Hey guys! Today I want to talk about the article The Difference Between Cultural Exchange and Cultural Appropriation by Jarune Uwujaren. According to Cambridge Dictionary, cultural approbation is defined as, “the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture.” This is a terrible act that is commonly preformed in our society today. It is not culturally appropriate for a white person to dress up as a Jamaican drummer for Halloween because they are making a costume out of what is someone’s life. How would Italian people feel if someone from a different ethnicity dressed up as an Italian chef and acted like they were so weird and funny? That is basically what we do all the time in our society. We sort of forget that the joke we make or the trend we follow could be, and many times is, disrespectful.
Another point that was talked about in The Difference Between Cultural Exchange and Cultural Appropriation was cultural exchange. Cultural exchanged, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is, “A temporary reciprocal exchange of representatives, students, or artists between countries, with the aim of fostering goodwill and mutual understanding.” This is a practice that is not normally done. It mentions in the article how historically culture is taken and not really exchanged. There usually isn’t a mutual agreement between two peoples, it is typically just one more “superior” group taking what they want from another more “inferior” group and this is not okay. All people are human no matter their ethnicity.