BLACK CULTURE MISUNDERSTOOD
WHAT CUTURAL MISAPPROPRIATION COULD MEAN FOR WHITE SUPREMACIST. I had an epiphany while watching Girl Meets World, the spin off to the popular 90’s show Boy Meets World. The main character Riley decides to dress in Harajuku fashion to impress a new group of friends. Nearing the end of the episode Riley is challenged at a spelling bee to spell the word “Harajuku”, and to everyone’s surprise she not only doesn’t spell it but doesn’t know its definition. Her father and school teacher Cory Matthews (Boy Meets World’s main character) then defines Harajuku as such, “a real neighborhood in Japan where authentic Japanese girls have created an authentic look and life for themselves that is unique to them”. When asked to hear Harajuku in a sentence her friend replies with, “stop pretending to be a Harajuku girl”… That’s when I realized, white people do understand culture appropriation!
The term culture appropriation or rather, “misappropriation”, as define by the Wikipedia article titled “Cultural Appropriation” says, “elements (that) are copied from a minority culture by members of the dominant culture, and these elements are used outside of their original cultural context—sometimes even against the expressed, stated wishes of representatives of the originating culture.” A friend of mine, a Ms. Longoria, who is of European descendant, voiced her frustration with cultural appropriation on social media saying, “Am I the only one who doesn’t agree with cultural appropriation? Like mild appropriation, such as my septum ring and stretched ears can be considered misappropriation these days. Thoughts? Am I uninformed? Inform me, my cultured friends.” My response to her post was this: The act of imitating something can be flattering. But then imagine I walked around doing ridiculous things, and saying out of the line statements all while saying “I love my new Ms. Longoria look”. One can imagine it would be a misrepresentation of what Ms. Longoria is about. You wouldn’t want people associating what the imposter does, with the real one and you might find it insulting knowing I don’t normally act this way. In matters of cultural appropriation intent and representation are important. If you are styling yourself simply for fashion purposes then yes it is misappropriation. If you care about the culture and the people who started it and their struggles and inspiration behind the culture then you are in the clear. But know that you represent them too, so do so with respect. Simply wearing something because it’s trendy is exploiting the popularity of the culture (for entertainment value). Example: I know people who will say the phrase “my nigga” all day long, but do they actually care about black people? No they don’t. But they love black culture. They exploit it for the sensationalism that comes with black culture”.
The phrase, “my nigga” in the black community can be seen as a term of endearment, a phrase that expresses love or affection. This phrase is still however controversial. It’s based on the word “nigger” which is a racial epithet, often referring to a derogatory, defamatory, or abusive phrase. However this is based on the word “negro” which was how those of African heritage were identified. Those who wouldn’t (typically) be classified as a negro, are frowned at for using the phrase, “my nigga”, the reason being it’s increasingly hard to tell if it’s being used as a term of endearment or racial epithet. How can one go about navigating using such a risky phrase while still showing cultural appropriation? The answer is “don’t try it”. Even in the black/negro community using the term nigga, is not always seen in an affectionate manner. Although some might say it’s impossible to share such a phrase outside of the originators culture, there are some best practices to use that will help guide friends from turning into foes. Experts say that communication is 70% body language (actions, behavior, location, who the person is entirely), 20% tone (the manner in “how” something is said) and 10% word choice (the content of what we are communicating). It’s best to be aware of where you are when using the phrase and who you are around. Make sure you know the people around you have some sort of affection for you and know that you have affection for them.
Those who choose to use the phrase, and are not classified as black/negro run the chance of “micro- aggressions”, which are defined on Wikipedia as such: Micro-assault: an explicit racial derogation; verbal/nonverbal; e.g.: name-calling, avoidant behavior, purposeful discriminatory actions. Micro-insult: communications that convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person’s racial heritage or identity; subtle snubs; unknown to the perpetrator; hidden insulting message to the recipient of color.Micro-invalidation: communications that exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person belonging to a particular groupI enjoy people and their culture from all walks of life (if it wasn’t already apparent that I enjoyed watching Girl Meets World). Cultural Misappropriation can be using someone’s culture as a mascot (Redskins, Black Hawks, Braves, etc. etc.) or in the case of black history in America, having their culture washed away entirely (we’re looking at you Elvis Presley) , the ever prevalent culture of “white supremacy” promotes not to respect others culture. Acknowledging and correcting “white supremacy” as the growing culture in America is vital for communities to come together.
