Emily Bazelon posted what I think was an ignorant and basically racist column https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/magazine/white-people-are-noticing-something-new-their-own-whiteness.html in which she, as a good and woke Manhattannite tells us, well the headline tell us

> White People Are Noticing Something New: Their Own Whiteness

But that's not what the article seems to be about which is more like non white people are telling white people this and that, and woke "white" people are wearing their cilice and self-flagellating and all that is good. At the same time Emily notes that many of these white people don't understand they are white and see themselves as Jewish, Italian, Irish, etc.

So she writes

> For a long time, many white people assumed it was our due, as the majority, to encounter various racial others and marvel at the exotic things they ate, built or wore. Now we can go online and find people of color doing the gawking, offering jokes and anthropological scrutiny about white people’s underseasoning food, mistreating potato salad or eschewing washcloths.

> It’s been the default identity, the cultural wallpaper — something described, when described at all, using bland metaphors like milk and vanilla and codes like “cornfed” and “all-American.

> Plain undifferentiated whiteness, on the other hand, is a “toggle between nothingness and awfulness,” writes Nell Irvin Painter, an emeritus professor of history at Princeton and author of the 2010 book “The History of White People.”

Okay, so let's see according to Emily

Being white is bland boring tasteless nothingness awfulness

Sorry for this hijacking, I am really disappointed in Bazelon for this piece.

But I will say, wow is she getting unimaginably huge amounts of anti-semitic comments over at twitter.

Maybe they should do a genetic test, a good many will get a one-drop surprise. Then they can say they are honoring their ancestors who came before the one that passed.

There is one thing with the whole cultural appropriation of hair braids hits me as really hypocritical.
I may be wrong but as was said "I'm talking long, braided extensions ... Think Beyoncé "
Hair extensions which are often used in those braids, are usually from human hair. Not just anyone's hair but mainly from one particular culture: India.
So those complaining about cultural appropriation are often literally wearing a different cultures hair woven into their own head.
So aren't they appropriating India's culture/hair?

Now Joe you know how this works. You can't be a racist if you are in the minority. You can't be sexist if you are in the minority. You can't appropriate if you are in the minority.

There are one set of rules for the big group and another set for the little group. You just need to find which little group you belong to. After all we all know it is only the large group that oppresses people (this statement is contradicted by well over 1000 years of recorded history).

Great point on the human hair. You're right -- from India.

Oh, and re: the "whiteness" thing, a tweet of mind from yesterday (screenshot at link):

@amyalkon Here's how you properly apologize for your "privilege" and failure to be completely "inclusive" (according to the religion of intersectionality) in writing and titling your book.

https://twitter.com/amyalkon/status/1007264638499602433

Ever wonder how a redhead would look like with braids?

Axel Rose to the rescue:

https://i.imgur.com/9MP5uWR.png

"it's a clear example of how blackness gets treated as something you can make a trend or hipsterify or put in a pop-up shop and pick or chose from without any connection to blackness or black people."

Madison, where have you been? Haven't you ever heard of rock 'n roll? White rockers adopted a form of black music. Then again, the black soul groups turned around and adopted the electric guitar and the drum kit, which are white inventions. We're Americans. That's what we do. That's why, unlike Europe (or Africa, for that matter), we don't have a tradition of being torn apart by ethnic conflicts.

(Personally, I am not a fan of long braided hair. Maybe it's because I do ballroom dancing, and I've been hit in the face by a heavy braided ponytail, more than once.)

"Do we need to check our genetic lineage and do a searching analysis of the history of pasta before we make ravioli?"

Ha... my wife's stepmother was from Italy. We were talking about pizza one day. Of course, we all know that what we call "pizza" in America is far removed from the native Italian dish. We were talking about pizza one day, while we were talking about a family trip to Italy (which, unfortunately, we did not get to do before she passed away). She said, "I'll take you to get some native Italian pizza so you can see what it's like. But it's really not very good. And there's nowhere near the variety that you get in America."

I had pretty long hair in college and the summer right before sophomore year I got my hair braided, tight braids w/ beads and everything (local salon owed our office $ and this helped pay it down ha ha). In my small town I got all kinds of looks and "you know what race you are, right?"
When I got back to college and my circle of friends there - "damn, that looks good". And was also a popular item with the ladies.

My only regret? Was before digital cameras & cell phones and I didn't get any pictures to share with my kids.

