CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
I've heard it asked,
what is cultural appropriation? Greg Gutfeld, on The Five, on the Fox News
Network, once asked if taking something from someone else's culture shouldn't be taken as
a compliment?
Well it might be if one
doesn't acknowledge where it comes from, or worse, makes fun of the cultural
source. That's why black face is forbidden.
One form of cultural
appropriation that I thought of that happily hasn't happened yet, at least so
far, is the appropriation of yarmulkes. Yarmulkes are Jewish skull caps, worn
on the top back of one's head to show reverence to God, usually in a temple,
though Orthodox Jews wear some form of them all the time. This artifact is very
holy to Jews and my cultural appropriation fear is that one day, some American
stylist will desecrate it by making a fancy one by putting a cross and an
American flag on it and call it an "American Yarmulke".
Another form of cultural
appropriation would be the constant attempts to turn Christian culture into
American Culture, insisting that America is a "Christian country".
I'm sorry, but as a non-Christian American, I disagree. Still, Christmas is
legally an American holiday and more than one person has insisted that I should
celebrate it.
That's why we have a
First Amendment that forbids Christian prayers in our public schools, the
Decalogue on public buildings, and many other forms of Christian appropriation.
One form of Christian
appropriation the surprised and really angers me is that Cross in a public
park, part of an honor for World War One veterans, which the Supreme Court
allowed!
Even before and the
Nazis invaded and after they left, the very Christian Catholic country of
Poland was not too happy with its Jewish population. That's why many Jews, like
my grandfather, left and came to America, where he was free to be a Jew or any
religion he wanted. When WW! came, he served and is "honored" by this
memorial with the cross on it, which is like putting a Polish flag on his
headstone!
