>CB: I think Black people are accepting that some white individuals can
>become fluent in aspects of Black culture, become Black , become
>bi-cultural to some extent, especially within one art form. Bix B
>essentially became Black in terms of music.
What do you make of the arguments of late about cultural appropriation? There are some args floating around the Internet (and I assume elsewhere) about how people shouldn't do yoga, listen to rap, eat sashimi, wear dreadlocks, etc. Apparently, my taking cardio hip hop and kickboxing classes at the Y is a big no-no because I'm engaged in cultural appropriation. I'm not kidding about this and the arguments come from folks I seriously respect. One friend, a black guy who's an English lit gradstud at an Ivy League, thinks that he should figuratively kick your ass if you listen to hip hop superficially. Apparently, if you listen to it and cultivate a deep respect for its history, its more progressive lyrics, etc., then its all good. But if you listen to it the way most of the black kids in the old hood did (who wouldn't know Dead Prez from the Dead Kennedys), which was just listening to whatever they heard on the radio and maybe picked up reading hip hop fan mags at the store, then you're an appropriator who deserves a good talking too. (I don't get this one. I think most black kids I know who listen to hip hop hardly have a clue about its history -- they barely know recent history, let alone deep connections with the rest of African American music traditions (call and response, spoken word, etc.) Which isn't an indictment of these kids as individuals or even a whine about the hypocrisy of laying it on white folk.... What I mean is, the same cultural forces that mean black kids know little about its history are the same ones that mean white folks don't know it either.
I certainly understand the issue in terms of the way music was stolen from people, the way Native American culture is reduced to ridiculous trinkets divorced from their meaning (though not without the help of folks, NAs themselves, who do so to make money and then are said to be "acting white" for doing so because they betray their more radical activist Native Americans), and so forth. But I want to point at the larger process that goes on, look at what seems to me the real enemy, and not dwell on the morality of buying or not buying hot sauce that plays off Orientalism in its packaging/marketing. I mean, obviously, I know that you, Charles, are not all that enamored of boycotts that are not especially organized and shre this more marxist approach, but still maybe you have or have heard a compelling case for avoiding any form of cultural appropriation.
In the meantime, I'll continue with my appropriation of African American hip hop and Eastern martial arts, without bothering to learn any more than I already know about it -- such cultural immersion is time consuming. But I would like to hear some decent argument. As yet, I really haven't heard much other than I "shouldn't" because it's stealing someone else's culture and one should only participate in another culture *only* by doing the requisite homework on it, showing proper respect for it. Otherwise, its a kind of cultural violence wielding against something that would otherwise be pristine and timeless -- which, I'm having a hard time surpressing this opinion, is a view of color that disturb the hellouttame.
Thoughts?