What is Cultural Appropriation? Some Thoughts

In the politically-charged atmosphere that we call 21st-century America, a new fracas has been raised recently over defining what "cultural appropriation" is.  I use the term fracas because honestly the whole thing is too stupid to be called a debate, and the ones raising the issue (the political Left naturally) are the stupid morons who seem to be raising it.  In all truth, it is important to discern if "cultural appropriation" is even a real issue, to begin with, and if so, how and why?  I don't plan into getting into all the semantics of this crap (it will give you a headache honestly) but I want to give my perspective on the whole thing.

In recent months, a number of things have been protested as "cultural appropriation," such as culinary choices, Halloween costumes, and other rather mundane things.  Even celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has come under fire from the lunatics making an issue of this because he promotes something called "fusion cuisine," and because he was planning on incorporating Chinese dishes into his new restaurant menu in one particular city, he was slammed for being guilty of this alleged "cultural appropriation" to even being called an outright racist.  I have actually been a fan of Gordon Ramsay for many years, as I have never missed a season of either Hell's Kitchen or Kitchen Nightmares, and in my personal opinion, the guy is brilliant.  He incorporates certain things from divergent cuisines into his own repertoire, and it works - it is not "cultural appropriation," in other words, but is actually the sign of a refined palate.  I respect the guy for his innovation, and if two things from different corners of the world taste good together, go for it!  As cooking is something I have as a hobby as well, I do that all the time.  Rather than being accused of being "racist," perhaps one should look at it this way - it is actually respect for various cultures to value ingredients in their cuisine, but it also is creativity when you can use those things together with something else to create something unique.  This is equally true for art, music, architecture, and culinary arts.  And, it is also a picture of America and the human race in general - Ramsay, a Scottish chef, is doing something uniquely American when he makes the "melting-pot" a culinary reality.  That truly embodies what it means to be an American - if "cultural appropriation" truly exists, then America has been successful at it in a good way, as many different ethnic contributions have made America the nation she became.  If any lunatic Leftist has an issue with that, they should probably ask their therapist to up their meds more as they lay comatose in their "safe spaces."  Let me now take this further.

Many people like Italian food I am assuming, and Italian cuisine is true fusion cuisine, and here is why.  First, let's take pasta - the concept of pasta is Chinese.  The sauce on the pasta comes from two American vegetables that are its prime ingredients - tomatoes and peppers.  Then there is pizza - pizza as we know it came into being in the US, so it is a uniquely American dish with Italian heritage.  But, what are the ingredients on a typical pizza?  First, the concept itself - pizza evolved essentially from an Italian flatbread called focaccia, which in turn was a regional adaptation of a street food item that Armenians and Lebanese-Aramaeans enjoyed called by two names, depending upon the ingredients - if it has tomatoes and meat, it is called lahmajun, but if it is topped with an oregano herb mixture, it is called za'atar.  Take it back even further, as one source I read said that pizza resulted from the "cultural appropriation" of Jewish matzo which hungry Roman soldiers topped with olive oil, herbs, and cheese for a quick lunch.  In other words, the history of the pizza is quite elaborate, but as you can see what we have is this - a Middle Eastern street food that was eventually topped by a sauce made from a fruit the Spanish brought back from the Americas, and then perfected centuries later in New York City by Italian-American immigrants.  So, there you go!  The politically-correct "thought police" would have a field day with that one if they truly knew, and Domino's and Pizza Hut would be boycotted possibly by these lunatics.  Then there is fried chicken, the staple of Southern "soul food" that some idiots are now saying is "racist" to eat.  However, where did fried chicken originate?  According to my research, it was the Scots that invented it and brought it with them, and then Black descendants of slaves I guess "culturally appropriated" that - hmmm!!  I guess that means KFC, Bojangles, and Popeye's all must be added to the boycott list (and of course Chick-fil-A - it's run by conservative Christians so it is the worst - NOT!)!  On and on it goes.  It is gotten so ridiculous that now if you decide you want a chalupa from Taco Bell or a plate of Mongolian BBQ from the local Chinese buffet, you are "culturally appropriating" and thus a "racist."  News flash for the idiots who say this - may be the person just likes tacos??   That is a radical thought, isn't it? 

