cultural appropriation and revolution

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION and REVOLUTION

By Andrew Kang

Is this racist?

2 | Cultural Appropriation and Revolution

3 A Conversation with a Skeptic 4 Miley Cyrus or “Let’s Dance Black!” 5 Iggy Azalea or “Let’s Talk Black!” 6 Vampire Weekend or “Let’s Sound Black!” 7 Appropriation or Appreciation? A Checklist 7 Revolution and Reclamation 8 Citations CO

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Cultural Appropriation and Revolution | 3

A Conversation with a Skeptic Skeptic: What is cultural appropriation? Expert: Cultural appropriation is defined as “the taking—from a culture that is not one’s own—intellectual property, cultural expressions and artifacts, history and ways of knowledge.” In other words, when an individual decides to use, without permission, an aspect of a culture that is not their own, this is deemed cultural appropriation. Oftentimes this is done without acknowledgment of the significance of the item in the original culture. S: How can you “own” an idea? Did black people copyright twerking? E: Not quite, but certain native tribes have trademarked their cultural property after tiring of nonnatives using their iconography and patterns for sacrilegious purposes. The point of the recent consciousness surrounding cultural appropriation is not, however, to legitimate a culture through U.S. copyright and patent laws. Though cultural appropriation is a subtler form of theft and exploitation than historical examples of colonialism, it is theft nonetheless. If only legal ramifications are stopping you from acknowledging another party’s claim to intellectual and nonmaterial property, consider reevaluating your ethical code. S: Why is it bad, exactly? Isn’t it celebrating culture? E: Cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation are often confused. You should ask yourself “am I appreciating the culture, or am I appreciating the aesthetics of the culture?” How often do people have tattoos of Chinese characters without knowing their significance? A culture cannot be boiled down do its language or clothes or dance or music. A culture is also its history and its struggles. It is not possible to celebrate Japanese culture by wearing kimonos and eating sushi without also acknowledging the systemic racism and conditions faced by Japanese folks. S: What about the movie White Chicks? Isn’t that appropriating white culture? E: The relationship between “white culture” and other cultures is not reciprocal. Edward Said, in his theory of Orientalism, succinctly expresses the reality that the white fascination, fetishism, and exoticization of Eastern cultures serves to make them the “Other.” And, as our studies have shown, the relationship between the Subject and the Other is anything but symmetrical. Though aspects of “white culture” are taken and exaggerated in that film, the same racist implications do not exist. White people do not experience the systemic oppression and subjugation that other cultures have experienced at their hands. S: I’m still having trouble believing you… show me some modern examples. E: I’d be happy to! Let’s turn to the next page…


Miley Cyrus or “LET’S DANCE BLACK!”

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Miley Cyrus brought twerking to the center stage of popular culture, quite literally, as she twerked at the 2013 Video Music Awards and garnered national attention. This sparked national outrage among members of the Black community and led many others to question whether that outrage was valid. To answer this question, let’s delve into the history of twerking, acknowledging that the dance form was not birthed when Miley gyrated on Robin Thicke’s crotch that infamous night.

Twerking has existed for centuries, tracing its roots to the Mapouka dance from Côte d’Ivoire. It was not always seen as sexual and scandalous but rather was intended to be an expression of joy and celebration. It is clear, then, that there is a disconnect between its intended purpose and its current interpretation. Who is responsible for bridging that gap? You guessed it—America’s sweetheart, Miley Cyrus. Her hypersexual revision of the West African dance is the interpretation that now dominates mainstream consciousness.

Not only is Miley exploiting black dance moves but she is also exploiting black bodies. Her notably all-black female back-up dancers serve as a colorful background to her offensive attempt at twerking. In a self-defeating move, she defends her choice of dancers by saying “I would never think about the color of my dancers, like, 'Ooh, that might be controversial.’” Her colorblind

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approach reveals racist tendencies. However, that is not the most offensive thing she has said. Regarding her most recent album, “Bangerz,” her songwriters have quoted her saying “I want urban, I just want something that just feels Black.”

