Cultural Appropriation And Its Effects On Society

There was no gold in the Jamestown colony as opposed to the original plan, but John Rolf could make tobacco a hot commodity. Tobacco became a major cash crop and an integral source of wealth in Virginia. As the cultivation of tobacco was no easy task, people known as indentured servants were sent from England to work for the Virginia Company. Indentured servants would work for a land owner in exchange for their entry to the New World with the hopes to eventually claim their own land.

For my second critical essay in this course I have elected to tackle the subject of the lives, attitudes, and presidencies of Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson. I will compare the two and state how they are alike and how they are different. Then the last thing I will do is choose and explain who I believe was the more effective leader. Both were very influential and effective presidents in the development of the early United States, but Thomas Jefferson was the more effective leader in my humble opinion.

The first eleven chapters of Adventures establish Huck's character prior to his journey on the river with Jim. Dealing with external difficulty is easy for Huck, as he consistently adapts to his environments; however, his actions contradict his desires, revealing that Huck is conflicted.

As our country evolves with different cultures from around the world, people are unaware of the fine-line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. So, what is cultural appropriation? Cultural appropriation is when members of a dominate culture, mainly white, borrow from the cultures of minority groups without their input. While there are many people who feel disrespected by others using their culture, there are still people who appreciate and value ones culture.

It is a term that has dominated the media; from Halloween costumes to NFL mascots, headlines across the nation blare the words: “cultural appropriation.” Yet, many still are not quite sure what the term means. To put it simply, cultural appropriation is the exploitation of a culture that is not one’s own.

According to Oxford Dictionary, cultural appropriation is defined as the inappropriate adoption of the customs of one people by members of a more dominant people. This can be especially dangerous due to the distortion and disconnection of a culture’s custom from its roots. However, at the same time, cultural appropriation can lead to cultural exchange which is beneficial to the overall development of the world because different cultural groups can connect to others through cultural similarities. An example of this is when former President Barack Obama, in 2016, held the first ever Diwali celebration in the White House. Although this was an attempt for America to appropriate Indian culture, at no point did I feel offended or mocked. As an American Indian, this made me garner a feeling of great pride for both my country (USA) and for my ethnic background. Therefore, cultural exchange/appreciation is the act of sharing cultural practices between different groups of people. Nonetheless, there is a fine line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation. The issue of this boundary can be explored in the rap industry which is dealing with an influx of multicultural attention. Rap, historically, was an artform founded and pioneered by the African American community. Recently, there has been a surge in the participation of whites in rap. Robert Clift's 2010 documentary, Blacking Up, investigates the issues of cultural exchange and appropriation in the hip hop

Cultural appropriation is the adoption or theft of icons, customs, beliefs, or styles from one culture or subculture by another. McWhorter argues,“But what began as a legitimate complaint has morphed into a handy way of being offended by something that should be taken as a compliment.”(McWhorter 1)A multitude of people may believe when there is adoption of one culture it should be seen as a compliment as well because they are appreciating the culture by imitating it into their own. “It used to be that we said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But now there is new way to see the matter: Imitation is a kind of dismissal.” But if not fully understandingthe significance of what is being adopted then to the owning culture it is seen as appropriating and not appreciating. If it was indeed appreciating, time would be taken out to fully understand what and why the culture indulges in the custom or belief and so on. Just noticing a particular act of item in a culture and putting it into your own without the proper

In Western culture, people seldom realize the amount of cultural appropriation that occurs around them. Westerners are blinded by cultural mockery and cultural appropriation without realizing its offensive effects to minority groups. During the Halloween holiday, in Western culture, people of all ages dress up in a variety of costumes such as horror themed, fairy tale themed, job themed, cultural themed and much more. Harvard University members have argued that a cultural themed costume is a form of cultural appropriation. Also in Western culture, in the music industry, white artists have utilized and exploited aspects from minority cultures to boost their fame. Costumes, props, ideas, music, and others considered as cultural appropriation is often overlooked but it is apparent when closely examined.

Cultural appropriation is disrespectful to those belonging to the minority culture. A blatant example of cultural appropriation shown in

Cultural appropriation is, ‘the ridiculous notion that being of a different culture or race (especially white) means that you are not allowed to adopt things from other cultures” (urban dictionary). A majority of whites feel this way but that is because they do not have a full understanding of the topic. Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of the elements of one culture by members of another culture, however cultural appropriation typically involves members of a dominant group exploiting the culture of less privileged groups and usually with little understanding of the history. The united states is made up of hundreds of different ethnicities and some cultural groups rub off on

Appropriation is defined as the borrowing of cultural signs. Our current culture is full of appropriation. It has been around for decades, but now the “hillbilly” has “regained the spotlight in American culture” (284) We are able to see this in the media, music, and in performances too. For example, common TV shows such as Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Jersey Shore, and Duck Dynasty reinforce this idea that you can work and if you work hard enough, you can afford the makeup, the stylist, and the entry fees, you have made it and you can also show it. Today, some specific examples of appropriation that we may see in not only our TV shows, but also from some of our favorite entertainers are hairstyles. Some hairstyles that have been appropriated from

There are many examples of cultural appropriation today, such as henna tattoos, bindi’s, sports team names, and even clothes. These cultures or traditions have become a fad for people, especially in America. People who are within the culture tend to get offended when their culture is made into a fad. There are many arguments in newspapers, blogs, and articles that are against cultural appropriation. I, myself have come upon many posts on Tumblr.com that have to do with Cultural appropriation. Huffingtompost.com also has multiple articles on the subject.

According to theodysseyonline, “there's a very fine line between the two. Appreciating aspects of a culture means understanding the history while appropriating means picking and choosing parts of a culture to turn into a prop or costume”. Many artists in the media have made music videos that are fantastic examples of culture appropriation. In 2014, Katy Perry released the music video for “This is How We Do” Perry received great backlash because of the amount of culture appropriation was very… well…

Cultural appropriation defines as someone from one culture taking or borrowing aspects of another culture that is not their own. “Appropriation occurs when a style leads to the racial [assumptions and] generalizations…where it [may have stemmed from], but is deemed as high-fashion, cool, or funny when the privileged take it for themselves” (Stenburg). In spite of the slight confusion, cultural appropriation is far more than the idea of pizza merging from Italian immigrants, and eventually becoming a food many people label as American. Cultural appropriation does differ from cultural appropriation, there is a fine line between the two, but nonetheless, they are two different things.

Cultural appropriation, on the surface, is when one takes and uses elements from a culture that they do not belong to. But when we go deeper a more insidious problem is revealed.