Culture Appropriation, Montaya McCloud Bonus 4

Culture Appropriation is a big discussion in America within this 21st century. There is always a movie, song, TV show, or book being created that shows how ignorant we are to various cultures. There is a reoccurring controversy over if things are representing culture appropriation or representing culture appreciation. In society, the media has a big influence on culture appropriation. As stated by Amandla Stenberg “What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we love black culture?”.

 For instance, A woman named Martina big, A Germen woman decided that she was tired of being white and that she wanted to turn herself black. Martina decided to take supplements that darkened her skin, lip implants, a nose job, multiple lipo procedures and a coarse weave. After, seeing Martina I was really shocked by the things that she was saying and her outlook on the African American culture. My mind became blown that in her eyes she believed that she could be black by having bigger lips, a wider nose, darker skin, and weave. I did not think it was appropriated for Martina to do such a thing with the reasoning’s she had behind it. Martina believed that by changing simple things about her outer appearance that it was appropriate to publicize herself as another race.  Martina, was not showing culture appreciation by doing these things, because none of these defined being black. None of the routes Martina decided to take in order to become “Black”, Honored or symbolized the African American, or African culture in a good way. There shouldn’t even had been a way for Martina to decide to change herself in such a Ludacris way and it be legal.   

In the African American culture there are different shade, tones, and body forms. The changes that Martina decided to make fulfilled all the stereotypes about African americans. Martina only took from the African American culture the things that are idolized within the Media. In the media, Martina was interviewed several times, publicized, and gained a lot of attention. The reaction the world had to her changes shows that we have a long way to go. The transformed glamour model will never be able to understand the injustices African Americans go through that are actually born the way that she paid to become. She will never understand the culture, back ground, or history of the culture. As Gerald Sider Stated, “We can have no significant understanding of any culture unless we also know the silences that were intentionally created and guaranteed along with it”. It is very important that there is a understanding that certain cultures are the minority’s and not the majority and certain precautions should be taken before people make such drastic decisions like Martina big.                         Martina is not the only one to blame, there are several issues where several cultures are appropriated and there is no one problem that is bigger, or more important than the other. We as a whole need to become more educated and more sensitive to appreciating cultures that contain ritual, religions, and practices that are different from our own.  

Bonus 4: Do I Appropriate Eastern Culture? -JJ Leath

             Cultural appropriation is a topic that I have struggle with greatly. I am extremely interested in Eastern culture. I am fascinated with their philosophies, their medicine, and their overall aesthetic. This is not a new fascination either; I have been intrigued by Eastern ideas since I did a presentation on ancient Japanese mythology in 2^nd grade. As a kid, it never even crossed my mind that I may be doing something wrong. It wasn’t until my senior year in high school that I heard about cultural appropriation. I immediately became self-conscious. As I have mulled over the subject for some time now, I have come to find that there is a pretty clear line between appropriation and appreciation. From my own personal experience, I know that exploring cultures that are not your own not only broadens your worldview, but it also enhances your life. I don’t know how I would have gotten through the deepest lows in my life it wasn’t for Buddhist writings including the writings of the current Dalai Lama. Professionally, all of my work in the field of market economics is directly rooted in Eastern concepts of harmony and balance. My most important work to date directly quotes Laozi and Sun Tzu. I would not be who I am without Eastern culture. So, I am still left with a question: am I wrong? Am I stealing from the East? I don’t think so. So, what does that mean for cultural appropriation? Is it just some stupid “social justice warrior” idea that isn’t actually real? Well, I don’t think that either. Cultural appropriation is absolutely wrong, but I think the crusade against cultural appropriation is coming dangerously close to censoring the most import aspect of being in a human, and that is learning from each other. The distinction between cultural appropriation and appreciation, in my opinion, comes down to the intentions of the person in question.  

            One of the problems with the debate within cultural appropriation is that there isn’t a clear definition of what it actually is. In the SFSU video, it is said that the white student with dreadlocks is stealing from black culture. Personally, I don’t think that this is cultural appropriation. In contrast, the article discussing celebrities and cultural appropriation mentions Taylor Swift’s video for “Shake It Off.” I do believe this to be cultural appropriation, and rather appalling cultural appropriation at that. So, we are left with a question: how are these examples different? Both include white people emulating black culture. Both seem like they could fit within the definition of cultural appropriation. But, like any good student of Kant would say, it comes down to intention.

