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Appropriation and Assimilation
Mar. 26th, 2009 11:53 pmJono and I were talking about the difference between appropriation and assimilation tonight. Jono noted that the dominant culture (in this case, white middle class Anglo-Saxon American, the generic "white people") can "appropriate" others' cultures, whereas the immigrants of the other cultures are expected to "assimilate". Which led to a discussion about Appropriation and Assimilation, which Jono said I should blog about.
Appropriation. I said that I usually get frustrated by white people appropriating my culture, because they can just take whatever they want, without 1) understanding and respecting the roots of it, and 2) experiencing living with that culture full time. Appropriation is when you put random Chinese words on your t-shirt. Assimilation is when you suddenly find yourself living in China and needing to learn the dominant culture in order to function. When I see random white guy wearing a t-shirt with Chinese words on it, there's a part of me that wants me to ask, "Do you even know what that means?" "Do you know how to live by that?" And finally, "Do you know what it means to be treated as "Asian" 24/7?"
The first two questions are easily addressed -- I can just tell a story, teach the meaning, etc. It's the final question that's harder. Jono talks about this idea that white people feel like they lack culture (because white culture is default), so they feel culture envy and want to adopt a cool culture. Thus the appropriation. To me, there's something very wrong in that. Because you're essentially treating the same culture in two different ways. One is the everyday stereotypes and racism -- Asians are hard-working foreigners who take our professional jobs. Latinos are lazy foreigners who take our menial jobs. Muslims are terrorists from the Middle East. Blacks are on welfare, live in projects, and are going to rob us blind. But then you turn around and say, Asian Calligraphy is so cool! Salsa and bellydancing is awesome! Yay Jazz! So there is a part of me who wants to say, "How dare you take this without dealing with the consequences?" How come it's okay for you to wear t-shirts with Chinese calligraphy, but don't have to deal with people automatically assuming that you teach Chinese, or cook Chinese food natively, or are a doctor/lawyer/engineer.
I have problems with Assimilation, as well. Because to assimilate into American culture means to assimilate into a racially-organized society, which means that you don't really assimilate. You just go into the correct box made for you, and adopt it as your own.
For example, Latin America has people of all races, and is socially organized by class -- more $$ = more power. However, Latinos in America are suddenly "brown". Last year, the Spanish teacher at my school was a white Mexican, and many of the self-identified 2nd/3rd generation brown Mexicans refused to accept her as Mexican. Likewise, my roommate got more acceptance as Cuban/Latina from her 1st generation immigrant students because they're used to seeing Latinos as many races, whereas her 2nd/3rd generation Latino students would say, "No, you're not Latino. You're white." So I guess we can say that these 2nd/3rd generation kids are fully assimilated into the American way of seeing things: Latino = brown. Likewise, my Chinese school students -- 2nd generation Chinese -- have difficulty imagining Asians as anything else aside from urban professionals. One of them wrote in his quarter-final essay, "Before taking this class, I always thought China was all businessmen and upper-middle class. Now I know it's 70% farmers!" So they are also assimilated: Asian = professional class.
And yet we are not allowed to actually assimilate -- be accepted into the dominant culture. We walk the walk and talk the talk, and the result is that we accept these boxes that the dominant culture made for us, and they only accept us in these boxes. How wondrously self-reinforcing. It makes me sad that on the one hand, I fight to be a *history* teacher, not a Chinese teacher, but on the other hand, I'm surprised when I see Asians in a indie rock band. Or in prominent political office. Or on welfare. Or hanging out with those Mexicans. And oh! It's a white person. They must surely know everything!
I suppose I should end with various disclaimers:
1) I don't claim to understand the greater social movements and discussions regarding PoC, etc.
2) I apologize to all the white people who don't fit the white people stereotype, because you're not Anglo-Saxon, or because you're not standard middle class, or because you're not American, or because you're living in a place where you're not the dominant culture, etc.
3) This post makes me sound really bitter and angry. I'm not. Just intellectually frustrated at the inconsistencies and hypocrisies I see and embody. And I've generally been very lucky as far as assimilation and appropriation is concerned: I grew up and live in the SF Bay Area, generally multicultural and open-minded about these things. I am a first-generation immigrant (well, 1.5), so I can fight assimilation and I have grounds for complaining about appropriation.
