The first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival kicked off yesterday, and there was no doubt a plethora of Native American headdresses were worn by non-Native Americans.
Sunscreen, bottles of water and bug spray are crucial items for any festival in the spring or summer.
What shouldn’t you bring? Other than weapons and outside food or drink, you should probably leave that Native American warbonnet you bought at Party City at home.
Culture appropriation, although it has become a buzzworthy term over the past year or so, is a serious issue. While many may not see what’s so wrong about sticking on a bindi or throwing up gang signs in a picture, mindless appropriation of already oppressed groups’ dress, speech or mannerisms is offensive and racist.
Pop stars have been doing this kind of thing for years. From Madonna’s “Vogue” – a dance style originated by gay men of color – to Katy Perry’s geisha-inspired American Music Awards performance, famous white people can’t get enough of it.
More recently, however, ordinary people have begun following this trend of appropriation, and music festivals are the most popular place to show this off.
During the past two weekends, numerous (non-Hindu) female Coachella attendees donned bindis as they saw such acts as Outkast, Lorde and Arcade Fire.
Many excuse cultural appropriation as a simple “appreciation” of cultures different than their own, but I don’t buy that.
Appreciation would be making a conscious effort to learn and support cultures. Taking classes in a certain country or religion’s history, buying from local shops and actively working to rid society of discrimination toward other cultures would be great ways of showing appreciation.
However, I doubt every white guy with dreadlocks and a Bob Marley shirt worships the Rastafarian deity, Jah. Or that every white girl at Jazz Fest this weekend wearing a bindi could name even one of the thousands of Hindu gods.
Borrowing from other cultures like this is problematic because of the widespread oppression that the people from those cultures have faced.
Boarding schools were set up in the early 19th and 20th centuries by white Americans believing the Native way of life was inherently inferior. Native American children were separated from their tribes, forbidden to speak their own languages and given new Western-sounding names. All of this was an effort to completely eradicate any traces of their culture.
This is something to think about before you buy a “Navajo themed” clothing item from Urban Outfitters.
As a more mainstream example, elements of black culture such as African-American Vernacular English (often called “ebonics”), rap music and twerking have all been capitalized upon by white people. White people can talk in AAVE or twerk all they want, but that is a persona that can be dropped in an instant. But when actual black people do the same, they are harshly scrutinized for this behavior.
Another person’s culture is not a costume for you to try on. Not only does this invalidate the culture, it almost mocks it. African-Americans, Native Americans, Indians and other minorities are not lucky enough to be able to take off and put on their culture like a costume. They cannot escape the stereotypes and oppression that comes with being a part of a different culture or religion. The non-Hindu girl who wears the bindi to the music festival, however, can do exactly that.
Summer music festivals are a place to have fun, not remind people of color that their culture is just a costume for white people to try on for a day.
Go ahead, wear your crop tops or bro tanks, but leave the appropriation at home. You’re not a free spirit by wearing a bindi or a warbonnet, you’re just racist.
SidneyRose is a 19-year-old film and art history freshman from New Orleans.