Cultural Appropriation versus Cultural Appreciation

Debates surrounding cultural appropriation versus cultural appreciation have been catapulted into the spotlight recently. Many high-profile celebrities and companies have come under fire for appropriating different cultures and demonstrating a blatant disregard for their customs and roots, crossing the line between appreciation and appropriation in an instant. 

The Cambridge dictionary defines appropriation as “the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture”. One of the most recent cases to cause a stir involved British singer-songwriter Adele. The musician posted a picture to her Instagram account showing her wearing a Jamaican flag bikini top with her hair in bantu knots. The image sparked controversy and accusations of cultural appropriation, particularly as Bantu-knots are worn as a protective style for afro-textured hair. As a result, many came out to condemn Adele as demonstrating ignorance to African- Caribbean culture whilst at the same time, using elements of the culture to elevate her standing. 

Although cultural appropriation originated many years ago, it continues today and has been launched into the media eye with the most recent spate of Black Lives Matter protests. The term originated somewhere between 1960 and 1990- first appearing in sociologist writings- and according to The Tablet, it seems it was first used by indigenous people whose nations had been subject to colonisation. As the number of appropriation accusations continue to rise you may be wondering, how do we differentiate between appropriation and appreciation? What defines recent cases as disrespectful rather than just ignorant or stemming from a love or fascination for different cultures?

Susan Scafidi, a law professor at Fordham University states that appropriation is “most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g sacred objects”. On the other hand, cultural appreciation stems from a real desire to understand and appreciate a culture and its people. It goes beyond wearing the clothes or hairstyles of a culture for self-promotion or social media attention and instead, it is when we simply seek to honour and understand a culture without an ulterior motive. If we appropriate a culture, we take from others and then put ourselves in a position of authority which can not only widen divides in communities, but also perpetuate harmful stereotypes and add fuel to an already blazing fire of racial tension that exists in today’s climate.

Cultural appropriation is closely related to the racial inequality in society. It is a cog in the same system that enables systematic oppression and police brutality. In that sense, it is impossible to support movements such as Black Lives Matter whilst simultaneously being implicated in the same system of oppression that is being fought against. If you are guilty of cultural appropriation, you are perpetuating harmful stereotypes and demonstrating disrespect for different cultures; these are regressive rather than progressive behaviours, and they appear harmful and counterproductive when performed by those who claim to support the struggles of black people.

In recent years acts of cultural appropriation have been encouraged by current fashion trends, enabling acts of appropriation to be performed in a trivial manner with little sensitivity or respect for other cultures. Although often branded as ‘just a hairstyle’, cornrows are a great example of this. Cornrows are banned in some workplaces and schools for being ‘unprofessional’, and black people who wear them are frequently met with prejudice and labelled ‘unkept’ or ‘ghetto’. When non-black people wear these, it often demonstrates a complete dismissal of these struggles and trivialises the negative experiences that black people have for doing the same thing. This would be labelled as appropriation rather than appreciation. New arrivals and those without citizenship have often been targets of mockery from majority populations, not just for wearing hairstyles such as cornrows, but for numerous other cultural practices which are often appropriated by white people. 

There are numerous other high-profile cases of appropriation too, many performed by large companies such as Dior, whose depiction of a Native American dancer in their 2019 ‘Sauvage’ advert was deemed an instance of appropriation. Luxury outdoor brand Canada Goose recently got caught up in the appropriation versus appreciation debate too after they announced that their products would draw inspiration from other cultures arts and crafts. The company commissioned 14 inuit seamstresses to make coats of their own designs using fabrics provided by the company and announced that the seamstresses would own the copyright for their coats rather than the company. Although they faced backlash for the move, Canada Goose defended their position to pay homage to the Inuit with Mishael Gordon, one of the Project Atigi seamstresses, telling the Thomas Reuters Foundation that they felt the companies decision “was an appreciation of indigenous culture, not appropriation” and would also benefit the region as well as the seamstresses by “showcasing their artwork”.

In today’s climate, thousands of us are hot on the heels of racial inequality and are keen to show our support by rallying behind movements such as Black Lives Matter. The social and political discourse, particularly of the young, has a strong focus on racial equality and a desire to highlight the systemic oppression that continues to impact the lives of black people today. However, cultural appropriation is often left out of that conversation- many of those who claim to support the fight against racial inequality can find themselves engaging in appropriation out of ignorance, and some will do so knowing that it is wrong. We must continue to open up the debate around appropriation versus appreciation and educate each other on the fine line between the two, whilst calling out notable instances of appropriation, if we are to move towards dismantling systems of oppression. By choosing to ignore cultural appropriation we are perpetuating harmful stereotypes and fuelling systems that oppress black people. 

This article was written by Bethany Morris, a content writer for the Immigration Advice Service, a team of lawyers based in the United Kingdom.