(January 24, 2016 at 7:23 am)Bella Morte Wrote: 1. What's black culture? You're making it sound like wearing side ways hats and rapping is black culture, it's not.

Okay, I mis-spoke.  I meant black cultural stereotypes.

Quote:2. Cultural appropriation doesn't exist.

Yes it does, just ask Sideshow Bob.

Sometimes it annoys me a bit when people are using things from other cultures without minimally understanding the meaning behind it. It just sounds dumb to me, but I don't think it should be banned. I certainly wouldn't like if someone tried to "copy" my culture without any understanding of it.

The term "black culture" is a bit vague because people who happen to be black have all sorts of different cultures, but saying something like black culture from Mozambique would be more accurate (just a random example).

It's not just 'black culture', it's culture per se. The word exists in a vacuum because one can use it to describe almost anything.

What exactly does one mean when they say 'black culture'? Is a 1st gen immigrant from the Carribean who settled in an East End London constituency going to have anything in common, culturally, socially, politically, at all with a gangbanger from LA? Or a Gambian tour guide? Or a judge from Australia? Will her children? Or their children?

I am not bothered in the slightest when people 'appropriate' (???) behaviours, attitudes, stances, from other societal demographics. Humans have been doing that for as long as humans have been around. They'll continue until people learn to actually not give two shits about a person's 'colour' and actually just see the person as a person. Fat chance of that though.

I'm a white guitarist who plays blues and jazz. I really don't give a shit whether someone thinks I'm taking someone else's culture or not, because it's the musical expression that speaks to me, not the image.

I'm an American who loves eating Italian food. I don't give a shit whether someone thinks I'm stealing their culture or not, because it's the taste I'm savoring, not the ability to fake being Italian by eating their food.

Culture is only a mass-produced phenomenon if you allow it to be so in your mind. There's nothing at all wrong with picking and choosing the different elements of different cultures that you most enjoy. If that induces butthurt in the perpetually-offended, it's all the better.

I first thought "cultural appropriation" was a joke when I came across it.

Culture is merely a loose description of attributes a group of people have.

If I happen to enjoy some aspect of another group, how am I doing anything against them? Unless I'm stealing copyrighted shit or something, no foul done.

(January 23, 2016 at 3:09 pm)BrokenQuill92 Wrote: So I was hanging out with my cousin the other day and he shows up dressed as the worst black stereotype available. Like a total Lil' Wayne knock off. And this idiot opens his mouth and says "I'm all about that thug life." I of course look at this fool like he's lost his damn mind. We were raised in pockets of accountants and bankers, in gated communities on the shores of Lake Erie WTF does he think he knows about "thug life". But it all got me thinking, can black people appropriate black culture? For instance I love blues music but do I really have comprehension being cosseted most of my life to appreciate it in its fullness, or am I just siphoning off a cool sound?

Its not cultural appropriation as that is simply a term created by close minded fucks who are afraid of exploration of cultural diversity. What this is, is simply your cousin acting like a idiot. Its probably a misguided attempt to be " cool" driven by a lack of confidence and a desire to fit in. But I don't know the guy so I can't say with certainty.

EDIT: For fuck's sake I wrote out an entire post and when I clicked Submit it just posted the quote I quoted.
EDIT 2: Alright, rewrote most of it.

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(January 24, 2016 at 3:40 am)Bella Morte Wrote: It doesn't fucking exist and is just an excuse for SJWs to moan like they always do. I tend to distance myself from people who actually believe in that bullshit.

