Yeah this is one of those issues that can be looked at from many perspectives and has a lot of shades of gray within it - from a broader anthropological perspective colored by the long view of history, the entire concept is kind of ludicrous. Every culture the world has ever known is one big amalgamation of many constituent parts that have been added through a process of accretion, bit by bit over the years. Many of these parts had their origins in other cultures. Human groups have been migrating around the world, inter-marrying and trading ideas, for hundreds of thousands of years.
From the insider perspective of an individual within a particular culture, the view is of course very different. Elements of a culture have a meaning and a context within that culture - I think "appropriation" may be best understood when there is a clear power-imbalance between groups and the oppressed/minority group sees elements of their culture being used by the majority group without the cultural context that gives them meaning - in this case it may even be seen as a form of oppression.
I don't have clear answers to any of the questions you are asking. I don't want to tell someone that what they are feeling is invalid when I don't have the cultural referents to understand where they are coming from. Simultaneously I think that looking at "a culture" as if it was some kind of monolithic and unchanging thing is a mistake. Cultures are alive and breathing and changing, constantly, and a big part of how cultures evolve is now and has always been by appropriating elements of other cultures that are seen as "exotic" and "cool".
Well thanks for the food for thought - great post! Cheers - Carl
Thank you so much for the fantastic reply. You have reaffirmed the complexity of the situation and many of the thoughts I have been using as references, including the important reality that we haven't the right to tell another how they should feel about something. That is why I continue to solicit the ideas from as many people who are willing to share so I can grow my perspective of how we should behave and what things should be definitely discouraged vs. situations that more likely represent an overreaction by an individual (which doesn't invalidate it's importance, especially when dealing with that individual or others like them). I agree that cultures, when open to diversity, will look to adopt new, palatable and enticing aspects of other cultures as a form of respect and emulation. I likewise accept that when these things, that are seen by one group as part of their identity become mainstream and thus diluted from their association with that group, this can seem like oppression. I find it interesting too that while one argument might be for greater acceptance of different cultures, that we simultaneously seem to have some efforts at re-segregation with regards to certain elements that are to remain the cultural property of the original group. This is all very complex, and I hope we can continue with thoughtful and enlightening dialogue as a steemit community. Who knows, maybe it will be here that some of these problems are solved?