What’s Wrong
with
Cultural Appropriation?
文化挪用
怎么了
？
By Maisha Z. Johnson
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1. So, you just walked into a Halloween party. You think you’re wearing a kick-ass costume, but instead of giving you a compliment, someone tells you that your costume counts as cultural appropriation.
And you think that’s a ridiculous accusation. You? Doing something racist?
你刚刚走进一个万圣节派对。你认为你穿了一件棒呆了的服装，但有人不仅没夸你，反而告诉你你的服装算文化挪用.
你认为这是个荒谬至极的指控。你？搞种族主义？
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2. You didn’t have hateful intentions, so you don’t know how you could have a negative impact. Plus, nobody likes being told that they “can’t” do something, and you feel like this person’s saying you can’t wear your costume – even if you don’t mean to hurt anyone.
你没有恶意，所以你不知道你怎么会造成负面影响。再说，没有人喜欢被告知他们“不能”做某事，你会觉得这个人在说你不能穿你的服装--即使你不想伤害任何人。
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3. So if you’re wondering what the big deal is about cultural appropriation, I’ve got you covered.
Read on for some perspective on why people might get upset if you borrow from another culture.
所以，如果你想知道文化挪用有什么大不了的，我可以帮你搞定。
往下读，从一些角度了解为什么当你借鉴另一种文化时人们会感到不安。
What Cultural Appropriation Is (And Isn’t)
什么是(或不是)文化挪用
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4. In short: Cultural appropriation is when somebody adopts aspects of a culture that’s not their own.
But that’s only the most basic definition.
A deeper understanding of cultural appropriation also refers to a particular power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.
简而言之：文化挪用是指某人纳用了不属于自己文化的某些方面。
但那只是最基本的定义。
对文化挪用的更深入理解还指一种特定的权力动态， 在这种动态中，主导文化的成员从被该主导群体系统压迫的人民的文化中汲取元素.
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5. That’s why cultural appropriation is not the same as cultural exchange, when people share mutually with each other – because cultural exchange lacks that systemic power dynamic.
It’s also not the same as assimilation, when marginalized people adopt elements of the dominant culture in order to survive conditions that make life more of a struggle if they don’t.
Some say, for instance, that non-Western people who wear jeans and Indigenous people who speak English are taking from dominant cultures, too.
这就是为什么文化挪用不同于人们相互分享的文化交流——因为文化交流缺乏系统性的动力。
这也不同于同化，即当被边缘化的人为了生存而接受主流文化的元素时，如果他们不这样做，生活就会变得更加艰难。
举个例子，有人说，穿牛仔裤的非西方人和说英语的土著人也在从主流文化中吸取东西。
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6. But marginalized groups don’t have the power to decide if they’d prefer to stick with their customs or try on the dominant culture’s traditions just for fun.
When the last living survivors of massacred Indigenous tribes are fighting to save their language before it dies when they do, and Native students are suspended for speaking in their own Indigenous languages, mirroring the abusive US boarding schools that tried to wipe out Native American cultures up until the 1980s, it’s clear that not every person who speaks English does so by choice.
但是边缘群体没有权力决定他们是更愿意坚持自己的习俗，还是仅仅为了找乐子而尝试主流文化的传统。
当被屠杀的土著部落最后的幸存者努力在为时过晚之前拯救他们语言时，土著学生因为说自己的土著语言而被停学，这反映了直到20世纪80年代还在试图消灭美洲土著文化的虐待性美国寄宿学校，很显然，不是每个说英语的人都是自愿这样做的。
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7. In other words, context matters.
Which means it’s not about saying that you, as an individual, are a bad person if you appropriate someone else’s culture.
It’s a complicated issue that includes our histories, our current state of affairs, and our future, as we act to eliminate oppression, instead of perpetuating it.
So if you’re still baffled about why people would get upset about this issue, consider the following contexts.
换句话说，语境很重要。
也就是说，这并不是说你，作为一个个体，如果盗用了别人的文化，就是一个坏人。
这是一个复杂的问题，包括我们的历史，我们的现状，以及我们的未来，因为我们采取行动去消除压迫，而不是延续它。
因此，如果你仍然不明白为什么人们会对这个问题感到不安，请考虑以下情况。
1. It Trivializes Violent Historical Oppression
1.它淡化了暴力的历史压迫
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8. To you, it can feel like a big deal to have to give up something you’ve borrowed from another culture and incorporated into your life, especially if it’s meaningful to you in some way.
For example, owners and fans of the NFL team the Washington Redsk*ns have largely come to the defense of the name, pulling out every reason including “honoring Indians,” “keeping to tradition,” and “you’re being too sensitive,” in reaction to Indigenous activists calling for the end of Indian mascots.
对你来说，不得不放弃从另一种文化中借鉴并融入到你生活中的东西可能会觉得是一件大事，尤其是当它在某种程度上对你有意义的话。
例如，美国国家橄榄球联盟(NFL)球队华盛顿红人队(Washington Redsk*ns)的老板和球迷基本上都在捍卫这个名字，扯出了各种各样理由，包括“向印第安人致敬”、“保持传统”和“你太敏感了”，以回应土著活动人士要求结束印第安吉祥物的呼吁。
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9. The fans and the NFL are emotionally and financially invested in the name and don’t want to take extra time and money to change it. And that makes sense.
But consider this: When violence systematically targets a group of people through genocide, slavery, or colonization, the resulting trauma lasts through generations.
球迷和NFL在感情上和经济上都投入了这个名字，不想花费额外的时间和金钱去改变它。这是有道理的。
但请想一想:当暴力通过种族灭绝、奴役或殖民有系统地针对一群人时，所造成的创伤会持续几代人。
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10. So here’s what’s at stake for the Native people: The term “redsk*n” comes from the time when the colonial and state governments and companies paid white people to kill Native Americans and used their scalps or even genitalia (to prove their sex), aka “red skins,” as proof of their “Indian kill.”
所以对原住民来说利害攸关的是:“redsk*n”这个词来自于这样一个时代，当时殖民地和州政府以及公司们花钱雇白人杀死土著美国人，并用他们的头皮甚至生殖器(来证明他们的性别)，也就是“红皮肤”，作为他们“印第安杀戮”的证据。
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11. Given that history, is it a surprise that so many Native people are angry about football fans who think they’re “honoring” Native people with this mascot and their excuses?
We should be ashamed of this time in our history – and we should be working to heal the damage from it.
But instead, the NFL (and other sports teams) insist on celebrating the genocide of a people for fun and profit.
考虑到那段历史，这么多土著对那些认为他们在用这个吉祥物和借口来“致敬”原住民的足球迷们感到愤怒难道很让人惊讶吗？
我们应该为我们历史上的这段时间感到羞耻——并且我们应该努力治愈它造成的伤害。
但相反，NFL(和其他运动队)仍然为了乐子和利润坚持着庆祝一个人种的种族灭绝。
2. It Lets People Show Love for the Culture, But Remain Prejudiced Against Its People
2.它让人们表现出对文化的热爱，但仍然对其人民抱有偏见
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12. White people don’t ask to be born with privilege, but what they choose to do with it is another story.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, I witness people taking what they like without wanting to associate with where it came from all the time.