Cultural Appropriation, a Myth?

Disclaimer: I must first highlight; I am not American born. (Well technically I am. My parents were in this hood of the world around the time of my birth.) What I mean to say is, my ancestors do not know snow… and I have not had to deal with 1 million Rachel Dolezal.

BUTTTT, sometimes I wonder, do we overdo the whole cultural appropriation thing? There was a time in Rwanda, for some bizarre reason, Chinese fashion took off. You’d see African girls in the street with traditional Chinese sticks in their hair… Parallelly, a white colleague of mine who once traveled to DRC and loved it does not say “Thank you”, he says “Matondo Mingi”. Lastly, around the summer months, when I want to give the population zest, I braid my hair blonde. Are the above cases of cultural appropriation? Certainly not!

What makes a thing appropriation is when it is unacknowledged or plain improper. Other than that: art, fashion, etc. should be ok. The longer I am in civil rights/human rights spaces, the more I realize the answer is to RESIST ALENIATING THE OTHER. Am I going soft? Maybe.