Cultural Appropriation

[Thumpalumpacus]

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.

Thump, I don't disagree with you, but enjoying is different from what I described above - Using another group's culture (that you probably do not understand if you were never educated about it) as if it was yours and promoting stereotypes. 

Here's what the Wiki, in its introduction, says:

Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture.[1] Cultural appropriation is seen by some as controversial, as the use of elements of a minority culture by a cultural majority are seen as wrongfully oppressing the minority culture or stripping it of its group identity or intellectual property rights.[2] This view of cultural appropriation is sometimes termed "cultural misappropriation." According to proponents of the concept, cultural misappropriation differs from acculturation or assimilation in that the "appropriation" or "misappropriation" refers to the adoption of these cultural elements in a colonial manner: elements are copied from a minority culture by members of the dominant culture, and these elements are used outside of their original cultural context—sometimes even against the expressed, stated wishes of representatives of the originating culture.[3][2][4][5][6][7][8]

Often, the original meaning of these cultural elements is lost or distorted, which means that these uses may be viewed as disrespectful by members of the originating culture, or even as a form of desecration. Cultural elements which may have deep meaning to the original culture can be reduced to "exotic" fashion by those from the dominant culture.[3][4][9] When this is done, the imitator, "who does not experience that oppression is able to 'play,' temporarily, an 'exotic' other, without experiencing any of the daily discriminations faced by other cultures."[9]

[Emphasis added -- Thump]

Note that the opening sentence lays it out: "Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture." Following that, this passage turns to the idea of misappropriation, which is clearly not a settled matter. But the fact is that cultural appropriation is exactly what I'm doing in playing blues or jazz, or cooking Italian food. It follows, then, that misappropriation -- which certainly exists in the forms you both mention -- is only a subset of cultural appropriation.

My point was aimed at people who view all such appropriation in the above-mentioned "colonial" manner.

I stand by my interpretation of my own actions, and the actions of many if not most people in the world, as being a form of cultural appropriation, and if that hurts people's feelings -- well, maybe it means as Aegon says, I'm an asshole (which is a fact I freely admit, by the way, but not for this reason). Or maybe it means people who get hurt by a white boy playing the blues need to get a helmet.

Yes, enjoy Italian food all you want, I enjoy it too - But I don't go out pretending I'm an Italian now because I tasted Italian food, and I don't pretend I can comprehensively understand the background, subculture and origins of every Italian dish as if I was raised by Italians (unless I actually was). Every person is brought up with a cultural background. It is impossible to understand everyone else's by 100%. I don't know a lot about American culture outside hollywood and every mass corporate marketed product (globalization), so I'm not going to think all American culture is that and that all Americans are fast-food addicts, fat and ignorant.

Exactly my point. I don't get butthurt when people up North listen to western swing music, a Texan form of country music. But I do get irked when they portray all Texans as bigoted morons ... not because they're appropriating my culture, but because they're being bigots.