Am I a Culture Vulture?
First of all, let's start by recognizing that we are upon Black History Month. I will be doing my best to represent Black History Month as much as possible during this month of February, and will be touching on cultural appropriation a few times while doing so. It is funny how Kim K. chose the weekend before Black History Month began to say something stupid (please don't make me think this was intentionally planned), but in a world of social media, people as a whole have forgotten how to act right. Avoid acting a fool. Not spewing dumb ob the internet.
For those of you that have not heard the story, I will give a quick synopsis. On Sunday, January 28, 2018, Kim Kardashian took to The Gram, an array of photos showing off her new corn rows. Instead of recognizing that she was sporting an ethnically and culturally inspired hairstyle, she decided to comments that these were her Bo Derek Braids.
Photo courtesy of boderek/instagram
For those of you who do not know who Bo Derek is (hell, I barely do), she was an actress back in the 70's that starred in a movie where she wore the same type of braids. Bo Derek gives credit to the braids being replicated from Queen Nefertari. Bo Derek attempted to have Kim K.'s back, but then shoved her foot in her mouth when reporting it was "just a hairstyle", not even recognizing that they both need to pay homage to the culture that they borrowed from in the first place.
Let's talk about cultural appropriation for a minute. To appropriate a culture can get really tricky, so I will try to explain it without getting lost (although, I sometimes myself get lost, and I know I can do better). Cultural appropriation is when a dominant culture takes on and uses pieces of a minority culture, then claims it as their own. The Kim K. debacle is a perfect example of this in action. Kim K. get on the internet, and shouts out her hairstyle, thanks to a white woman, even though that white woman did not originate the braids. I know what you're saying right now: It's just a hairstyle, who cares?! Well, I want you to care.
Let me give you another example: Cinco De Mayo.
So what does Cinco De Mayo mean to you? To most here in America, it is a good excuse to wear sombreros, eat tacos, and get shit faced. I want you to take a guess what Cinco De Mayo is all about. Don't worry, I'll wait. We, as a whole, are culturally appropriating a holiday that has nothing to do with drinking, but more to do with a battle that was won by the Mexican Army over the French Empire.
So what does this say about myself? Am I a culture Vulture? Am I appropriating myself?
Let's start with giving you a little bit of background. I was born and raised in South Florida. There has always been a high Mexican population in the areas where I have lived. I can speak conversational Spanish, and have adopted much if the culture as my own. Even though I was raised with heavy notes of Hispanic culture in my lifetime, I am white. I'm not sure what kind of white, and when you ask my family members, you always get a different, unauthentic ethnicity. I have never celebrated any European traditions, and only know for sure that I am American. I have always been accepted for my behavior and style in South Florida, where I am from.
When I moved to Portland, OR I sported my hoop earrings unapologetically, and found that I was being accused of cultural appropriation. The earrings that I wore did not belong to me and my white heritage, and I was being told that I was being offensive. This was a hard notion for me to fully grasp, considering I have a Wu Tang Clan tattoo, and was raised french braiding my hair, an art my mother learned and passed down to me, from her time in foster care.
I couldn't let it rest. There was no way I was going to let someone accuse me of thieving something that I had been raised to do. I didn't like the feeling that I could be offensive to anyone that I cared about, moreover, not caring if I was being politically correct in the eyes of some white girl that was from Portland, who knew nothing about what it is like to come from a diverse community. I had to start looking at if my large hoop earrings was stealing from an oppressed population, for gain on my part to make it seen acceptable because I was white. Wow, that's a heavy thought, if you ask me.
I beat myself up over this notion of stealing, as opposed to adopting or exchanging a culture. I mean I must be appropriating because I am blessed with entitlement that opens up doors more easily for me than it does when it comes to a person of color. I can't start denying that because I have a Wu Tang tattoo and hoop earrings. Is it fair to say that it is a cultural exchange instead of an appropriation because I am merely adopting what I have learned over the years of how I was raised. Should I start doing more "white people" stuff? Am I not allowed to speak Spanish anymore? Is it OK to twerk and listen to Don Omar?
As or right now, I don't know the answers to these questions. I'm not sure I ever will. I think the point that I am bringing it up, and making white people, like myself, stop to question your motives, is the first step to realizing that we are writing the past, present, and future to the norms that we know, and that isn't accurate in other populations. It is time for white people to stop being such assholes.
I would love to hear your opinion on this, and all other posts I will be doing for February in dedication to Black History Month. It is 2018. It's time to start discussing these topics, caring about them, and stop assuming.