Looking past the fact that the use of “urban” is a microaggression, I would love to see Miley describe what feeling “Black” is without relying on racist stereotypes. Will her album feel like police brutality and housing discrimination? No, her idea of feeling “Black” is wearing grills and shaking her ass (see: “We Can’t Stop” music video). It is possible to celebrate a culture, but relying on racist stereotypes and mimicking its traditional dances is not the way to do so. Whether she likes it or not, Miley has been branded as the face of twerking, and she continues to reap the lucrative benefits of appropriating Black culture.

“I want urban, I just want something that just feels Black.”

♬ We run things, things don’t run we… don’t take nothing from nobody…♪

…except their culture


Iggy Azalea or “LET’S TALK BLACK!” IGGY AZALEA

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Iggy Azalea may be the first artist to appropriate both Indian culture and Black culture simultaneously. Pictured above, she dons traditional Indian garb for the “Bounce” music video while rapping in her signature Southern Black drawl. Where did her signature sound originate? Why is it problematic? Let’s find out.

From the moment she came on the scene, Iggy has confused millions of listeners with her accent. The argument that she was raised with it crumbles when we learn that she was raised in New South Wales, Australia, over 9,000 miles away from the American South. If you’re wondering why a white Australian female transforms into a Southern Black rapper when the music starts, the answer is pretty clear: it sells.

In January, Iggy Azalea passed Lil’ Kim as the female rapper with the longest-leading number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. What this tells us about contemporary American culture is that blackness sells, no matter who is selling it. In fact, blackness does not sell despite white people being the face of it… it sells better when white people are the face of it. This was shown when Macklemore won the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2014 over four Black artists.

Does commodification always mean exploitation? In this case, the answer is a resounding “YES,” as Iggy Azalea has shown that she pays absolutely no regard for blackness other than to make money off of it. She has shown this through her overt racism as well as her

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ignorance of black issues. Admiring Black artists is encouraged, but Iggy

takes this to an entirely new level when she appropriates Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics and finishes it off with an offensive twist at the end. The original lyric from the song “Look Out for Detox” goes:

“When the relay starts I’m a runaway slave” Iggy’s reworking of that lyrics in her song

“D.R.U.G.S.” goes: “When the relay starts I’m a runaway slave…

master.” I’d like to call it ironic that she labels herself a slave-master in a Black accent from the American South, a region that is still recovering from the insidious effects of slavery, but really it is just wildly inappropriate. However, it is not only her lyrics, but also her silence, that speaks volumes. As I stated earlier in “A Conversation with a Skeptic,” cultural appreciation requires acknowledging the oppression that that group faces. Azealia Banks didn’t hesitate to call Iggy out for her silence in the wake of rising media attention on police brutality and anti-blackness. If I could quell the claims that calling Iggy “Igloo Australia” is racist (see: the definition of racism) long enough for people to see what Azealia is saying, hopefully people will realize that marketing yourself as “Black,” while remaining ignorant of Black issues, is cultural appropriation at its worst.


Vampire Weekend or “LET’S SOUND BLACK!”

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The indie genre is usually granted leeway that other genres are not. It often escapes mainstream scrutiny because it is such a niche genre. For the sake of a comprehensive analysis of cultural appropriation in the music industry, I am leaving no niche unturned, and so I ask the question: how is Vampire Weekend’s use of African sounds an example of cultural appropriation?

The contrast between Vampire Weekend’s origins and the sounds they appropriate nearly rivals the contrast between Iggy Azalea’s Australian upbringing and her Southern Black accent. The group formed when all its members were undergraduates studying at Columbia University. To the right you can see a photo of them performing at their alma mater. How does the privilege accompanying an Ivy League education compare to the conditions of those countries whose sounds they appropriate? It doesn’t.

Take the song “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” described by the group as one of its most African-sounding songs. The title itself juxtaposes the privilege and WASP lifestyle of Cape Cod with Kwassa Kwassa, a dance rhythm from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This comparison is prevalent throughout the entire track. References such as “Louis Vuitton” and “United Colors of Benetton” conjure an image of wealth and privilege. When this is laid against a backdrop of conga drums, it becomes clear that this is another case of cultural appropriation.

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Koenig, the lead singer of the group, describes the music as “Upper West Side Soweto.” It should be noted that the “Soweto” they are referencing is a Soweto under apartheid. The sounds they use do not resemble anything of the modern Soweto, but instead use instruments and beats that were prevalent in a poorer, anti-black state. And, having read interviews with the group, I can assure you that these men do not often think about race relations in South Africa under apartheid or even the current conditions of communities in these regions.

