More on Cultural Appropriation

The last thing I expected when I re-visited this blog was to be talking about my take on cultural appropriation again. It's a year later and I have lots to say--I also would have expected we would have put this beast to bed already.

But sadly, it's not the case.

Now, I'm going to be clear again: I'm still unpacking my personal baggage. I'm not perfect. I'm also a cis white woman "of a certain age" from the suburbs.  I'm bi/pan--but I'm married to a man, so most people I meet on the street assuming I'm straight. I know I wield a tremendous amount of privilege.

So here goes. 

Recently, we had an uproar over Witch Doctor Utu as a presenter. I don't know Utu. I had barely groked that he was a white dude until the bruhaha erupted in my neck of the woods. (Apparently his tradition--as in the one he created--is based around channeling the spirit of Harriet Tubman....or something. I know it involves Ms. Tubman and...well, he's a white dude. I'm sure you can see where some people would take issue with this.) I listened to arguments on both sides and I'm still not sure what I think of Utu. I didn't happen to attend any of his classes, not on principle, but because there are only so many hours during the day at any given festival, and there were other things I was more interested in doing. His Path simply isn't mine, so I wasn't terribly interested. 

The situation sparked a number of good conversations, so in that respect, it served a purpose. Here's my take on some of those conversations:

Someone else (paraphrased): "I was at Dame's class last year and she made a really good point. If you want to borrow money, my grandmother might lend it to you--but she'd more likely lend it to me. You should ask your own grandmother." (I.e. you should go to the Gods of your OWN Ancestors for things, not the Gods of other people's Ancestors.)

Me: "You never met my grandmother." Seriously, SHE decided who she lent money to. It wasn't her OWN children. (No, really, my mother and her sister are dicks.). She did, however, adopt one of my friends as an honorary granddaughter. My Mother-in-Law has "adopted" a number of children from other mothers and their children are just as much her grandchildren as those related by blood. My daughter, who is her "step" grandchild isn't treated any differently than her biological grandchildren. 

Spirit gets to decide who It responds to and how, not us. If you're drawn to the Gods of somebody else's Ancestors, there's probably a reason for it.

Now, in the case of Ms. Tubman, we're obviously talking about the Mighty Dead, which might be a little trickier when it comes to blood, culture, and appropriation--but let me say it again: you never met my grandmother. I would never be so foolish as to tell her who she could and could not lend money to. That's not to say anyone should go grabbing things willy-nilly from other traditions and that we ALL shouldn't spend time unpacking our baggage and that white people don't benefit from privilege (and that we don't owe it to POC to fix a SYSTEM that is racist)--I'm just not sure that I'm in the right place to judge someone else's relationship to any particular Spirit. (Utu seems to have some support in the Afro-Caribbean community, which makes me more willing to give him, in particular, the benefit of the doubt.) 

In the ongoing project of unpacking my bags, I came across an article that didn't quite say white people shouldn't practice yoga--but it came awfully damned close. After all, when you think of yoga instructors, what springs to mind? Blond women in Lulu Lemon gear. Yet yoga originated in the East, and at one time was practiced almost exclusively by brown people. Doesn't that mean we white people have stolen it? Is that really right? Should we give up yoga? Meditation? 

Where does it stop? 

How did it start? 

I shied away from anything resembling Shamanism for decades, long before we were clued into cultural appropriation only to have Spirit smack me upside the head AND learn that "shaman" is a word of convenience brought to us by anthropologists, and that ALL ancient peoples had some sort of spirit-worker.  

I'm NOT suggesting throwing sensitivity out the window, but I think we need to apply some common sense as well. 

To my mind, "appropriation" is clearly, painfully obviously racist things like black-face; it's taking what isn't yours without acknowledging and HONORING the source, without giving credit where credit is due. It's not using what you've borrowed to draw attention to where we have failed those cultures. It's also more subtle things, like failing to respect other cultures; it's taking one thing that you like (let's say "Taco Tuesday"), but not checking your THINKING (as well as your words and actions) regarding Hispanic/Latin culture--it's assuming all Latin cultures are the same. 

We can all do better.

I'm working on doing better.

But I don't think that means we stop doing yoga or meditating any more than I think only Jewish men over 40 have the right to study the Qabala, or that POC shouldn't be welcome in Wicca or Norse Heathenry--or anywhere else they feel drawn to go. Maybe I can only say this because I'm coming from a place of privilege, but let's make MORE room at the table, not less.