That Cultural Thing
I’m gonna have to do a line by line takedown of this post.
I once heard someone say something along the lines of:
If you need government to protect your culture, then your culture is already dead
These cultural appropriation-ists should consider this within a broader context.
You do realize that this pretty much translates to ‘WE ALREADY COMITTED GENOCIDE AGAINST YOU. STOP TRYING TO PRESERVE ANYTHING. YOU’RE DEAD YOU’RE DEAD YOU’RE DEAD WAAAAHHHHH!’ right?
Child, I know exactly no one who wants the government ti intervene in ‘protecting’ NDN people at least from cultural appropriation. They’re the ones who committed and enabled the continued commitment of the genocide in the first place.
Do you honestly think that when we say ‘You’re being an asshole, cut that shit out’ we’re saying ‘WE WANT TO BAN YOU WITH LAWS’?
Whether or not cultural appropriation is true, for me, is a side issue.
Which indicates that you should stay out of it, as it’s not something that impacts your life. If it CAN be a side issue for you, it’s not something that hurts you.
The real issue is how did it get to the point where others felt comfortable enough to insult a culture without any fear of consequence?
Genocide.
Relying on the respect of others is obviously a foolhardy exercise, but the moment you bend and sway in what you do or don’t practise in your own culture, you automatically end up taking from other cultures, or at best, contaminate your own culture to the point where it makes it fair game for others to do the same.
Learn your ass some history. Start here. Keep going.
Cultures have evolved and absorbed external influences for eons before the advent of the Internet, and as can be seen, the more connected we are, the greater the chances of cultural cross-contamination, if that is even a fair term to use.
The difference between cultural exchange or syncretism, and cultural appropriation, colonialism, imperialism, and genocide: LEARN IT.
The surprising thing for me is how people are happy to cry foul when they see others ‘usurping’ their cultural heritage without due consideration for its roots and meanings, while they themselves openly embellish their lives with items or aspects from the culture of those they’re taking exception to.
Oh for fuck’s sake this is an extension of that whole ‘BUT YOU WEAR JEANS!’ bullshit, isn’t it. See the above links for why this is not valid (Hint: the answer is, Western Attire and customs were and are forced on indigenous peoples)
This is all starting to feel too adult for me. I prefer playing with kids.
People who actively eschew maturity and adulthood suffer an exponential loss of respect in my eyes.
They usually have no hidden agendas, political motives, or underhanded suspicions. If I imitate them, they’re happy, and if they imitate me, I’m happy,
That does not apply to everyone. If little children imitate the shit that’s fed to them about me, I am not happy. I am moved to tell them (patiently, gently, and in a way that they can understand because they are children and are acting from ignorance, not malice) that they are doing something hurtful and should stop.
and we give and take without keeping score. All adults know is to be territorial as if puberty makes it compulsory for them to mark their territory. These adult games are ridiculous. Adults need to learn from children again, before the current template of adult role models all but eliminates any traces of the innocence of childhood.
Children are ignorant and can cause hurt in their ignorance.
If you’re not ignorant of the hurt you’re causing and choose to continue doing so anyway, you’re not acting from a place of ‘childlike innocence’ - you’re acting from malice.
Fuck ‘childhood innocence’. It’s just ignorance + romanticism. Want to embrace something about childhood? How about curiosity without abandon and a lust for learning and experience. How about the desire to become more knowledgeable, more understanding, more experienced, more adult?
