So what is appropriation? To understand this concept, one
needs to consider a few things, namely the history of colonization, power, privilege
and context. A cultural group swoops in and takes a cultural aspect from a
disenfranchised group and claims ownership over it. The cultural aspect is
often taken out of context and becomes a further sign of the remnants of
colonization and a refusal to respect and acknowledge the validity of cultures
different from one’s own.
So what is the difference, you might ask, between a hipster
wanting Native American “tribal” patterns all over their pants and a person of
color wearing a business suit? Or speaking English? Can there be ‘reverse
appropriation’? No. Appropriation is about power and privilege. A person of
color is forced to wear a business suit because Western societal values dictate
that an individual is not appropriate for work/success without it. People of
color are required to conform in this way in order to be hopefully deemed
appropriate for work (I could throw in a discussion of natural hair and whether
or not it is appropriate for “professional” settings, but that’s a discussion
for another time). As for English, it is not one of the ‘dominant’ languages in
the world because it is, in some way, a more superior language. Or because it
is more beautiful or its use is somehow an inherent sign of intelligence. It is
used because of colonization. Because people were killed and cultures were
decimated. And these English-speaking colonizers decided to force their
language upon them. White/Western culture is seen as the standard. In essence, people
of color are required to look as assimilated into White/Western culture as much
as humanly possible in order to be seen as appropriate, intelligent, etc. This
is not a sharing of culture. This is forced assimilation. On the other hand,
the hipster with the Native American “tribal” print pants is seizing a part of another
culture that they have no understanding of just because they think it looks
cool. This cultural aspect is being taken out of its proper context and morphed
into a plaything, an accessory to White America’s desires. Not to mention,
Native American artists are not even making money off of this. In most, if not
all cases, the designs are literally stolen and put in stores like Urban
Outfitters without so much as a thank you card.
Now, so what does this have to do with music? Well, American
music is a great place to look for cultural appropriation. Since the days of
Elvis and probably before that, mainstream (read: White) artists and record
companies have mined black culture. Whether we’re talking about style, actual
songs or dances, black culture has provided a very fruitful ground for white
artists to come in, take what they want, make money and move on. Black artists
are not credited, compensated or respected in the often repeated process of
this cultural theft. Black culture becomes something “edgy” to be used when you
want to take your music to the next level (See Justin Timberlake and Miley Cyrus).
When white people appropriate black culture for music in particular, they are
allowed to put on what they think are trappings of the culture for short
periods of time. They can do things (like twerking) without anyone really thinking
any less of them because everyone knows it is a phase. It is not seen as who
the person IS, the way it would be if a black person did it. If a black woman
tried to make a career from twerking, she would be slut-shamed, her
intelligence would be questioned and no one would take her seriously. It is
from a place of privilege that an individual can temporarily put on the things
that hold a black person back just to look edgy before moving on to the next
venture. Black people cannot move on. In the eyes of mainstream America, every
black man is a dangerous thug and every black woman is a hypersexualized
twerker. Who we really are as individuals is never taken into account. Not only
that, but through appropriation, the history and original ownership of music,
for example, is called into question. Mainstream society actually starts to
believe its lie that it has created something. White artists are seen as the innovators
or the ones who made something popular/important even if it has been practiced
and/or celebrated in its original context for years. People of color are then
regulated to the sidelines as they watch aspects of their culture warped,
manipulated, disrespected, owned and then thrown away when the new cool thing
comes around. Their culture and they themselves are seen as disposable.
I could go on for much longer about the many aspects of white
cultural appropriation of black culture in particular and the recent examples
of Miley, Macklemore and Robin Thicke, but other people have done this beautifully
before me so I will use this space to cast more light on them:
Free feel to tweet @SexMiseducation on Twitter or shoot me
an email at SexMiseducation@gmail.com
regarding your thoughts on appropriation (of any kind) and/or any suggestions
for future blog posts.
