For those of you who don't know, cultural appropriation is when a member of a privileged group uses aspects of a culture that is not their own. While I'm happy to finally hear people talking about it off the internet as well as on it, I don't feel that everyone quite understands what it is and how it works. This is evident in some of the conversations I've heard around my university's campus, as well as some things I've seen happening on campus. Thus, I decided to mention some things I think more people should know about cultural appropriation.
Just as a disclaimer, I will only be talking about the appropriation of Chinese culture in this article because that is what I know, but that does not mean that what I'm saying doesn't apply to other cultures as well.
1. Something does not have to have a special meaning or context to be able to be appropriated.
I once said online that non-Chinese people playing erhu (a Chinese two-stringed instrument played with a bow) is cultural appropriation, and someone responded to me with, "How so? The erhu is just a musical instrument; it does not have any special significance." To them I replied that it is cultural appropriation because if I were to give a street performance of erhu outside of Beloit College — for example, somewhere in the town of Beloit or in Milwaukee, my hometown — I would be ridiculed and asked why I were playing "ching chong music." However, if a white person were to do the same thing, they would be praised for it and not have to worry about racist remarks. Even if someone didsay something racist about the erhu they were playing, it would only be the erhu that gets attacked: their whiteness would not.
2. If you are not of the culture in question, you do not get to decide whether or not using a certain aspect of it is appropriation.
I dislike it very much when I hear white people deciding for themselves whether or not they are appropriating something, with no input from anyone of the culture in question. Even if you know everything there is to know about the culture, you cannot be objective about how you would be treated for using that aspect of it versus someone who is of the culture because you have no firsthand experience with the type of racism they face. Because cultural appropriation is rooted in racism, racism plays a big part in whether or not something is cultural appropriation. If you have no experience with the racism people of the culture in question face, then you have no way of seeing the full picture on your own. Therefore, you should ask people of the culture for their input on the matter.
3. People of a certain culture are not a monolith and will have varying opinions on whether or not use of a certain aspect of their culture is appropriation.
This does not mean that you can pick and choose whose opinion is valid and whose isn't. All opinions on this matter are valid, and if you aren't of the culture in question then it's not your place to invalidate the opinions of people who are. While I can't police who you do and do not listen to, you should know that holding the opinion of one person over the opinions of other people of that culture is called tokenizing and it is wrong. One person cannot represent an entire community. You should also know that not doing something doesn't hurt anyone, so if there are mixed opinions on whether or not your doing something is appropriation, the least hurtful option is to not do it.
4. Nuance matters.
Not every aspect of a culture is appropriation in and of itself when used by someone not of that culture. When you want to determine whether or not something is appropriation, you have to look at the context. Something that's considered appropriation of Chinese culture in the United States might not be considered appropriation in China. Something that's considered appropriation of Chinese culture when done in the incorrect situation by yourself might not be considered appropriation when done alongside Chinese people who invited you to do it with them.
5. Linguistic appropriation is a problem too.
Yup, you heard me - your use of random Mandarin words in an English conversation is appropriation. However, since Mandarin does not belong to one specific culture of China and the thing being appropriated in this situation is language, we call this linguistic appropriation.
Why is this? Firstly, languages are for communicating. If you're using Mandarin words in an English conversation, it is not guaranteed that everyone involved in the conversation will know what you're talking about; therefore, you are not using the language for what it's for. Why would you use Mandarin words in an English conversation? When native speakers do it, it's because they know the other person also speaks Mandarin or they don't know that particular word in English. If you know the word in English and you're fluent in English, there is no need to insert a Mandarin word (unless the other person in the conversation can't understand you and you need to translate) into your conversation.
"But what if I need to practice my Mandarin?" Practice with someone who is also in your class. Practice with your instructor. Practice with your friend who is a native speaker. Most importantly, practice with someone who will know what you're talking about and wants to help you.
Secondly, United States-based native speakers of Mandarin as well as other Chinese languages often face racism and ridicule for speaking their language. When you incorporate random Mandarin words into your vocabulary, you will not, and this is important to acknowledge. It is not fair that Chinese people will face racism and ridicule for inserting Mandarin words into their English sentences because they can't remember what the English equivalent was, but you get praised for doing it just for the sake of doing it.
I am not saying speaking Mandarin is appropriation. I am saying accessorizing Mandarin is appropriation, which is what you're doing when you use it in a context where you would not need to use Mandarin.
6. Profiting off an aspect of a culture is appropriation.
How would you feel if you spent a lot of time making a really cool sweater, only for someone to steal it and made money off of it? Profiting off an aspect of a culture is no different. People of that culture created and developed it, and in some cases this has happened over the course of many years. Why, then, should someone who is not of the culture and had no part in its creation or development get to profit off it?
Moreover, growing up I had very limited access to authentic Chinese clothing. While I did own some Chinese clothing that I got as Christmas presents, they were few in number, and when I looked at the tags on some of the more recent Chinese clothes I own I found that they were made by non-Chinese designers. When I saw that, it only served as a reminder to me that I am not as connected to my culture as I want to be, and that non-Chinese people have more ownership of my culture than I do. Is that really the kind of message you want to send people of color? I sure hope not.
7. Wearing cultural items as part of a costume is appropriation.
Last year when I walked past the costume aisle of my local secondhand store, among the witch costumes and the cat jumpsuits I saw two poorly made imitations of traditional Chinese clothing. That was also not the first year I saw this happen.
Why is "Chinese" a costume option? "Chinese" is not a fictional character. "Chinese" is not a celebrity. "Chinese" is an ethnicity; a type of person. When you dress up as a Chinese person, you send the message that you see Chinese people as a caricature — a one-dimensional stereotype, not a person.
