hey, so I’ve heard a lot of argument against claims of cases of cultural appropriation in the united states by people who point at the source culture and say “they don’t care, so why does it matter?”

what this doesn’t address is that the people who are usually talking about cultural appropriation in the us are usually american born poc; people who struggle with their identities as both american and non-american, and people whose cultures have historically been mocked or erased by people in power

so it stands that people who don’t have the same context (ie people who live in another country) won’t have the same ideas about how their culture is treated in the united states. basically this isn’t solely an issue of “who does this offend or not”; it’s an issue of complicated power dynamics that are rooted in the whole idea of “american-ness”

that being said, line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation can get very grey, and the idea of cultural separation is at best a faulty one, but the basic point I’m making here is that: cultural issues are not at all simple, and it’s important to factor different contexts and experiences into your thinking. i’d go as far as to say that there is no single “right” answer because this isn’t a singular question or issue to begin with