What? Do you not understand what cultural appropriation is? It certainly exists. I disagree with those "SJWs" 99 percent of the time but cultural appropriation is a very real thing. At its core, the concept refers to perpetuating a cultural stereotype that is offensive to the members of that culture and is harmful to the overall image of the culture today. The idea gains steam every October, when white people decide to go out dressed in stereotypical American Indian garb or go so far as to wear blackface and wear stereotypical black gangsta clothing. Is that okay in your eyes? Another user mentioned that cultural appropriation is a joke. How is this a joke to you? Is it because you are far removed from the reality of it? How about if you're German or of German descent, and somebody came to your Halloween party in a Nazi outfit and said that they were dressed as a German. Is that not both offensive to Germans and harmful to the image that Germans (or at least the country of Germany and its culture) is trying to convey to the world today? Cultural appropriation isn't some far, far left concept that only Tumblr users get butthurt about. It's a very real thing.

Some other users in this thread are arguing that people can enjoy what they want. Yeah, they can. But at the expense of others. Fine, adopt the "they can get offended I don't give a fuck" attitude. But you also should admit that you're an asshole. If you can't see the examples I gave as the blatant racism that they are, then I have no reason to argue with you. 

Another user mentioned that they play jazz and eat Italian food. That is not cultural appropriation. If this is the general understanding of the concept, no wonder you all seem completely against it even existing. We can debate the semantics, but you must realize that it exists.

(January 24, 2016 at 8:01 am)robvalue Wrote: Gonna have to pretend to disagree with you there Whatevs, as my wife is ginger!

Yeah, you can unfriend in real life. You know the little cog that floats just above your right eye, press that, and then "manage friends". It's really cool, you can make yourself like someone just by adding them.

Rob. I pressed it, but mucked up where I was in the menu.
I think I just reset to the default settings!

My logic circuits are still telling me that I'm an atheist. But what's this God character everyone's worshipping?
I don't want to miss out on anything?

I've been thinking about whether there's a "black culture." Yes, yes there is.


I'd say black culture consists of those cultural institutions which were MADE BY black subcultures. Blues, jazz and rap all originate with black subcultures, and were appropriated (blatantly and sometimes not very well) by people like Elvis or early white rappers. They are cultural institutions the existence for which black people are responsible, and not other people.

That doesn't mean that all black people need to care about any of those institutions. It doesn't mean that rappers even represent the majority of black people. But they are definitely black culture, IMO.

It's strange that nobody gets mad about other cultural attributions. No Italians get pissed off when you say opera is Italian culture. Spanish people don't get pissed off when you say bullfighting is part of Spanish culture. But some black people (or more often, I'm guessing, white hipsters who want an excuse to get in a huff on behalf of black people) are offended by attributing culture to black people. That's dumb.

(January 24, 2016 at 2:15 pm)Pandæmonium Wrote: It's not just 'black culture', it's culture per se. The word exists in a vacuum because one can use it to describe almost anything.

What exactly does one mean when they say 'black culture'? Is a 1st gen immigrant from the Carribean who settled in an East End London constituency going to have anything in common, culturally, socially, politically,  at all with a gangbanger from LA? Or a Gambian tour guide? Or a judge from Australia? Will her children? Or their children?

I am not bothered in the slightest when people 'appropriate' (???) behaviours, attitudes, stances, from other societal demographics. Humans have been doing that for as long as humans have been around. They'll continue until people learn to actually not give two shits about a person's 'colour' and actually just see the person as a person. Fat chance of that though.

When I was in highschool, my philosophy teacher said culture doesn't have a definition and it's a phenomenon in constant mutation and evolution. It makes sense. I agree with you, but I don't think this is simply people's color, it has more to do with their societal habits. For example, my black friend has more in common with me and the majority of white peers in our group than with a black person living in America with a different culture. I think it's fine to enjoy different cultures, what I think is wrong is when someone directly or indirectly tries to use a cultural habit that they don't know anything about and pretend it is their/that they know it - I.E. People who don't speak Spanish fluently and have never learned the language trying to pretend they speak Spanish just because it sounds cool. IMO it is retarded. Another problem is when people perpetuate stereotypes. Ok, I'm going to dress up as an Indian for carnival. What's that? Basically the most grossly exaggerated stereotype of an Indian. Yes it may be funny for some people, but if you were an Indian you would feel (probably) uncomfortable (at least I would).