We often hear of America being called “a melting pot” because of its diverse cultures. With such diversity comes along assimilation and a meshing of cultures. A consequence of this is cultural appropriation. There is a very fine line between cultural appropriation and appreciation. 

Cultural appropriation is defined as “the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that doesn’t respect their original meaning, give credit to their source, or reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression” by Verywell Mind. Cultural appropriation can manifest in different areas: Intellectual property, artifacts, dance, clothing and fashion, language, music, food, religious symbols, decorations, medicine, makeup, hairstyle, and wellness practices. Another more nuanced example is getting tattoos of languages you do not truly know or have no connection to simply for “aesthetic” (like Ariana Grande’s Japanese tattoo that actually says “small barbecue grill” instead of seven rings). 

So why is this wrong? Cultural appropriation may be unintentional and a way to pay homage to a culture, but the issue arises when it is done without proper knowledge of a culture, misrepresentation, and / or using a stereotype to generalize a culture. Though cultural appropriation may be subjective, it is ultimately up to the group that is being represented to determine whether it is offensive. 

We see cultural appropriation all the time: in pop culture, sports, the media, Halloween, and pretty much everything. You’ve probably seen some examples of cultural appropriation in  Halloween costumes, like ninjas, Native Americans, Bollywood stars, Geishas, “sexy (insert an ethnicity)”, or straight up Black face. Here’s a list of all the kinds of cultural appropriation that can happen during Halloween. Though people may question how wearing a costume of a culture is cultural appropriation, the main issue isn’t that a person not of that culture is wearing it, but that it is often a colonized, or “white-washed”, mainstream, version of a culture. For example, I can speak on the impact of seeing someone wear Indian attire as a costume for Halloween. There is so much more to Indian culture than just a sari and a bindi. So when I see someone who isn’t Desi wearing a sari as a “cute, one-time outfit” it’s insulting, since that is my culture for life, not just one day. 

Examples of sports teams who use Native American names are the Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Blackhawks, and Florida State Seminoles. For North American sports teams to use Native Americans as their logo has so many layers of wrong. Given the history of their dehumanization, depicting them as a savage on sports logos and teams is a mockery of the pain endured by so many who were slaughtered for that very same “savage” depiction of Natives. It’s frankly astonishing how “Redskins” is just an accepted team name…it’s just completely racist! That’s like having a team called “Blackskins” or “Yellowskins” and having mocking, racist caricatures of Asian or Black people as a logo. This also gives fans the opportunity to dress in Native attire in inappropriate ways, reducing their centuries of culture to a shirtless white boy with war paint and a Native headpiece.

An example of cultural appropriation in pop culture is the common use of Indian designs, celebrations and motifs as an “exotic aesthetic”. Selena Gomez wore a Hindu bindi during a performance as a part of her outfit. Beyonce and Coldplay’s music video for their 2016 song, “Hymn for the Weekend” used montages of Indian stereotypes and Indian outfits during Holi celebration in Mumbai. The shame comes from the fact that we know they do not understand the deeper meaning behind the customs such as why Hindus wear bindis, why we celebrate Holi. It’s more than just a cute design, a fun event for us. 

http://https://youtu.be/YykjpeuMNEk

 

I remember during my junior year, I was part of the prom committee and someone brought up the idea of a Cinco de Mayo themed prom. I laughed at this, thinking they were joking because it was simply inviting cultural appropriation of Mexican culture, but it ended up being a legitimate theme we were voting on. There are so many ways cultural appropriation is allowed to propagate and thrive mainly from ignorance and being unaware. We must be more mindful and educated on cultures so we are not culturally appropriating. At the end of the day, if you’re questioning whether something is cultural appropriation, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.