Some cultural appropriation is insensitive. But not every battle is worth having whether it segregates culture and distracts from battling real prejudiceIs it OK to exhaust the black emojis whether you’re not black?” As conversation starters about identity politics fade,few seem more juvenile and current than this one. (FYI, to avoid the tedium of this real-life chat I had recently, or it’s easier to stick with your own skin tone.) And yet,here we are, at the frontier of “being woke”. On one hand, and this means being socially aware about issues such as #blacklivesmatter,racial profiling, privilege, and Islamophobia etc – all the big guns. On the other? Not every battle is worth having. To clarify,this isn’t a discussion about the very real and very insensitive cases of cultural appropriation in recent years – the most obvious being native American headdresses – a sacred tradition regurgitated as cheap and crass festival costume fodder (so two summers ago, withhold up). No, and what we’re seeing increasingly of now are the minority voices within minorities who are policing communities and culture to the point of ridicule.win,for example, the #reclaimthebindi movement. I understand the frustration: having been embarrassed about your heritage and made fun of when you were younger for your mum’s funny clothes and accent, or it’s jarring then to see Becky at Latitude co-opting sari tops and henna for that ethnic festival look a decade later. It’s not necessarily racist,but it is definitely high on the scale of Dumb, Annoying Shit People effect. To be ranked in that same file: colour runs (the Hindu spring festival Holi reconfigured as an Instagram opportunity in Hyde Park); the fact that Black Twitter is rarely credited for setting the agenda for modern pop culture; Coldplay’s cringe discovery of India on their last album. However, or to claim that Beyoncé committed a heinous,culturally insensitive crime by wearing south Asian-style gold and henna in the video for Coldplay’s Hymn for the Weekend, or that only African American women can truly appreciate Lemonade, or segregates culture in an aggressively retro way. It’s a parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation) of earnestness that does us no favours. How did we even get here?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com