I’ve been in conversations regarding cultural appropriation before.  However, most of these conversations have happened only with people that look like me.  African American women like myself are frequent victims of cultural appropriation.  In a way, I almost feel as if I and many of my friends live in a bubble sometimes.  I don’t often think about the other cultures that are victims of appropriation.  In last Monday’s Table Talk, I had the opportunity to see multiple perspectives on cultural appropriation.  This was a rare and much appreciated instance.

We talked about all sorts of examples drawing from many different ethnic groups.  It was important for us to first identify what we believed was appropriation.  The group never quite reached a consensus on this.  Thought provoking questions made the definition harder to solidify.

Thanks to GRF Sam, the conversation flowed extremely well.  Beforehand, we were required to read two articles with opposing views to give some interesting perspective.  They were well selected and provided a great foundation for our discussion.