Cultural Appropriation & Shaming - Dreads & Mohawks: To Whom Do They Belong?

2017·0.04 MB·English

by  Rod Dubey

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Cultural Appropriation &
Shaming
Dreads&Mohawks:ToWhomDoTheyBelong?
Rod Dubey
Winter 2017
RodDubey
CulturalAppropriation&Shaming
Dreads&Mohawks:ToWhomDoTheyBelong?
Winter2017
Scannedfromoriginal.
From”FifthEstate”Vol.51,No.2,#397Winter2017
theanarchistlibrary.org
sion of communities uniting without regard to race, gender,
class,orreligion,andbeganwithpeopleoccupyingthestreets
anddisplayingthatunity.
Whatovercomescolonialhumiliationbeginswiththedesire
Contents
forcloserelationshipsandpersonalautonomy.”Iseeinthehis-
torical experience of workers’ councils… and in the pathetic
search for friendship and love, a single and inspiring reason
CulturalAppropriation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 nottodespairoverpresent‘reality,’”writesVaneigem.
Shamingwithpotsandpans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The attempt to insist on racial divides, borders, sod separa-
tions,identitypolitics,toclaimculturalownershipandauthor-
ity,andtoshameandpolicepeopleforactsorstyleswhichdefy
theseconfines,runscountertoananti-authoritarianproject.
***
Rod Dubey writes on cultural theory. His latest work is the
IntroductiontoDonalMcGraith’sLeavingNoMark:Prolegom-
ena to an Evanescent Art (Charivari Press), an attack on the
commodificationofcreativity.
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new forms of humiliation that destroyed communities and Oncollegecampuses,inurbansquats,athipcityvenues,and
peasant autonomy. Charivaris are that period of inversion, at anarchist events, one often sees young white people sport-
wherecommunitiesusehumiliationtorulethemselves. ing dreadlocks or Mohawk haircuts. However, there has been
Itmustbenotedthatshamingisnotnecessarilydonetofos- anincreasinglyaggressivepush-backbythosewhodesignate
terautonomy.Itcanbeusedbythoseinauthoritytoenhance thisasculturalappropriationandareconfrontingandshaming
their rule (think of the Nazi parades of Jews). It is only when thosetheydeemguiltyofthepractice.
charivarireflectsanentirecommunity,insistsonmoralityand Onefamousshamingincident,capturedinaviralvideoshot
doesnotinsistanewauthoritythatitfunctionstoprotectper- earlierthisyearandviewedbyoverfourmillionpeople,shows
sonalandcommunityautonomy. CoryGoldstein,awhitestudentatSanFranciscoStareUniver-
Thompsonrecognizedthatcharivarisworkedbecausethose sity,beingberatedforwearingdreadsbyanAfrican-American
shamedweremembersofthesamecommunity,sofeltthehu- undergraduate,BonitaTindle.
miliation.Itisdifficulttoimaginehumiliatingsomeonesitting Tindle tells Goldstein that he cannot wear dreads because,
in an off-shore gated community, but even without its ability “It’s my culture.” In a separate interview, Goldstein responds
to shame, charivari still matters as that form of action where thathesharesthecriticismofculturalappropriation,butthat
communitiescometogetheragainstimposedauthorityandto dreadlockshaveappearedinmanyculturesanddonotbelong
challenge violators of their shared values. The usual relation- toanyonegroup.
ship of people to authority is stood on its head as they seize This is the irony of cultural appropriation shaming; that is
thestreetsandrefusetoinstallnewleaders. often directed at people sympathetic to those doing the con-
The2011Occupymovementwasamomentofcharivari.So fronting.Anticipatingpotentialconfrontations,inonesuchex-
were the 2012 Montreal casseroles. With the Quebec govern- ample,someoftheorganizersofthisyear’sMontrealAnarchist
ment’spassageofabilltolimitprotestsamidwidespreadstu- Bookfairissuedastatementsayingthatwhiletheydonotcon-
dentstrikes,hugecasserolesoccurredtoresistthecurtailment donebullying,thatparticipantsshouldbeself-policingoftheir
of civil liberties. These drew a large number of people from ”clothing and headgear… keeping in mind that these choices
