What’s the difference between cultural exchange and cultural appropriation?
Cultural appropration means the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. It describes acculturation or assimilation, but can imply a negative view towards acculturation from a minority culture by a dominant culture.
Just because something has orignins in black culuter, doesnt mean white artists cant emulate and enjoy it. (miley cyrus)
Not about person being mean/evil – but after “centuries’ old patter of taking, stealing, exploiting and misunderstanding the history and symbols meaningful to ppl of marginzalted cultures.
Where do we draw the line between “appropriate” forms of cultural exchange and more damaging patterns of cultural appropriation?
Cultural appropriation is a hard concept to grasp for many westerners because we're so used to pressing our own culturs onto others and taking what they want in return.
“Here's my culture, I'll have some of yours”
Ethnic” clothes and hairstyles are still stigmatized as unprofessional, “cultural” foods are treated as exotic past times, and the vernacular of people of color is ridiculed and demeaned. using someone else’s cultural symbols to satisfy a personal need for self-expression is an exercise in privilege.
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is consistently treated as lesser than Standard English, but people whitewash black slang and use expressions they barely understand as punch lines, or to make themselves seem cool.
But there needs to be some element of mutual understanding, equality, and respect for it to be a true exchange.
There are so many things that have been chopped up, recolored, and tossed together to make up Western culture that even when we know things are appropriative in some way, we find them hard to let go of
We have a responsibility to listen to people of marginalized cultures, understand as much as possible the blatant and subtle ways in which their cultures have been appropriated and exploited, and educate ourselves enough to make informed choices when it comes to engaging with people of other cultures.
Cultural appropriation is itself a real issue because it demonstrates the imbalance of power that still remains between cultures that have been colonized and the ex-colonizers.

National Congress of American Indians- ENDING THE LEGACY OF RACISM IN SPORTS & THE ERA OF HARMFUL “INDIAN” SPORTS MASCOTS
Indian sport brands are used by professional teams within an era of racism and bigotry was accepted to the culture.
They were established in a time when the practice of using racial epithets and slurs as marketing slogans were a common practice among white owners seeking to capitalize on cultural superiority and racial tensions.
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) established a campaign in 1968 to bring an end to negative and harmful stereotypes in the media and popular culture
Native peoples remain more likely than any other race to experience crimes at the hands of a person from another race.
Since 1963, no professional teams have established new mascots that use racial stereotypes in their names and imagery. In 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) established an extensive policy to remove harmful “Indian” mascots.
Hundreds of tribal nations, national tribal organizations, civil rights organizations, school boards, sports teams, and individuals have called for the end to harmful “Indian” mascots.
Over 5.2 million American Indian or Alaska Native people were counted in the 2010 Census representing close to 2 percent of the US population
The rate of suicide among American youth is highest for Native young people at 18 percent, which is twice the rate of the next highest of 8.4 percent among non-Hispanic white youth.
NCAI, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native advocacy organization has a long-standing, firm position against the use of “Indian”