The problem of cultural appropriation does not end with the ethicality of stealing styles of music, but continues when we observe the reception of this music by the general public. Pitchfork praised Vampire Weekend and many comparisons were made to Paul Simon, another artist that drew (or stole) from African pop. This comparison highlights the consequence of cultural appropriation: the original owners are erased from their own history. In the future, whenever an artist uses Afro-pop sounds, they will be compared to Vampire Weekend or Paul Simon rather than the African artists that created the sound.

The use of African sounds has earned Vampire Weekend rave reviews, but this success implies that they have the privilege of accessing a wider audience and garnering a success that the creators of those sounds will never experience, and thus, cultural appropriation occurs.

Koenig, the lead singer of the group, describes the music as “Upper West Side Soweto.”


Revolution and Reclamation

Racism, oppression, and subjugation have seen many evolutions in the last few decades. Charles W. Mills, in The Racial Contract, discusses how the evolution of racism from de jure to de facto manifestations does not herald an end to racism. This means that although legalized segregation is now struck from the books, the lived experiences of members of historically oppressed communities are not the same as those of members belonging to privileged communities. Police brutality and housing discrimination are just two examples of the many ways in which the lingering effects of legalized subjugation persist to this day. The purpose of this zine, however, is to focus on cultural appropriation. Less people are fighting for their civil liberties and more are fighting for the right to their own culture. Following the evolution of racism comes a revolution. This revolution is centered on shifting the popular conception of racism and reclaiming one’s culture. A worrying number of people believe we live in a postracial society and subscribe to the idea of “colorblindness.” This revolution pushes for the recognition that racism is still rife in American society by increasing consciousness about the right one has to one’s culture. Reclamation of one’s culture necessitates the acknowledgment by the offending party that an unjust theft occurred and that there is an imbalance of power. After taking lands, bodies, and resources of other nations, Western people have now resorted to taking their cultures. For this reason, the recent increase in consciousness about cultural appropriation is evidence of a revolution to redefine racism in the current context of society and to encourage reclamation of one’s culture.

üDo I appreciate and acknowledge other aspects of the culture?

üAm I using it the way it was intended?

üDo I understand its significance in the original culture?

üAm I ensuring that I do not rely on stereotypes?

üWas I given permission?

üDoes it benefit, either commercially or socially, the other culture?

üAm I giving credit to the original culture?

…if you answered “no” to any of these questions, it’s probably appropriation.

Appropriation or Appreciation? A Checklist

Yes, this is racist.

Citations Breckenridge, Carol Appadurai. Orientalism and the Postcolonial Predicament: Perspectives on South Asia.

Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania, 1993. Print. Christiana, Mbakwe. "The Origins of Twerking: What It Is, What It Means, and How It Got Appropriated." XO Jane,

30 Aug. 2013. Web. Freeman, Hadley. "Miley Cyrus's Twerking Routine Was Cultural Appropriation at Its Worst." The Guardian, 27 Aug.

2013. Web. Lewis, Hilary. "Miley Cyrus on 'Racist' VMA Criticism: 'I Don't Keep My Dancers Around 'Cause It Makes Me Look

Cool'" The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Sept. 2013. Web. Mudede, Charles. "White Guys Just Wanna Have Fun." The Stranger, 30 Mar. 2008. Web. Platon, Adelle. "Miley Cyrus Asked For A ‘Black’ Sound For Single, Says Songwriters Rock City | Vibe." Vibe, 12

June 2013. Web. Rodriquez, J. "Color-Blind Ideology and the Cultural Appropriation of Hip-Hop." Journal of Contemporary

Ethnography 35.6 (2006): 645-68. Sage Journals. Web. <http://jce.sagepub.com/content/35/6/645.full.pdf html>.

Sahim, Sarah. "The Unbearable Whiteness of Indie." Pitchfork, 25 Mar. 2015. Web. "What Is Orientalism, and How Is It Also Racism?" Reappropriate, 17 Apr. 2014. Web. Ziff, Bruce, and Rao Pratima. Borrowed Power: Essays on Cultural Appropriation. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1997.

1-3. Print. Zimmerman, Amy. "The Cultural Crimes of Iggy Azalea." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 29 Dec. 2014.

Web.

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