I spent a lot of time talking about food here because it is the most contested area in this "cultural appropriation" battle, and perhaps this would have been good to write about on my culinary blog.  However, it is a serious political issue too though, not that it needs to be though.  Food, as well as clothing, art, music, etc., gets its aesthetic appeal from inspiration and creativity, and often those who are the creators get inspiration from other cultures.  The creative impulse is one that we all have to a certain degree, but for me personally, this is how it works.   Let's say I am watching something on TV, such as a cooking show, and the chef does Malay rendang.  I am watching it, and something happens - I like the idea of the recipe, but maybe an ingredient in it doesn't appeal to me so I start thinking about what I could change.  At some point I experiment then - for instance, maybe adding some Persian sumac or Ethiopian berbere to the recipe - and after tasting the result I like it.  And, for those worried about "cultural appropriation," I can assure you that no Malays, Persians, or Ethiopians were harmed in the cooking of that dish.  It's just called creativity.  In music, something similar happens.  I collect, as you well know by now, vintage big band recordings.  Big bands, of course, evolved out of jazz, which the "establishment" says is the creation of Blacks in the South - was it though??  If one looks into the earliest history of jazz, you see a lot of things being thrown into that "melting pot" - in New Orleans, for instance, there were large communities of Italians that added their contribution, and in the Northeast, there were Jewish musicians playing a style of music known as klezmer that kicked in some stuff.   Out in Texas, two things happened - polka bands and local cowboys.  This later brought in Bob Wills and the whole "Western Swing" phenomena.  Then, jazz goes overseas and meets up with another ethnic community, the Gypsies, and thus we get Django Reinhardt as well as the whole "Gypsy Jazz" phenomenon.  Jazz is not"Black music," in other words - when music historian/bandleader Richard Sudhalter wrote his groundbreaking book Lost Chords a couple of decades back, he made that very point and was severely attacked by the minions of "political correctness," but he was right.  Jazz is, first and foremost, an American art form, and many different ethnicities contributed to its development.  To say it is just "Black music" is in itself a racist statement.  Blacks, of course, did contribute to it, and many talented Black musicians became great legends in the jazz world - Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and so many others.  However, Blacks don't have a monopoly on the jazz art form; it belongs to Americans as a whole, as it is part of our national heritage.  It is also true to say pizza is not uniquely Italian either, as many of the best pizzerias I have eaten at were actually owned and operated by Greeks, Armenians, Lebanese, and one even by Turks, and they were phenomenal pies to try out.  Pizza, like jazz, is American, as it was on these shores that the pizza as we know it came to be.  Other culinary items - chop suey, the pepperoni roll, and chicken ala king - are all American creations adapted by ethnic immigrants to in time become culinary staples.  And, it's OK - the music (jazz) sounds good, and the food is delicious for the most part.  Therefore, one doesn't have to feel guilty of "cultural appropriation" if they want to enjoy a slice at the local pizzeria while listening to Count Basie or Dizzy Gillespie on the jukebox (do they even have jukeboxes anymore?  If not, then on the MP3 player then, OK?).  As a matter of fact, enjoy it washed down with some delicious white birch beer and enjoy a piece of Dutch apple pie for dessert.  That is called, for the self-appointed "social justice warriors," living life.  

I have deliberated enough on this today, as much more could be said.  But, you get the point - if you enjoy something, you should be able to without some self-righteous SJW accusing you of "racist cultural appropriation" because you got that three-piece box at the KFC or went back for that second plate of Mongolian BBQ at the local Chinese buffet while listening to Xavier Cugat playing a rhumba - just enjoy life and tell the snowflakes to bug off.  Have a good day everyone.