Cultural appropriation put simply, is someone who uses or wears something from a culture that does not belong to them. Some even take credit for it. Although it may seem harmless at first, if one looks below the surface, it can reveal a long history of prejudice.
Not only is it a blatant show of disrespect towards different cultures, but people who appropriate often don’t receive as much prejudice or ridicule as the group of people whose culture it belongs to. This is an obvious display of systemic oppression at work.
For instance, there are many cases where black people who go to school or work with traditional black hairstyles are deemed “unprofessional”, whereas if someone who wasn’t black were to do the same, they would be admired, and in some cases, even given credit for “inventing” something that isn’t theirs.
Another prominent case of cultural appropriation that is especially noticeable around this time of year is costumes. There are “Geisha” and “Native American” Halloween costumes that reinforce stereotypes about these races. People claim that dressing up is harmless and that anyone who opposes the costumes is being too sensitive, but we are not. If anything, there isn’t enough outrage over these costumes. They are disrespectful to the cultures they came from and make fun of the rich traditions of the people of that culture. By using others’ cultures as a Halloween costume, you are reducing their entire existence to a mere gimmick to garner some laughs.
Not only that, but people who appropriate usually don’t understand the culture that whatever their appropriating came from, and even if they do, nothing should be taken or borrowed if that culture doesn’t belong to you.
There is a “trend” now where people wear fake jade Buddha necklaces for fashion. Buddhism is a religion that is deeply rooted in Asia and has a long history of its followers being oppressed. Buddhists were silenced and killed for their religion. The fact that people are wearing Buddha necklaces when they don’t follow the religion is incredibly disrespectful and ignores the long history of prejudice behind the trend. They are turning Buddhism and its traditions into simple fads.
Cultural appropriation is an issue that not everyone takes seriously since at first it seems like a surface-level matter. Once you delve into the issue, you discover that cultural appropriation is a problem that is far bigger than people not being able to take a joke. It is the work of years of systemic oppression mainly targeted towards people of color. The sooner people realize that the sooner we will be able to take a step towards reducing the systemic oppression still in the world today.
