Cultural Appropriation is Bullshit.

So, it’s October, and you know what that means… Endless lectures on Halloween costumes and cultural appropriation! September ends, and we’re hit with a huge list of Halloween costumes we’re not allowed to wear, lest we be called racist. But, here’s the thing, the entire concept of cultural appropriation is complete bullshit.

First, I guess I need to define the term for the sake of argument. From Oxford:

Cultural Appropriation: (noun) the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s destroy this concept.

First, the term “appropriation” implies theft, when, in reality, what tends to happen is that when aspects of one culture are adopted by another “dominant” culture, it tends to lead more to tolerance, and even acceptance, between said cultures. When two cultures are kept separate, it leads to mistrust and fear.

One example of this is Elvis Presley. People constantly say that he “stole the black man’s music”, and that he didn’t deserve his fame. But, think about it. Did he steal the black man’s music, or did he make that music “acceptable” for white people to listen to in the 50s? Was it appropriation or appreciation? Did he rip off, or did he help give two cultures common ground by having them enjoy similar music? You can’t tell me that the popularity of Rock and Roll, helped along by Elvis, didn’t aid in the civil rights movement of the following decade. All of a sudden, people were watching black people on TV, seeing them play to large groups of people of both races, gaining huge amounts of popularity, and thinking to themselves “why can’t these people drink from the same fountain as me? Maybe they’re just people like us and should be treated as such.”

Another oft-cited example of appropriation is the Washington Redskins. People get really upset when a sports team names themselves after another culture. I’ve never understood this. People don’t name teams after things that aren’t revered in some way. You don’t see teams with names like the “Denver Idiots” or the “Cleveland Cowards”. No, you name teams after things that will intimidate the other teams. And Washington went with “Redskins” because the native Americans were a fierce bunch that we fought with for hundreds of years. They are revered as worthy adversaries, and therefore we name sports teams and attack helicopters after them.

America is supposed to be a melting pot of cultures and ideas. We can’t function as such if people keep putting up dividers between our cultures. Next time someone accuses another person of cultural appropriation, ask them why the cultures need to be divided.

So, in short, dress up as whatever you want this Halloween. The more people think that we need to separate cultures, the more of a divide there will be between them. And two cultures that are kept divided will never see each other as equals.