Cultural Appropiation: Who Decides?
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Cultural appropriation.
It’s a phrase that has been thrown around numerous times in recent years, amidst growing racial tensions, and unfortunately, also a phrase with poorly defined boundaries. From Halloween costume scandals to blacklisted celebrities, cultural appropriation has caused great controversy over its central question: who gets to decide?
The history of cultural appropriation is long and complex, beginning with the era of colonialism. When a certain group conquered and subjugated another group of people, they would often adopt elements of their culture by force. For example, the Cossack peoples appropriated Chokhas, woolen coats unique to the people of the Caucasus. According to Cambridge dictionary, cultural appropriation is defined as: “The act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture.” However, it is also possible for cultures to adopt elements of other cultures without cultural appropriation, a phenomenon generally called cultural appreciation.
The line between cultural appropriation and appreciation is extremely thin. Even the queen of pop herself, Beyonce, has come under attack for appropriating culture in the past. In a music video for the song “Hymn for the Weekend,” many claimed Beyonce appropriated South Asian culture by wearing Indian clothing and jewelry. In this scenario, the public’s image of cultural appropriation was warped—wearing cultural clothes doesn’t equate to cultural appropriation. If someone truly understands the significance of the cultural markers they are adopting, it would mean that they are appreciating that culture.
"If someone truly understands the significance of the cultural markers they are adopting, then they are appreciating that culture."
Whenever the issue of cultural appropriation versus appreciation arises, the members of the group being “appropriated” should decide whether their culture is being appropriated or appreciated. For example, when many non-Latino viewers of the Looney Toons series criticized the “racist” cultural appropriation of the character Speedy Gonzales, an animated Mexican mouse with an exaggerated Mexican accent, Cartoon Network pulled re-runs of Speedy Gonzales off the air. However, this was immediately met with outrage from Latin American communities, many of whom had grown up with Speedy Gonzales and fondly remembered the show. According to Eugenio Derbez, a Mexican comedian who voiced Speedy Gonzales, “In Mexico we grew up watching Speedy Gonzales. He was like a superhero to us, or maybe more like a revolucionario like Simón Bolívar or Pancho Villa.” Each and every culture is extremely unique. When an ethnic group attempts to draw the line between appropriation and appreciation for a different ethnic group, they risk adopting the same flawed mindset of cultural appropriation—believing that they have the superiority to make decisions for other cultures.
Yet, sometimes members of the affected ethnic group still don’t get to decide whether an action is appropriation or appreciation. If only a small part of a community or an individual finds something offensive, it doesn’t always count as cultural appropriation—small groups do not necessarily reflect an entire community. During a controversial incident in 2018, an American girl wore a Qipao, a traditional Chinese dress, to her prom. This was met with immediate backlash from some members of Asian communities. In a tweet often quoted in articles discussing cultural appropriation, American-Chinese Twitter user Jeremy Lam said, “My culture is NOT your goddamn prom dress.” However, some mainland Chinese people criticized Lam for his outrage, with one Chinese user posting this tweet: “I am also Chinese. I am 100% OK. What happened to a white man wearing a cheongsam? I don’t understand why you are so angry.” Regardless of whether or not this situation is cultural appropriation, the Chinese community is fairly divided on the issue. As such, Jeremy Lam’s outrage clearly does not represent the entire Chinese community, some of whom view the situation as cultural appreciation. If our society bases judgment on a few vocal people, such as Jeremy Lam, we risk grossly misrepresenting an ethnic group.
So who gets to decide whether an action is cultural appropriation or appreciation? The answer is simple—the collective decision of the entire affected ethnic group. While it may be easy to base your judgment off of a single vocal person in the affected group or listen to the opinions of “well-meaning” people from a different culture, this also defeats the entire purpose of calling out cultural appropriation. And if you would make that decision for a different culture, or think that you have the ability to represent an entire culture by yourself, we urge you to consider your own privilege, by virtue of which you can afford to be irresponsibly outraged on someone else’s behalf. In a country divided by racial tension, we don’t need any more misrepresentation—leave the judgment of cultural appropriation to all the people of the affected culture.
"Leave the judgment of cultural appropriation to all the people of the affected culture ."
Deya Singh