            Why did the SFSU student have dreadlocks? Why did Taylor Swift emulate black culture in her video? The SFSU student with the dreadlocks had dreadlocks because they made him feel good about himself. He was able to express himself through his hairstyle, and I think that individual self-expression should never be censored. On the other hand, Taylor Swift was not emulating black culture to express herself through her preferred aesthetics. She was making fun of black culture. When you place this in context with her ever-lasting feud with Kanye West, this becomes quite disconcerting. What Taylor Swift did was wrong. What the SFSU student did was a very human thing to do. He saw something he liked, and he wanted to emulate it. It added to his life. To me, this is where the line should be drawn.

            So, what are practical examples of this line between appreciation and cultural appropriation in everyday life? When a bunch of white guys who chanted “build that wall” in November 2017 get together on the 5^th of May, put on Sombreros and fake mustaches, and proceed to drink margaritas and eat tacos while making fun of Mexican accents and culture, you have cultural appropriation. It’s disgusting and should be called out. When you have a skinny white kid growing up in the country and trying to figure out life who then turns to Eastern culture for inspiration and enlightenment, I think you have appreciation. When you boil it down, it comes back to Kantian philosophy. Kant states you should always treat people, and as extension people’s culture, as means in themselves, not means to an end. If you are treating the culture you admire as a means in itself, you are appreciating. When you treat a culture as a means to an end, you are appropriating. The first progresses humanity, because when it comes down to it, we are all human. If an alien came to Earth, it wouldn’t see separate cultures, but rather subcultures within the overall culture of the Earth. But when you treat a culture as a means to an end, you are engaging in racist behavior that takes humanity backwards towards periods of ignorance and monstrous acts.

Bonus 4: Cultural; Blackface by Kendra ZeMenye

During the 19th century in America, there were entertainment and performances for all whites only. There were no color people allowed to be involved in a theater play. Even though there were black people in a century who dreams of performing in theater play or wanting to become a famous actor, they got rejected at the color of their skin. Plus not all white audience wanted to see a black performance. They created a performance called Blackface, which is about white actors or performers painting their face black just to resemble a black person. The whites made all those stereotypes and insults to how black people behave and their culture which was very offensive and ignorant. It’s affecting on how the real black people feel. Today, there are still more white people making fun of black people’s perception. All these past about black and white culture is never going away.

 

The Blackface performance became popular around in the 1800’s, and the 1900’s when they put a first play called Minstrel show, which was an American entertainment performed by a bunch of Caucasians who were dancing, acting, singing and mocking how people of African decent behave in society during the plantation. It turns out Minstrel shows were one of the successful Blackface performance before slavery became abolished. The show appears before black people had their freedom.

For my argument, I would describe Blackface performers as the filthy scum of white society, because those whites don’t even have a clue on what it feels like to be black in society. Plus they had no right to mock black people’s appearances; it’s just disrespectful. All these white actors want to do is to make money. 

For my reaction to the Blackface performance, it was very shocking because I feel like those white performers wished to humiliate black culture just to make black people feel bad about themselves by putting them down and mocking their appearances. The whites were probably giving African-American a message that they should not accept the color of their skin. Like they should forget about their African blood and start living in a white world. According to Cultural Appropriation: When ‘Borrowing’ Becomes Exploitation, they were stating, “The idea of cultural appropriation has recently entered mainstream debates about how African artistic creations are used, borrowed and imitated by others. In fashion, art, music and beyond, some people now argue that specific African cultural symbols and products are off-limits to non-Africans.” What this quote was saying that all the culture and tradition that belong to the Africans were taken away by the Europeans or other countries. The whites today still wanted to dominate over black people.

As a half black person, I find that very offensive about the Blackface performance because the whites have no respect for black people, and they think it’s okay to make fun of color people or other racism, but it’s not okay. According to Cultural Appropriation: When ‘Borrowing’ Becomes Exploitation, they were stating, “Debates about appropriation aren’t always limited to cross-racial borrowing. An online discussion about African-American appropriation of African cultural symbols also went viral. It began with journalist Zipporah Gene asking black Americans to stop appropriating African clothing and tribal marks.” She argued this indicated “ignorance and cultural insensitivity.” What this quote was saying, that the whites were stupid to tell the black people to stop wearing African tradition clothes. The society’s nowadays when whites are telling blacks to go back to Africa where they belong.