What does it mean to be a culture vulture: a point-counter point article
- Kiara Brown
- May 19, 2019
- 3 min read
Counterpoint:
If you’re searching for validation in the term “culture vulture,” congrats, you’ve found it.
This term applies to someone who essentially takes something from a culture outside of their own and markets it as an original idea with a lack of respect and attribution to the origin of that trend. It’s synonymous with cultural appropriation, but it is not to be confused with the event in which someone invites you into their space or an aspect of their culture.
Of course, just like your favorite seasonal Starbucks drink, it’s only for a limited time. All good things must come to an end.
Cultural appropriation is something that according to the Black online magazine, The Root, is also referred to as ‘Columbusing’ which is “the dominant culture taking from the minority culture.”
Writer Felice Leon says, “We can’t help but wonder: ‘What will be stolen next.”
And what things do people of color choose to share? Rap music is no longer exclusive to its Black creators, we have opened the doors to other aspiring artists to bring their take to this genre of music.
So no, if you’re White, you don’t have to just listen to the late Mac Miller, Macklemore or Eminem — a.k.a everyone’s favorite go-to defense. He broke the barrier of race by penetrating a predominantly Black industry. We know. We let him in.
Everyone is aware of rap origins. Rap is still very much a “Black thing” in the sense that it has maintained its status in the culture that it has originated from, and no other race tries to take credit for creating rap music, hip hop, etcetera.
In other words, pay your respects and enjoy. Write some bars, and I wish you the best in your lyricism and rap endeavors.
An issue that still exists is people using Black culture to boost their career, create a platform and then disregard it.
Prime example: Justin Timberlake and “getting back to his roots.” Timberlake based all of his career, up until his latest album, on R&B and hip-hop music. Now that he’s reached a comfortable level of celebrity, he claims to be reaching back into his origins, which were actually based on Black culture and imitation cornrows.
But what if you take something out of a culture and still pay respects to it?
If those people are saying that they are offended, it doesn’t matter. It’s difficult to dictate what is and what isn’t deemed respectful when that trend, that clothing print or that face paint doesn’t come from your race.
You don’t get to say, “I want to do it, so it should be allowed.”
Bottom line: It’s not your culture and not your decision to make.
Hurt feelings come from those whose culture is not at risk for threats of cultural appropriation. I have zero sympathy for you and your failures in culture vulture-ing. I don’t care if you have a half-Black child, a Black friend who gives you an OK on all things Black, a Black sibling or a black Labrador Retriever.
If a group of people is collectively telling you not to do it, guess what? You probably shouldn’t do it. Can Black people appropriate culture? Take a second to really think about that question.
Due to kidnapping, rape, colonization and all things anti-black, Black people have forcibly become immersed in other cultures. Black people span the edges of the earth and have roots other than African, which some fail to realize.
Someone Black would have to go out of their way to appropriate culture, but even then it’s basically impossible because our existence has undeniably infiltrated traditions outside of our own.
Let’s note that if someone Black appropriates another culture, that’s not an excuse for you to do the same. Your Kardashian boxer braids are still in fact cornrows, those mini buns are Bantu knots, our Dashiki’s are not costumes and dreads do not fit the job description of all rappers.
This article was originally published in The Lumberjack Newspaper and on Jackcentral.org
Click the link below to read the other counter-point
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