lets set some things straight for everyone:
having a connection or
being able to relate to an experience
of a culture outside of your own
does not equate to being
part of said culture.
your partner is a person of color?
that’s beautiful. congratulations!
what’s not is when you take
all of the parts
of their culture that you fancy
and claim them to be your own.
are you a person of color? no?
then you aren’t a person of color,
and you can’t get that quirky tribal tattoo that
you found on google,
because it doesn’t belong to you.
simple, right?
you aren’t an
honorary person of color
just because you’re dating one,
or because your best friend is 1/38 mexican,
or you know a chinese person who says it’s okay
to say the word chink,
or the one black person you’ve
ever met
says that they think it’s okay for
white people to have dreads.
white people do this thing where
once they find something and like it,
they think it automatically belongs to them.
imagine being in elementary school
and you’re on the playground
playing with one of your favorite toys,
but some kid decides that they like
your toy
and take it from you without asking,
and you run to tell someone about it
and they say,
“but that toy could belong to anyone!
i don’t understand why you’re getting so upset
over a toy.”
that’s what appropriation feels like.
it’s even more complex than that,
because this form of entitlement to space
has been in place for so many years
that it’s just natural for y’all now.
this happens among groups of color, too
like, don’t get me wrong,
we aren’t perfect.
there are a lot of complex conversations that need to
happen among communities of color
in terms of appropriation and
power and privilege.
but the power difference
is so extreme when the appropriation
comes from white people.
so before you try to make
that “authentic” rachel ray pho recipe
that you found online,
or wear that sombrero and moustache combo
on cinco de mayo,
maybe realize how much you taken
from others
and reflect on your history
and the privilege that came with it?
thanks
signed,
an exhausted brown person.