GLOSSARY: Cultural Appropriation

In a strict sense, cultural appropriation is simply “the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture.” (Wikipedia)

However the more commonly applied usage of the term in a racial justice context is the misappropriation of elements of a marginalized culture by a dominant culture.

Misappropriation might look like fetishization (only “borrowing” from a culture, without their permission, and without a long-term commitment to/knowledge of/relationships among/solidarity with that culture) or opportunism (benefitting—financially or otherwise—from the use of a culture without a reciprocal investment in and honoring of that culture.)

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