Christopher Cervantes
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Last week, there was an incident involving two San Francisco State University students and the topic of cultural appropriation. A young, unnamed African-American student was caught on video accusing a white student of stealing a part of her culture. What did this student do that provoked such a confrontation? He had dreadlocks and … that’s it. An argument over hair.
While this may seem silly, there is, in fact, a big issue in our nation when it comes to the appropriation of different cultures. Whether it be a football team who uses a group of people as a mascot or a minstrel show with an ensemble of blackface performers, cultural appropriation has been a factor in the history of civilization. With that being said, though, does the term cultural appropriation necessarily need to pertain to something negative?
Cultural appropriation, by definition, is the adoption or use of elements from one culture by members of a different culture. The biggest issue around this is when this appropriation is distorted from its original purpose and/or aesthetic and is, in fact, now in the realm of desecration.
As much as I hate to sound wishy-washy, this issue has no concise black or white answer.
One fact that deserves acknowledgment is the perpetuation of stereotypes. In 2011, a group of Ohio University students created a poster campaign to denounce stereotypical “cultural” costumes. This is the distortion that people worry about.
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But then there are the moments that I can’t help but roll my eyes. Like the aforementioned hair issue. Granted, dreadlocks may have been popularized by African Americans, but they have been a part of cultures dating back to the Viking age.
And that there is a big problem that I feel a lot of people have in this argument. How do you determine the origin of something in relevance to modern culture? How does one determine who it is that own the rights to any given thing? Does it fall into the culture of that it originated from or that which made it popular?
This is what makes this issue a pain, and I think a lot of it, the gray area, comes from the people behind the accusations. On one hand, you have an organized group of students, banding together to spread awareness. On the other hand, you have a lone student abrasively confronting another by putting her hands on him. Some battles need to be fought, while others aren’t battles at all.
Cultural appropriation does in fact exist. Is it a bad thing? If it is done in a caricature- like fashion, it can be extremely detrimental to a group of people. If it is misidentified or used as an excuse for an altogether different problem, then it is even more damaging.
Ultimately, this is an issue that is deserving of more public knowledge to better ensure the identification and treatment to whatever cultural appropriation is taking place (without hysterics). At the very least, it would be a first step.