Cultural appropriation is not about identity—though I recognize that it’s easier to paint broad strokes about victimization and entitlement when people assume it is. It’s about power disparity. If I borrowed and then monetized your Jewish family traditions for a hallmark commercial I wouldn’t be denying you or your kin any opportunities that you didn’t have equal access to, though it would definitely make me an asshole.

I agree that Madison is unnecessarily personalizing the issue but it’s worth our time, as humans, to consider the historical oppression & context behind the things we admire and want to borrow.

"Will an on-trend white girl with cornrows or braid extensions be denied work or told by her boss that her hair is unprofessional?"

Yes, yes she will, plus she will be called racist, cultural appropriator and a few other things by the "tolerant" ones.

Lol oh please. People will probably just assume she never got over her high school phase of needing to visually remind her peers that she went to Jamaica for spring break.

I’d be more inclined to deny her work for referring to herself as "on-trend" but that may just be my inner Anna wintour speaking.

As a white man, I'm going to appropriate what I want. Be it dance, music, dress, hair style or food.

Cause no matter what I do, someone will accuse me of the vilest crimes against humanity. If I'm going to do the time, I might as well do the crime. And enjoy myself along the way.

Jake.

Okay. Consider it considered. Next question?

"...but it’s worth our time, as humans, to consider the historical oppression & context behind the things we admire and want to borrow."

No it isn't. It's a waste of my time to consider the precious feewings of every whiny-ass who thinks that they have some kind of ethnic special-privilege birthright.

My only regret? Was before digital cameras & cell phones and I didn't get any pictures to share with my kids. ~ the other Patrick at June 15, 2018 8:27 AM

Don't worry about it. They'll find plenty of other things to mock you about.

First of all, they are obsessed with the idea that the rich got rich ($ and culture) by stealing it. But if you wear a black hair style, is there some black person who now cannot wear that style because you stole it? Is there less mexican food because white people like mexican food and even make it at home? In fact, the rest of the world has "stolen" far more of western (ie white) culture than the other way around. There is a whole movement in Africa of country music, complete with cowboy hats and country dance in country bars. Wonderful! Everyone in the world favors western jeans and t-shirts and suits. yeah yeah , that is cultural imperialism. Give it up.
The real story is that they want to somehow create strict tribal boundaries for their woke world where each tribe has a place and hates all the other tribes. In their world, the "place" of blacks is helpless victims.
The idea that we should do research before we adopt any cultural thing is crazy. Who has the time or knowledge to find this out? Where do you look? There are even all sorts of lies about things like sombreros or cinco de mayo. Where do you go to get a certificate that some particular thing is ok or not ok? There is no place. And of course there are always some nut jobs who want to make assertions that are simply not true. For example, on the braided hair thing: check out some ancient Greek pottery or ancient Mesopotamian art: cornrows (probably easier to maintain back then). Shaving your head? Common in ancient Egypt.

I wonder how old (Ms.?) Moore might be. Because way back in 1979, Bo Derek wore those braids in the hit movie "10" (starring Dudley Moore and Julie Andrews). The movie might predate her, and if so it might make her feel better if she knew that.

I also wonder if she's been to Jamaica. An entire industry there is braiding tourists hair in that fashion. When we visited, all the daughters got their hair done. It'd be interesting to hear the opinions of the Jamaican ladies who make good money that way being told they could only braid black people's hair. Heck, it'd be fun to hear their opinions about that, I think.

"Hair is never simply hair." she wrote. I would only agree with that statement if said hair was one I pulled out of my mouth while eating at a restaurant.

> If I borrowed and then monetized your Jewish family traditions for a hallmark commercial I wouldn’t be denying you or your kin any opportunities that you didn’t have equal access to, though it would definitely make me an asshole.

Jake, can you provide an example of that, because I'm not getting it.

Maybe you can help me understand why Fiddler on the Roof rarely is cast with all Jewish leads?

Google snl funhouse christmas for the jews

Then google japanese fiddler on the roof.

Should I be upset that non Jews play Tevye?
Should I be upset that the Japanese find the play transfers to their culture so well?

(Should I be upset that McDs sells bagels, but only with steak, egg and cheese on it?)

Fashion food, literature, music - these things bring us closer together, help us get to know each other.

Non-African people reading Chinua Achebe gain a greater understanding of Africa from his writings. Reading him is not appropriation. Do we tell African writers to give up royalties because we have to ban sales of their books to white people?

