Zanders-Garris 1

Alphonso Zanders-Garris

Professor Thomas

Composition I

13 November 2019

Research Paper: Annotated Bibliography

DASELER, GRAHAM. “Steal This Article’s Culture: What the Social Justice Warriors

Get Wrong.” American Conservative, vol. 18, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 37–41. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=133543058&site=ehost-live

This article focuses on issues about social justice in America. Some topics are presented

and includes the concept and meaning of cultural appropriation, which is known as the

“unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, and ideas of a group of

people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society as well

as indigenous groups harmed by colonization.” It starts off with an example of cultural

appropriation in which a white student wore a Chinese dress as a prom dress and caused an

uproar on social media, with one Chinese person replying “My culture is NOT your goddamn

prom dress.” In one part, the author uses a quote that differentiates between the slurs “nigger”

and “nigga” Nigger is a standard English slur. Nigga is a word in a different dialect, used among

black people themselves, usually men, to mean “buddy.” It emerged from a common tendency,

especially among men, to use mockery and joshing as an expression of affection. Nigga means

“You’re one of us.” Nigger doesn’t. It also talks about how race should be considered in movie

casting, but only as one of many other considerations including height, weight, age, and ability to

plumb into the emotional depths of the character portrayed. The author, Graham Daseler, is a

graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a degree in Film and Digital Media.
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His works have been published in many credible film and art journals. I plan on using this article

to help me give examples of cultural appropriation and to define what it is.

Grinberg, Emanuella. “Dreadlocks on White Folks: Things to Consider.” CNN, Cable

News Network, 1 Apr. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/03/31/living/white-dreadlocks-cultural-

appropriation-feat/index.html

This CNN web article explains the controversy of white people sporting dreadlocks for

fashion. After a black San Francisco University student confronted a white student over his

dreadlock hairstyle, calling it cultural appropriation, people started talking about the topic of

white people with dreads. The article gives an intro of how “black hair” is a touchy subject tied

to beauty, identity, and politics since it’s associated with African-American culture and can make

a statement before their wearers say a word. It explains that when white people choose to wear a

traditionally black hairstyle such as dreadlocks, it adds another layer of complexity to the issue.

But while explaining the problems behind white people sporting black hairstyles, it explains how

the hairstyle is essentially entangled locks of hair achieved through various means of rolling hair,

and how it’s hard to tell who had the style first, because early humans, lacking combs or styling

products, probably roamed the planet with matted hair. Also, it says how the term “dreadlocks”

comes from the Rastafarian culture, which is widely credited with popularizing the look in

Western culture. The Rastafarian culture consider the locks a sign of their African identity and

religious vow of their separation from white-European imperialism structure that has oppressed

blacks and other people of color. The author, Emanuella Grinberg, at the time was a journalist at

CNN, an American news-based television channel and website. The network has been one of the

most reliable sources of news since the 1980s, providing 24-hour news coverage. I plan on using
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this article as it provides an example of cultural appropriation, while giving a reason why and

why maybe not white or other races of people wearing dreadlocks is cultural appropriation.

Han, Hsiao-Cheng (Sandrine). “Moving From Cultural Appropriation to Cultural

Appreciation.” Art Education, vol. 72, no. 2, Mar. 2019, pp. 8–13. EBSCOhost.

The article uses cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation perspectives to analyze

visual culture in social media and in art classes. It gives many explanations such as what cultural

appropriation and cultural appreciation is, and provides a few examples of both. This article

focuses on cultural appropriation in social media, which allows anyone to be a content creator,

and cultural appropriation in art classrooms, where the student population comes from

increasingly diverse cultures. The author of the article is Hsiao-Cheng Han, a Doctor of

Philosophy from the University of British Columbia. She is also an art educator with research

interests in art education, technology, semiotics, visual culture, cognitive psychology, visual

communication, and visual literacy. She is implying that appropriation is an important part of art

history and is justified by the use of the artists’ creative license. To support her claims, she listed

more than a dozen resources. I am using this article because to me it seems like it would be good

to break down to my readers how cultural appropriation is sometimes looked at wrong when it’s

actually appreciating a culture.