4) I'm not assigning blame to any one particular group. This is one of the places where I think awareness does some good. To be able to step back and say, "Am I appreciating all aspects of this culture, or am I just randomly appropriating?" or "Are my actions and assumptions guided by blind assimilation?" is helpful.
Appropriation. I said that I usually get frustrated by white people appropriating my culture, because they can just take whatever they want, without 1) understanding and respecting the roots of it, and 2) experiencing living with that culture full time. Appropriation is when you put random Chinese words on your t-shirt. Assimilation is when you suddenly find yourself living in China and needing to learn the dominant culture in order to function. When I see random white guy wearing a t-shirt with Chinese words on it, there's a part of me that wants me to ask, "Do you even know what that means?" "Do you know how to live by that?" And finally, "Do you know what it means to be treated as "Asian" 24/7?"
The first two questions are easily addressed -- I can just tell a story, teach the meaning, etc. It's the final question that's harder. Jono talks about this idea that white people feel like they lack culture (because white culture is default), so they feel culture envy and want to adopt a cool culture. Thus the appropriation. To me, there's something very wrong in that. Because you're essentially treating the same culture in two different ways. One is the everyday stereotypes and racism -- Asians are hard-working foreigners who take our professional jobs. Latinos are lazy foreigners who take our menial jobs. Muslims are terrorists from the Middle East. Blacks are on welfare, live in projects, and are going to rob us blind. But then you turn around and say, Asian Calligraphy is so cool! Salsa and bellydancing is awesome! Yay Jazz! So there is a part of me who wants to say, "How dare you take this without dealing with the consequences?" How come it's okay for you to wear t-shirts with Chinese calligraphy, but don't have to deal with people automatically assuming that you teach Chinese, or cook Chinese food natively, or are a doctor/lawyer/engineer.
I have problems with Assimilation, as well. Because to assimilate into American culture means to assimilate into a racially-organized society, which means that you don't really assimilate. You just go into the correct box made for you, and adopt it as your own.
For example, Latin America has people of all races, and is socially organized by class -- more $$ = more power. However, Latinos in America are suddenly "brown". Last year, the Spanish teacher at my school was a white Mexican, and many of the self-identified 2nd/3rd generation brown Mexicans refused to accept her as Mexican. Likewise, my roommate got more acceptance as Cuban/Latina from her 1st generation immigrant students because they're used to seeing Latinos as many races, whereas her 2nd/3rd generation Latino students would say, "No, you're not Latino. You're white." So I guess we can say that these 2nd/3rd generation kids are fully assimilated into the American way of seeing things: Latino = brown. Likewise, my Chinese school students -- 2nd generation Chinese -- have difficulty imagining Asians as anything else aside from urban professionals. One of them wrote in his quarter-final essay, "Before taking this class, I always thought China was all businessmen and upper-middle class. Now I know it's 70% farmers!" So they are also assimilated: Asian = professional class.
And yet we are not allowed to actually assimilate -- be accepted into the dominant culture. We walk the walk and talk the talk, and the result is that we accept these boxes that the dominant culture made for us, and they only accept us in these boxes. How wondrously self-reinforcing. It makes me sad that on the one hand, I fight to be a *history* teacher, not a Chinese teacher, but on the other hand, I'm surprised when I see Asians in a indie rock band. Or in prominent political office. Or on welfare. Or hanging out with those Mexicans. And oh! It's a white person. They must surely know everything!
I suppose I should end with various disclaimers:
1) I don't claim to understand the greater social movements and discussions regarding PoC, etc.
2) I apologize to all the white people who don't fit the white people stereotype, because you're not Anglo-Saxon, or because you're not standard middle class, or because you're not American, or because you're living in a place where you're not the dominant culture, etc.
3) This post makes me sound really bitter and angry. I'm not. Just intellectually frustrated at the inconsistencies and hypocrisies I see and embody. And I've generally been very lucky as far as assimilation and appropriation is concerned: I grew up and live in the SF Bay Area, generally multicultural and open-minded about these things. I am a first-generation immigrant (well, 1.5), so I can fight assimilation and I have grounds for complaining about appropriation.
4) I'm not assigning blame to any one particular group. This is one of the places where I think awareness does some good. To be able to step back and say, "Am I appreciating all aspects of this culture, or am I just randomly appropriating?" or "Are my actions and assumptions guided by blind assimilation?" is helpful.
