STYLE

IT'S NOT A TREND: Cultural Appropriation

OU senior Shalyn Foster gives a Black woman’s perspective on cultural appropriation.

BY HELEN WIDMAN | ILLUSTRATION BY LAINEY DOUGLAS

When a non-Black person sees cornrows, they might see just another hairstyle. But to many Black people, they look at cornrows and see maps, means of survival and the sisters and brothers that struggled before them. To Black people and many other people of color, cultural appropriation is an all too common battle.

But what is cultural appropriation?

According to an article by Northern Arizona University professor Richard A. Rogers, “Cultural appropriation [is] defined broadly as the use of a culture’s symbols, artifacts, genres, rituals, or technologies by members of another culture.”

For Shalyn Foster, an Ohio University senior studying health services administration, cultural appropriation is a phenomenon she has both witnessed on social media and experienced firsthand. One popular example of cultural appropriation often cited in the media is non-Black celebrities adorning cornrows.

“For example, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton [and] the rest of them wearing braided hairstyle cornrows, they feel like they're paying homage to Black women who wear those styles, but they have no idea of the history,” Foster says.

Cornrows have been worn by African women since 300 B.C. In America, the hairstyle has ties to the Underground Railroad.

“They don't know that slaves would braid rice in the hair so that when they got down the river, they would be able to survive,” Foster says. “You know they don't know the stories of countless Black children who have been suspended from school and have had teachers cut braids out of their hair because they've been told their hair was unruly. I know many Black women and Black men [that] have gone to job interviews [and been] denied because their hair wasn't ‘professional.’”

Although the difference between appropriation and appreciation can be difficult to distinguish, Foster sums it up in one word: purpose.

“I think the purpose is the biggest difference between appreciation and appropriation, like why are you doing this?” Foster says. “Do you want to learn about this culture, you want to learn about their history, or is it because you thought it was cool and you liked it?”

While the Internet can be a helpful tool for non-Black people to use to research Black culture, an important part of seeking out education on any cultural topic is listening to voices from that specific culture and giving their voices a platform as well.

“I think the biggest part is doing your own research, but also know there's only so many things you can do,” Foster says.

While online research does help, a non-Black person will never truly be able to walk in the shoes of a Black person.

“You can research all day, but living the life of a Black woman is completely different,” Foster says. “It's just the day-to-day microaggressions, systemic racism and institutionalized… just hate. It's way more than you can research, so just giving us that platform to speak on our issues to educate others on our own…I think, is a great step in the right direction.”

There is also a fine line between a non-Black person looking for information from authentic sources and relying too heavily on a Black person to educate them. Often, people of color may feel like they have to deal with appropriation in addition to bearing the weight of teaching others about their culture when those people have the means to do simple research on their own.

Foster says that when people get called out for appropriating, they tend to get defensive rather than try to learn.

“People don't want to think they're in the wrong so they'd rather deny altogether that [these things] came from Black people and they'd rather say they came from a social media trend and fashion trend,” she says. “You can literally acknowledge that it came from Black people and still be a good person. It's not going to condemn you. You just have to be honest with yourself and with those around you.”

Another key component of cultural appropriation is that it can be separate from racism. Studies by Ariel J. Mosley and Monica Biernat from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that, “Some acts of cultural appropriation may be classified as racist, as in the examples of Blackface and culture parties, but this may not be true of other acts, as in the examples of cuisine and literature.”

Some examples of this also includes “soul food,” which originated in the Southern United States Black community during American slavery, and African American Vernacular English, which also originated during American slavery and has since been developed by Black people in the LGBTQ+ community.

“AAVE originated from specifically, usually Black men who [were] part of the LGBTQ community,” Foster says. “And that really happened because, well it would be the ones who felt more feminine, they were expressing feminine tendencies, so they would copy the language of the women around them, which would be their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, etc.”

Foster says that many people seem to lack accountability in terms of cultural appropriation. “They don't want to know that they're appropriating another culture because … you don’t have to be racist to appropriate a culture. Some people I really think they truly don’t know,” she says.

As the president of Ebony Minds, a student organization on campus, Foster helps bring awareness of Black culture to anyone and everyone. Ebony Minds hosts self-care workshops, educational workshops about issues relating to Black women and even has a book club that members can sign up to join.

“We are centering around Black women,” Foster says.

“We’ll always be a safe space for Black women and Black women will always have some type of role in anything we do…[but] we are literally for everybody.” As a Black woman, Foster recognizes that both objects and content that originated from Black culture can be appreciated by non-Black people. “We don't expect people to just be like, ‘Black people said no bamboo earrings so we're just not going to wear them,’ nobody expects that,” Foster says. However, she still believes that there are aspects of certain cultures that should remain untouched. “I still feel like some things should be left sacred for some cultures, that we can learn about it, we can admire, but that doesn't mean that we should put ourselves in those shoes,” Foster says. “We don't know what happened to Asians for them to wear [kimonos], we don't know. We don't know all the in-depth things the Native Americans had to endure for their headdresses, so it's like, why do we feel we can wear it, make it like a fashion trend now?” A few things that non-POC can do to ensure that they are appreciating culture and not appropriating include doing background research, seeking out appropriate and culturally accurate sources and being aware of the limitations that being a non-POC has.

“I think the research and education part is important, but … that in itself has limitations because you can't get the real-life experience,” Foster says. “You need to put somebody on your level so you can give them the opportunity to speak to the real life experiences. Because being Black is multifaceted; everything is intersectional.”b