{"id":3719,"date":"2016-05-04T04:36:41","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T08:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/sermonsfromthemound\/?p=3719"},"modified":"2016-05-04T04:36:41","modified_gmt":"2016-05-04T08:36:41","slug":"cultural-appropriation-and-racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sermonsfromthemound\/2016\/05\/cultural-appropriation-and-racism\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Appropriation and Racism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In my last post on cultural appropriation (Cultural Appropriation has nothing to do with \u201cRace\u201d<\/a><\/em>), I made the point that the issue is about culture<\/strong>, not genetics and not \u201crace\u201d. People are part of a culture if they have been brought up in and immersed in that culture \u2013 it has nothing to do with their genetic background. V\u00f6lkisch racists want you to believe that only people who are descended from Northern Europeans can worship Northern European gods, so they have taken the discourse around cultural appropriation and twisted it to their own ends.<\/p>\n

However, when the Patheos editors shared the post on the main page (which was very nice of them), they changed the title to \u201cCultural Appropriation and accusations of racism\u201d. I wasn\u2019t sure how they got to that title from the content of the post, but in the post, I was trying to deconstruct the notion of \u201crace\u201d as a biological or genetic characteristic, and to point out that people shouldn\u2019t culturally appropriate, not because they are a different \u201crace\u201d, but because they are from a different culture. And cultural appropriation can be distinguished from cultural fusion (a respectful blending of cultural forms) by the power differential between the appropriating culture and the appropriated one.<\/p>\n

Culture is rich and complex and deep, with its own history, traditions, folklore, and layers and layers of meaning (as the picture below of women in Mali illustrates). Lifted out of context, it loses meaning.<\/p>\n

\"By<\/a>
Women in Mali. Photo by Ferdinand Reus<\/a> from Arnhem, Holland \u2013 Mali<\/a>, CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Interestingly, a friend who commented on the previous article expressed the concern that would-be cultural appropriators might take the title of the post as carte blanche<\/em> to carry on appropriating, or as a denial that cultural appropriation is a form of racism (which is implied even more strongly by the changed title that I mentioned above).<\/p>\n

I have outlined what cultural appropriation is in previous posts<\/a> on the topic: the exploitation and commodification of other cultures\u2019 sacred rituals and artefacts, often resulting in a trivialising effect on their meaning. Here\u2019s my definition again:<\/p>\n

Cultural appropriation is when someone from a colonising or culturally dominant culture takes a ritual or sacred or meaningful practice from a subjugated or devalued or colonised culture, lifting it out of context and draining it of meaning. And probably making money out of it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you\u2019re still not sure what cultural appropriation is, please go back and read those posts<\/a> again. Or read Crystal Blanton\u2019s excellent post on why cultural appropriation is hurtful and damaging<\/a>. Here\u2019s her definition:<\/p>\n

What is cultural appropriation? It is the borrowing and using of another person\u2019s cultural treasures without permission, without necessary cultural context and without employing the respect due. Many times cultural appropriation is the means of monetary gain by the exploiting of things that should not be for sale, and sometimes it is to gain prestige or credibility. It is also a way that white people have gotten fame or credibility by the very use of cultural attributes that others from the culture are criminalized, villainized and demonized for. \u00a0Either way, cultural appropriations takes the valuable pieces of marginalized cultures, those who have already suffered at the hands of painful oppression, and further takes what is left for them to have agency over. When one\u2019s culture is gone, all things are lost.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A subtle form of racism<\/h3>\n

Why is cultural appropriation a form of racism?<\/p>\n