""How do we deal with the colonial past? How do we teach it? What do we do with its monuments and institutions? Is cultural appropriation bad or good?" 😁 A lot to cover here, but very broadly speaking, I think the way to deal with the post colonial world is to stop pretending that past and present are equivalent. And to focus on real is…
""How do we deal with the colonial past? How do we teach it? What do we do with its monuments and institutions? Is cultural appropriation bad or good?"
😁 A lot to cover here, but very broadly speaking, I think the way to deal with the post colonial world is to stop pretending that past and present are equivalent. And to focus on real issues instead of distractions. This would be helped enormously by teaching history accurately, tying it to the present effectively, and abandoning the idea that we automatically share the sins or oppression of our ancestors. We can do this without denying our culpability in the present.
For example, let's consider a few different types of cultural appropriation.
I saw recently that some Aboriginal spears stolen by James Cook in 1770 will be returned to the original clan. I think that's great if that's what the clan wants (I'd love to see the same thing happen with the British Crown Jewels, but I won't hold my breath 😄).
There's no denying that colonialism stole a lot of material and cultural wealth from around the world and if the descendants of the original owners want it back, I think that's what should happen. That wrong, at least, can be undone relatively easily.
Then there's appropriation in the form of capitalism, which is a lot more complicated. To take Africa as an example, vast amounts of wealth and resources have been (and still are being) effectively stolen from the continent.
Right now, China is buying up vast swathes of land and infrastructure that will keep Africa indebted for centuries. This is colonialism too. Aided and abetted in the case by extreme poverty and corrupt governments (both African and Western). It's one of the greatest injustices of history and hardly anybody is talking about it because we're all, and I mean *everybody* in the west, complicit. To undo *that* colonialism we'd all need to sacrifice. To be fair, the reluctance to sacrifice for the greater good is why colonialism throughout history has gone unopposed by people of good conscience.
And this is why it's so infuriating to see people going about "cultural appropriation" in the form of dreadlocks and beads and surfing. This is what always happens. There's a legitimate problem somewhere in the world, the problem is complex or the solutions are unpalatable, and so a sect of noisy "activists" finds some idiotic low-hanging fruit that nobody really cares about and they act as if that's the key issue.
Some people *pretend* to care because it's trendy and they get social media points, and the people most affected, the people starving and dying in poverty and unsafe working conditions, never even cross their minds. But hey, at least we yelled at Kim Kardashian for wearing cornrows or for calling her shape wear line "Kimono."
Anyway, rant over.😅 I hope I mostly answered your question.
That was a take on the symbolic “cultural appropriation” as “idiotic low hanging fruit that nobody really cares about” in the context of the massive material appropriation that nobody talks about is original and really perceptive. I had never linked them that way.
When I raised the issue of the challenges of post colonialism I was not expecting your substantive answer. I was hoping it could be a topic of future articles. You have a lot to add I am sure.
""How do we deal with the colonial past? How do we teach it? What do we do with its monuments and institutions? Is cultural appropriation bad or good?"
😁 A lot to cover here, but very broadly speaking, I think the way to deal with the post colonial world is to stop pretending that past and present are equivalent. And to focus on real issues instead of distractions. This would be helped enormously by teaching history accurately, tying it to the present effectively, and abandoning the idea that we automatically share the sins or oppression of our ancestors. We can do this without denying our culpability in the present.
For example, let's consider a few different types of cultural appropriation.
I saw recently that some Aboriginal spears stolen by James Cook in 1770 will be returned to the original clan. I think that's great if that's what the clan wants (I'd love to see the same thing happen with the British Crown Jewels, but I won't hold my breath 😄).
There's no denying that colonialism stole a lot of material and cultural wealth from around the world and if the descendants of the original owners want it back, I think that's what should happen. That wrong, at least, can be undone relatively easily.
Then there's appropriation in the form of capitalism, which is a lot more complicated. To take Africa as an example, vast amounts of wealth and resources have been (and still are being) effectively stolen from the continent.
Right now, China is buying up vast swathes of land and infrastructure that will keep Africa indebted for centuries. This is colonialism too. Aided and abetted in the case by extreme poverty and corrupt governments (both African and Western). It's one of the greatest injustices of history and hardly anybody is talking about it because we're all, and I mean *everybody* in the west, complicit. To undo *that* colonialism we'd all need to sacrifice. To be fair, the reluctance to sacrifice for the greater good is why colonialism throughout history has gone unopposed by people of good conscience.
And this is why it's so infuriating to see people going about "cultural appropriation" in the form of dreadlocks and beads and surfing. This is what always happens. There's a legitimate problem somewhere in the world, the problem is complex or the solutions are unpalatable, and so a sect of noisy "activists" finds some idiotic low-hanging fruit that nobody really cares about and they act as if that's the key issue.
Some people *pretend* to care because it's trendy and they get social media points, and the people most affected, the people starving and dying in poverty and unsafe working conditions, never even cross their minds. But hey, at least we yelled at Kim Kardashian for wearing cornrows or for calling her shape wear line "Kimono."
Anyway, rant over.😅 I hope I mostly answered your question.
Well said Steve. Very well said.
That was a take on the symbolic “cultural appropriation” as “idiotic low hanging fruit that nobody really cares about” in the context of the massive material appropriation that nobody talks about is original and really perceptive. I had never linked them that way.
When I raised the issue of the challenges of post colonialism I was not expecting your substantive answer. I was hoping it could be a topic of future articles. You have a lot to add I am sure.