Cultural Appropriation is Becoming the New Segregation, SJWs Turning Into What they Hate

By Matt Agorist

 Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you  have likely seen the chaos and controversy swarming the internet and  mainstream media having to do with “cultural appropriation.” To be clear, there is indeed a negative aspect of cultural  appropriation whereas a dominate culture will use a bastardized  characteristic—either willingly or unwillingly—of a marginalized  culture, to push messages of misinformation, prejudice, and stereotypes. An extreme example of this would be blackface shows in the 1800’s in  which theatrical makeup was used predominantly by non-black performers  to represent caricatures of black people. 

A less extreme form of  cultural appropriation would be a sports team using an facet of another  culture as their own. To deny that there is cultural appropriation that is mean spirited or  prejudice would be to deny reality. However, these examples are evident  and would be better defined as cultural mockery and reflect real  racism. But, to call everything cultural appropriation—which seems to be  the new norm—is not only lacking merit and intelligent thought but it’s  promoting segregation. 

The topic of cultural appropriation was forced into the limelight in  2016 when a video went viral showing a black female student at San  Francisco State punch a man in the head  because his hair was in dreadlocks. Many social justice advocates  quickly came to the defense of the female student’s unprovoked  initiation of violence against an innocent person because his choice of  hairstyle was somehow racist. In what world is it okay to lay your hands on someone and assault  them for their choice in hairstyle? 

To assume this is acceptable  behavior is as disheartening as it is dangerous. 

Tolerance is not a one-way street. 

If we are to progress and get over the sheer lunacy of judging others  by their appearances, then we need to understand that aggressor/victim  situations are wrong, period. Reversing those roles is not social  justice, it is oppression, and it only leads to segregation through fear  and an “us versus them” mentality. 

While it is understandable for people of a certain race or culture to  become offended at what they perceive as cultural appropriation, we now  have people in the social justice movement—not affiliated with that  culture at all—who are shouting down everyone who attempts to appreciate  someone else’s culture or inadvertently participates in it. 

One glaring example of this was the reaction to a high school girl’s  prom dress earlier this month. Keziah Daum was one of many high school  students who proudly posted photos on social media with the caption “PROM” this weekend. But her post was met with backlash on Twitter after another user shared her status and wrote, “My culture is NOT your goddamn prom dress,” which sparked an argument over whether the cheongsam, or traditional Chinese dress, Daum wore was appropriate. 

Although the twitter user, Jeremy Lam is of Asian descent, the  massive backlash against a high school senior for her choice of dress  came from all races among the social justice crowd. Ironically enough,  however, a large group of the people she was accused of culturally  appropriating—from China—actually began speaking out in support of her, exposing the overreaction and unnecessary rage. 

What’s more, as TFTP pointed out, Americans appear to be more  concerned with attacking a high school senior for wearing a Chinese  dress than they are with their own government facilitating the slaughter  of children in the Middle East. 

Where’s  the outrage at the US participating in genocide in Yemen? That’s right,  social justice warriors are more concerned with shouting down those who  they disagree with politically on superficial issues than they are with  advocating an antiwar message. This is due in part to the fact that war  is bipartisan and is sold to the entire political spectrum as necessary  for “freedom.” Another recent example of segregation through cultural appropriation  is Cinco de Mayo. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) came out with a statement  on the largely celebrated holiday, noting that people in the U.S. who  consume tacos and tequila on Cinco de Mayo are enganging in “textbook  examples of cultural appropriation.” Ask the Mexican owners of restaurants if they are offended by the  windfall of profits they receive from people of all cultures flocking to  their establishments to spend money and appreciate their culture. 

That raises the question: Is enjoying ethnic food or wearing ethnic  clothing problematic when there is no ill intent behind it? One could  argue that cross-culture pollination—or, dare we say, cultural  appropriation—is actually helping to undermine prejudice. By  participating in and being accepted by other cultures, this breaks down  barriers of tribalism and allows for the peaceful mix of cultural  appreciation. It’s also important to point out the double standard. 

When Rihanna  culturally appropriated the Catholic church at the Met Gala last week,  social justice warriors were silent. 

Not only were they silent, but the  New York Times praised her outfit that was specifically designed to  mimic papal tiaras. The fact is that Rhianna’s outfit and Daum’s prom dress were both  innocent and benign as neither of them had any ill intent. Just like  many folks in China praised Daum’s dress, the Catholic church showed  their support for this year’s theme at the Gala. See how that works? When people don’t try to force others to stay  within the bounds of their race or ethnicity that they just so happen to  be born into, and allow them to experience and appreciate other  cultures, prejudice is undermined. 

This is the exact opposite of what  many in the social justice movement appear to want, however. Saying someone cannot be a part of your society, or use the products  that your culture uses, or dress like your culture or someone else’s—is  the very essence of segregation. It is functionally the same argument  used by racist white people during the Jim Crow era who wanted black  people out of their culture. It is time to move past this. 

The level of divide in this country  appears to be at an all-time high in spite of all the progress of the  past several decades. 

Americans are pitted against each other over  superficial arguments that serve as little more than talking points for  pundits on the left and right sides of the establishment. While Americans bash each other over superficial issues of right vs.  left or Islam vs. Christianity or white vs. black — those at the top,  get richer, more powerful, more tyrannical, and spread more war. We have been divided, and we are now being conquered — and political correctness and racism have served as the catalysts. If a teen’s dress or Cinco de Mayo gets you more angry than the US  dropping bombs on children in the Middle East, you might need to rethink  your priorities. 

If the push to end war received one tenth of the  coverage that the push to end perceived cultural appropriation gets,  there could be peace by the end of the month. 

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