Well, I would believe there's disagreement, you can even see disagreement among writers of "Indian Country Today" (though the actual numbers here may be misleading). I could also imagine that people have a lot more to worry about than their cultures when they're focused on survival, or common issues like violence on reservation, etc; however, I don't see how misrepresentation could help anyone. It mostly seems to show disrespect and ignorance; and a general cultural attitude of not acknowledging groups' existence is, in our interdependent society, basically a withdrawal of needed protection.
Like, so much of our culture thinks of "Indian" as a figure of the past, somehow against progress, somehow not representing anyone alive today. That is disrespect but it in turn makes it easier to ignore real live Native Americans, so, not to care about when reservations are drained of resources, or not to listen when groups ask for help. It is likely, if this theory reflects much truth, that activists see it this way...and I mean, it's not like unfair treatment of Native Americans isn't still happening. It is.
And I agree that those calling for a stop have every right to their experiences--and in this case it also doesn't seem like they're speaking against anyone else, and basically I'm not going to make the call on when something doesn't have a racist impact. I personally, like I said, think these things do have those impacts, but consider that irrelevant too.
In general though, cultural appropriation is really hard to think about, right? I mean, if someone picks up the most superficial aspects of your culture and spreads them around, what does that do to you? There are extreme examples like the swastika, where a succession of people used the symbol so it got further and further away from Hindu control, and now people can't use their own symbol because it's too otherwise loaded. But what does it do most of the time, when symbols of your culture are picked up and distorted into different common meanings? Does it just remind you that you are misunderstood? Does it make people see you as more "other" than them, or as like you in a way that is false and miscommunicating--and does that matter? Does it do basically nothing but offend you, or if not you, others in your culture? ...I still don't know really, but it's definitely something to be cautious about.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-16 11:54 pm (UTC)Like, so much of our culture thinks of "Indian" as a figure of the past, somehow against progress, somehow not representing anyone alive today. That is disrespect but it in turn makes it easier to ignore real live Native Americans, so, not to care about when reservations are drained of resources, or not to listen when groups ask for help. It is likely, if this theory reflects much truth, that activists see it this way...and I mean, it's not like unfair treatment of Native Americans isn't still happening. It is.
And I agree that those calling for a stop have every right to their experiences--and in this case it also doesn't seem like they're speaking against anyone else, and basically I'm not going to make the call on when something doesn't have a racist impact. I personally, like I said, think these things do have those impacts, but consider that irrelevant too.
In general though, cultural appropriation is really hard to think about, right? I mean, if someone picks up the most superficial aspects of your culture and spreads them around, what does that do to you? There are extreme examples like the swastika, where a succession of people used the symbol so it got further and further away from Hindu control, and now people can't use their own symbol because it's too otherwise loaded. But what does it do most of the time, when symbols of your culture are picked up and distorted into different common meanings? Does it just remind you that you are misunderstood? Does it make people see you as more "other" than them, or as like you in a way that is false and miscommunicating--and does that matter? Does it do basically nothing but offend you, or if not you, others in your culture? ...I still don't know really, but it's definitely something to be cautious about.