Posted by Validus (other posts) on February 20, 2014 at 06:59:06 Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: Someone talk some sense into me posted by Validus on February 20, 2014 at 06:41:01:
"APPROPRIATION IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR PROGRESS."
Here are some snippets quoted from a commentary on the issue of cultural appropriation, with which I completely agree:
(-Val)
... For one of many insane examples, they say white folks should not have dreadlocks (really, I can't make this up)—even though the Celts had dreads two thousand years ago. I don't know whether antiracists think it's okay to use chopsticks.
I was reminded of this when I referred to K. Tempest Bradford, aka ktempest, aka the Angry Black Woman, as the Angry Bougie Woman on Google+. I didn't expect her to see it, but I wasn't surprised when she and her friends noticed and talked about it. nkjemisin, aka nojojojo, tweeted: "Not that I want him to talk more, but I wish he'd at least use bougie properly, since he's appropriating."
Guilty, girlfriend. 'Bougie' is totally appropriated.
From the motherfucking French.
By Karl Motherfucking Marx.
(Or, more likely, by people who studied the social classes long before Marx. Life's too short to Google that now.)
Here's one of the many things that the Anti-racism Cult doesn't get: Appropriation is just another word for progress.
Here's my favorite photo of the most appropriating motherfucker I know. It's Geronimo, taken while he and his people were free.
Notice his appropriated jacket? European jackets make a lot of sense in the Southwest. Rifle? Totally fucking appropriated 'cause it's useful. Notice that he didn't appropriate pants? They're too damn warm most of the year. Footgear? Nice soft moccasins that're comfortable to walk in—why would he want white folks' boots? I'm tempted to ask Emma to make me a breechcloth like his to complete the appropriating circle, though for footgear, I prefer to appropriate sandals.
Now, by definition, bougie black folks appropriate all kinds of Asian, American Indian, and Euro shit, as well as shit from many different African cultures. That's what the upper classes do.
As for "bougie," I'm not surprised N.K. Jemisin doesn't know that my generation used it. I was startled when I learned how old "groovy" was. Slang, like sex, is always assumed to have been invented by the kids who just found out about it.
Well. Appropriation. It's okay by me. Someday, the working class will appropriate everything that bougie folks currently think they have a right to.
If sallies had existed back in time, I guess they wouldn't have said much about extermination of the natives, but they would surely have asked George Washington to give up gunpowder because he's a white male and he's offending Chinese people who first invented it.
As for the food/clothing, better I don't mingle too much. Because they talk all day of appropriation and then it's perfectly ok going for a pizza or a cappuccino or a pasta dish that, by the way, are no way like the originals. Ripping from minority cultures is ok if they're European. Just wonder what they eat, considering that American cuisine is a varied mixture of other national cuisines.