Caillat Paulina. Language 3.

PW2: Debate

My motion: Cultural appropriation from dominant cultural groups is the social equivalent of

plagiarism with an added dose of denigration against non-dominant groups.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to talk against this motion. First of all, I’m Paulina and I would

like to introduce the speakers for the opposition: Cielo, Melanie and Luciano. Before we come to our

actual argumentation, we would like to define what is cultural appropriation. According to the National

Conference for Community and Justice, cultural appropriation refers to the use of objects or elements

of a non-dominant culture in a way that reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression, as

it doesn't respect their original meaning or give credit to their source and it includes the unauthorised

use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) without permission. In that way, we can say that

cultural appropriation from dominant groups is the social equivalent of plagiarism with an added

dose of denigration against those groups that are non-dominant.

The first proposition speaker has told us that the transmission of cultures occurs as a result of

globalisation, but it is not right to adopt features of a culture that have a deeper meaning attached to

it, just because they are “fashionable” or “popular” and not give credit for them at all. There is a

difference between acknowledging a culture and copying characteristics of it, without giving the right

credit for it.

A common example is the way that people started wearing their hair in cornrows, just because it’s

fashionable. While Black people have historically experienced discrimination because of protective

hairstyles like cornrows, the people who wear it nowadays can often "get away" with appropriating

that same hairstyle and making it "trendy," all the while not understanding or acknowledging the

experiences that contributed to its significance in Black culture in the first place. Should we just avoid

the fact that Black women get fired for wearing their natural hair instead of a wig, and some pop stars

get praised as they wear braids, completely ignoring their historical and social backgrounds? It’s not

only plagiarism but is also denigration to this minority group, and it’s reinforcing stereotypes too. So,

according to cultural globalisation, if an international pop star like Tini wears braids on her hair it’s

completely fine… but is it being respectful to all the black women who get fired on a daily basis and

get discriminated just because of their natural hairstyle?