serve sushi, but if they did I’d order it. None of that stuff originates in the Americas. The catfish, yes. The green beans, the blackened salmon, the baked sweet potato, but not the fish tacos.
Marco Gutierrez, the co-founder of Latinos for Trump, once proclaimed “My culture is a very dominant culture, and it’s imposing and it’s causing problems. If you don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner.” (#TacosOnEveryCorner).
Excellent! When can we start?
Now don’t get me wrong. White people do grab onto everything good, but that’s not just a problem with white people. It’s a human trait.
I mean, Korean Pop music. Amirite?
Elvis: Speaking of music
In Hollywood there’s an expression “I couldn’t get arrested.” By which they mean they can’t get any attention in a fame-driven world.
Black people have never had any problem getting arrested.
Black people are as musically talented as every other group of humans — I would argue more so. Because of race, a lot of their skills and talents were ignored and isolated and therefore developed along racial lines.
But black creativity has always followed Cal Newport’s dictum “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
So in the 19th century and early 20th century there were minstrel shows with white men in black face paying black music.
That’s cultural appropriation.
I don’t think there’s any shame in enjoying happy banjo music. The harm was in demeaning the creatives while enjoying their creation.
The skill and artistry of black people has always been admired even when the artists weren’t.
I don’t like jazz but millions do. White people are among those millions. They began to perform jazz for other white people because they enjoyed it. They ignored the fact that the creative heartbeat of the genre was among the ignored and dismissed black Americans.
The same with rock ‘n roll. The same with blues. Black creatives were so good they couldn’t be ignored but the white Americans still wished they could be ignored and so took the creative ideas without so much as a footnote.
That’s cultural appropriation.
Elvis was mimicking black people.
In a way it was a tribute, in a way it was theft. But what Elvis did wasn’t demeaning to the source. It’s not much, but it’s something.
Elvis lived while times were changing and black artists were beginning to break out of their cultural ghetto and come into at least some of their own.
Pocahottie: Shut up and eat your sushi
So Elvis was minimally respectful to his creative sources in a way the minstrel shows were not.
Respect is key.
I think white-girl dreadlocks are silly. But dreadlocks are cool. That’s why people try to make European hair do something it wasn’t really desgned for. It’s a fragment of black cluture that white people enjoy and admire.
I say let them.
I love sweat lodges. They are a profound spiritual experience. I admire the people who developed them. Unless you are claustrophobic or in poor health they are a wonderful way to take a deep dive into your own heart and soul.
Wearing a slutty Indian “maiden” Halloween costume?
No. Just no.
Women of color are too often viewed as hypersexualized and are disporportionally targed for sexual harrassment and sexual violence.
Costumes like that echo the black face minstrel shows of the 19th century.
Elvis hid his creative sources because of the deeply racist time he lived in.
Emanem is utterly open about the black creative culture that he admires and draws inspiration from.
Admiration vs. appropriation
I don’t know if you are supposed to like to dance to rap but I do. I like French cooking (from the south of France, not Paris). I love British television.
I love everything from India from their food to their textiles, to their music. I don’t even mind their tech support (can you talk slower? My ears are from the south. I need a bit of a drawl.)
The middle east? Again, the food, their humor (yes they have some). I was a belly dancer for years. I own 40 lbs. of Kuchi jewelry.
And, yeah, along with Joan Jett, I love rock ‘n roll. I love the blues. I like rap. I think dreadlocks are cool. I love dub step. I love Ta-Nehisi Coates. I used to love Bill Cosby. I love sushi and Japanese tea ceremonies (matcha is fab). I love manga and anime.
And I’m a Buddhist, for crying out loud.
Appropriation means “stealing”
If you engage in part of another culture to exploit or demean its people you deserve all the venom the SJWs spew at you.
But I think it’s okay to admire and take part in the creative genius every culture has to offer.
