Pushing Through the Discomfort

I completely stand behind this week’s editorial. Cultural appropriation is real on this campus and the voices of those who have been offended need to be heard and validated. The editorial’s call for increased understanding, empathy and awareness is an important one that hopefully going forward, we as a community can collectively address.

However, what the editorial fails to acknowledge is how our community should handle and discuss instances of cultural appropriation going forward. To begin with, there is a clear difference between someone who is a racist and an incident of cultural appropriation, like wearing a sombrero. Although the former is undoubtedly inexcusable, I am suggesting that the latter does not warrant the same treatment. While wearing a sombrero is insensitive, and fails to realize the implications of doing so, it does not inherently make someone racist.

In instances of cultural appropriation, what is most important to acknowledge is that offended parties are completely entitled to their anger. It is not the job of those who feel offended to explain to their offenders why they feel the way they feel and the argument that those who feel offended are overly sensitive should be eliminated from our collective discourse.

However, we need to somehow balance between recognizing the harm done and those affected while also refraining from labeling someone permanently. Pushing the student that we have collectively labeled “sombrero girl” into the periphery of our community will not make the larger issue of cultural appropriation go away. It could even alienate someone to the point where they no longer want to learn from their actions. Those who commit acts of cultural appropriation should feel shame and remorse, but should the also feel shunned? If the goal is to address and eliminate cultural appropriation on this campus, then we must think about what types of conversations will foster the most change and reach the silent, indifferent and negligent voices that we must reach. I think the town hall meeting is a perfect way to facilitate this type of engagement. I hope conversations like these continue.