JACKSON, LAUREN MICHELE. “When Is Cultural Appropriation Appropriate?” In

These Times, vol. 43, no. 11, Nov. 2019, pp. 34–37. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rgm&AN=139319649&site=ehost-live
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This magazine excerpt focuses on the cultural appropriation that takes place in music and

also touches on how sometimes “appropriation” isn’t always intentional. It discusses how when

white people flaunt black culture, they are not penalized for it. Instead, they are rewarded for

doing so, financially, artistically, socially, and intellectually. It also discusses the “wealth gap”

between blacks and whites and how the enormity of the wealth gap is made worse by the gap

between who is allowed to thrive off of intellectual property and who is prevented from doing so

by America’s hysterical force to own and regulate all things black. But when it’s time to give

credits and pay proper due, somehow the credits and accolades end up in the hands of someone

white, or someone who is not black. The author, Lauren Michelle Jackson, is a PhD candidate at

the University of Chicago whose writing about race and culture has appeared in The Atlantic,

The New Yorker, and The New Republic. This article comes from the magazine, In These Times,

an independent, nonprofit magazine, is dedicated to advancing democracy and economic justice,

informing movements for a more humane world, and providing an accessible forum for debate

about the policies that shape our future. I plan on using this excerpt to explain further why

cultural appropriation is such a big deal, and when it is okay to appreciate without appropriating.

Nittle, Nadra Kareem. "Cultural Appropriation in Music: From Madonna to Miley Cyrus."

ThoughtCo. ThoughtCo, 24 Feb. 2019. Web. www.thoughtco.com/cultural-appropriation-

in-music-2834650

This article gives a brief history of cultural appropriation by white artists in music,

fashion, and other arts. But the article claims that music in particular gets hit by this practice

more often. It gives an example of a fim The Five Heartbeats, which was based on the
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experiences of real African-American bands, which showed how music executives took the work

of black musicians and repackaged them as the product of white artists. An artist they used in

example was Elvis Presley, who is known as the “King of Rock and Roll”, even though people

know that his music was heavily influenced by black musicians that never got their credit for

their contributions to the art form. The article explores how white musicians with wide appeal

have all been accused of cultural appropriation, borrowing heavily from black, Native, and Asian

traditions. Written by Nadra Kareem Nittle, an experienced journalist who has written for

publications such as The Atlantic and The New York Times, I find this article and author

credible. She has been cited in a number of books covering topics ranging from race issues to

affirmative action. Published by ThoughtCo, a premier reference site with a focus on expert-

created education content, the article has earned my trust in knowledge. I plan on using this

article to give examples of cultural appropriation in music and fashion, not only in black culture,

but in others as well to broaden my focus.

Strauss, Maggie. “'Cultural Appropriation' Is Critical to Human Progress.” The New York Times,

The New York Times, 6 June 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/learning/cultural-

appropriation-is-critical-to-human-progress.html.

This excerpt is an essay from one of the winners of the NY Times’ Sixth Annual Student

Editorial Contest. This essay declares that “cultural appropriation” is critical to human progress,

and that without “appropriation”, the future of humans would be bleak. It discusses cancel

culture and how people are quick to attack others for behaving in a way that they deem as
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socially unacceptable. The author, Maggie Strauss, gave used Dior as an example when they

took “too much inspiration” from Mexican culture. She declared that the fashion statements were

clearly not designed to offend or degrade the cultures that influenced them. She also states that

however, However, that is not to say that everyone who draws inspiration from different cultures

is doing it with the right intentions. Issues arise when imitation is based on a shallow and

offensive stereotype, which is just blatant racism. She explains that America is referred to as a

“melting pot”. The publisher, The New York Times, is an American newspaper based in New

York City with worldwide influence and readership. The Times is ranked 18th in the world by

circulation and 3rd in the U.S. I plan on using this essay to explain the viewpoint that all

“appropriation” is not bad, and explain how it helps humans become more familiar with other

parts of the world.