Cultural Appropriation is, for those who do not know, the act of taking a part of any minority group’s culture. It’s usually white people who get accused the most, seeing as white people are a majority in the west. So If white people try to sell Mexican food that’s cultural appropriation. If a white person dresses in a sombrero, again, that is considered cultural appropriation.
Even if it is fiction
What damage has cultural appropriation caused? Well, it’s closed down several businesses, made several people annoyed and it has made more people intolerant both on the right and the left! The whole concept as a whole, is in it of itself, a uniquely American thing. Hear me out.
There’s a stereotype about Americans that they’re spoiled and that they want everything they see, and that they’re so entitled that they try to speak for everyone. I’ve only seen this sort of behavior on this large a scale in one country. The US. And where did the concept of cultural appropriation come from? The US.
I’m a Swede, which means that my culture is vikings, meatballs, Swedish traditional garb and so on. You don’t see me complaining about the show Vikings. (Swedes are not a majority in the US, after all)
Or when Japanese people dress up in our traditional garb and celebrate Midsommar in a place called Sweden Hill. (Swedes are not a majority in Japan, after all)
Or when the American show, The Muppets make fun of Swedes with the Swedish Chef.
It would be ridiculous if i got mad at any of this. In fact, the only appropriate response is a smile. I fucking love it! And guess what? The rest of the world enjoys it when their culture is featured in any way shape or form as well. And we don’t need a bunch of Americans who has ancestry in other countries, speaking for those countries. The fact that you speak for other countries that you don’t know the first thing about is what makes you American. The fact that you try to stop people from expressing themselves with other cultures ideas is what makes you American! You are an American, not Japanese, not a Swede, not a Russian, not an African, not a Latina; American!
No one owns a trademark on a culture, in fact, cultures are an amalgam of lots of different cultures and countries. Even just the food of all the different countries don’t have their genesis in each respective country. Minute Earth lays it down so that anyone can understand just how small the world really is and just how much we borrow from each other.
Like, in Sweden, it is the culture to celebrate Christmas (Which is in it of itself an amalgam of many different cultures) by watching a Disney special that airs every Christmas. That’s not of Swedish origin. Of course it isn’t! That’s American as shit!
So am i appropriating American culture? And are Americans appropriating my culture? No! You’re just doing what cultures have always done! Intermix. See you on the flipside!