Luc Besson is well-known for using Rai and other non-French music in his movies. He's a big fan of Algerian music imported to France by immigrants. Do we tell those musicians that they should give up the royalties and exposure gained from being featured in movies like The Fifth Element because the director is white?

Or can we sit back and guiltlessly read Achebe while we listen to Amadou and Mariam or Hugh Masekela and marvel at the cultural diversity of this amazing planet?

Shakespeare must be a black girl.

"The poetry you read has been written for you, each of you—black, white, Hispanic, man, woman, gay, straight."

"Appropriation" is just shorthand for another kind of victim politics, practiced by the idle and otherwise ineffectual. There won't be complaints like this from people who build aircraft, bridges or the LHC.

Appropriate This.

I always tell such people that until they are willing to stop appropriating indoor plumbing, medicine, and the jurisprudence that prevents random men from raping them in the street, they have no cause for complaint when others appropriate such picayune matters as grooming styles

Again, and emphasized with periods for no real reason:

Cultural. Appropriation. Is. Not. About. Politics. Or. A. Flowery. Sense. Of. Identity. And. Different. People. Have. Different. Perspectives. On. What. It. Constitutes.

It. Only. Exists. Because. We. Live. In. A. Society. That. Freely. Borrows. From. Communities. That. Have. been. disadvantaged. Or. Marginalized.

Your. Disinterest. In. Empathizing. With. People. Who. Feel. That. Cherished. Elements. Of. Their. lived. Experience. Only. Become. Popularized. When. White. People. Deem. Them. Interesting. Or. Acceptable. Is. Problematic. And. Hurtful.

And anyway, you can do better. Or I fucking hope so but here I am in the comments section of a blog...so.

Lujlp: my point was that amy’s example wasn’t serving her thesis and misconstrued her argument: borrowing traditions from a community that has not been at a historical disadvantage in American society (anti-semitism is real, persistent and getting fucking scary in this country but it’s an oppression based on a distrust and perception of Jews as high-functioning ‘others’ but It’s not the same as being enslaved for 200 years). Point being: it doesn’t bother individuals when you celebrate their skill, artistry and heritage. It’s actually really wonderful. If you do so and reap benefits that would have been more difficult to achieve for the communities you’re borrowing from, that’s shitty.

Also I love that radwaste is still on here i’ve been casually outraged at your thoughts since at least 2004.

Thank you for that insightful commentary, Jake. Remind me never to read another comment of yours again. And here's hoping that you one day make such an insufferable prig of yourself that Amy feels the need to do something she very rarely does: ban you.

(I think it's been about three times since the inception of this blog.)

The problem I have with cultural appropriation is that people claim ownership of something that their culture didn't create. This comes from a misconception (or deliberate lie) as to what constitutes culture.

For example, in the classic example of this extraordinarily hateful and bullying bitch Bonita Tindle, she and her weirdly-dressed companion berates a white student for wearing dreadlocks, claiming it as her culture.

But they're not her culture. Culture is about shared experiences. Tindle does not partake in the hardships, arts, entertainment, customs, language, traditions of Africa (where she thinks dreadlocks originated); therefore, African culture is not her culture. Heritage, yes. Culture, no.

Paradoxically, as she accuses the student Cory Goldstein of cultural appropriation, she has given herself license to cherry-pick certain elements of African culture and claim them as her own.

And what other expression would suit this practice better than "cultural appropriation"? She is literally claiming something that her culture did not invent as hers.

Amy: I've always loved them

Not me. I think it's great if women enjoy having them, but I don't find them visually appealing at all. Same thing with those very long press-on nails. Actually, not the same thing. Much worse. I find them revolting.

[[ Red hair and white scalp on a big huge head? I'd look like the hair version of the American flag. ]]

Sorry--what popped into my mind was the clown it IT. Not that you resemble that creature in any way!

Jake: Nope. You don't have to be "disadvantaged" or "marginalized" to have someone say, "Hey! That's a good idea, I'll do that!"

Did you notice you employed two terms from victim politics while making your claim?

Here's a radical thought: No one owes anything to a culture which is left behind.

I resent how Negroes culturally appropriated my Jewfro, Kafka and Einstein wore them long before Angela Davis stole out style.

Ha! I'm naturally bald white guy - does that mean all those black men out there who shave their heads are "culturally appropriating" from me?

Hair Problems = First World Problems