all parts of society who set aside typical divisions. The bang- can act as oppressive forces toward other people. Cultural ap-
ing of pots and pans was a signal of community power. Non- propriationisharmful.”So,peopleshamedarepresumablyask-
marchers,includingchildrenandtheelderly,wentoutontheir ingforit.
stepsandbalconiestohammerpotsandpansinsolidaritywith
themarchers.
Argentina’s massive pot-banging cacerolazos<strong></ Cultural Appropriation
strong> of 2001-2 belied the seemingly ephemeral nature of
charivari.The cacerolazos wentbeyondbeing proteststo initi- Suchappropriationoccurswhenelementsofaminoritycul-
ate autonomous alternatives. Several successive governments ture are adopted by members of the majority, often without
were disposed of, a barter network of millions was developed anunderstandingorappreciationforitstraditions.Itisargued
and many businesses went on to become worker owned and thisisanactofcolonialismthatdestroysuniquecultures.The
managed.Thisprolongationofinversionwasthelogicalexten- useofculturalelements,outsideoftheirusualcontext,isseen
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asdisrespectful.Somethingwithspiritualsignificanceorwith Colonialism devastated traditional cultures. Native people
reserved use (such as a Native headdress) might be used by weredefinedinnegativeways-assavages,ignorant,heathens
anyoneforanypurposeincludingmerelyfashion. -supportingideasofracialdivision,superiority,andhierarchy.
Thereareanumberofproblemswiththeargumentsagainst With the notion of development, Natives became poor in Eu-
cultural appropriation. First, cultures are amalgams. Even ropean terms, needing to consume more schooling, religion,
African-American and Native cultures are not pristine, but policing,andotheraspectsofwhiteculture.Thisisacommon
have been shaped by and include elements from many cul- descriptionofcolonialism.
tures (and their members continue to appropriate from other In The Revolution of Everyday Life, Situationist Raoul
cultures). Vaneigemarguedthatdiscoursesaboutcolonialismtiedtorace
TheAfrican-Americanmusicalformknownasbluesisacase arenolongervalidandredefinedcolonialismasaformofhu-
inpoint.Whilecertainrhythms,andcallandresponseaspects miliation. As such, we are all now subject to colonial humili-
of the blues primarily come from Africa, the pentatonic scale ation as consumers. We consume to avoid the humiliation of
that is used - at least how blues is played in America - comes nothavingtherequisitecommodities.Webecomeincomplete,
fromthetensofthousandsofindenturedCeltsshippedtothe in need, dependent, and infantilized. According to Vaneigem,
WestIndiesbyOliverCromwellsEnglandinthe17thcentury. “The problems of race and colour become about as important
Theylivedonthesameplantationsandsharedaculturewith as crossword puzzles… Yesterdays anti-colonialists are trying
black slaves. So-called cultural appropriation can only occur tohumanizetoday’sgeneralizedcolonialism.Theybecomeits
when culture is conceived of as fixed, denying its obvious flu- watchdogs in the cleverest way: by barking at all the after-
idity(currentAfrican-Americancultureisnotslaveculture,for effectsofpastinhumanity.”
example).
Trying to declare ownership of a culture is to assume that
there is individual authorship of cultural practices. It is the Shaming with pots and pans
sameassumptionbehindcopyrightandartascommodity,and
fundamentaltocapitalism.Foropponentsofculturalappropri- Shaming, by those lacking power, has a long history in re-
ation, all cultural elements come to be seen as objects with versingauthoritarianhumiliationbyturningitonitsheadand
valueandsubjecttotheft;evenhairstyles.Thefactthatcultural shaming the shamers. In “Rough Music Reconsidered,” Histo-
traditionsundergoconstanttransformationbeliesthenotionof rianE.P.Thompsondescribeshowcommunitiescametogether
individualauthorship. in 19th century Britain to humiliate scabs, blacklegs, sadistic
Theargumentsagainstculturalappropriationimplythatwe judges,andthosewhoviolatedcommunitymoralitybyparad-
are inevitably separate, that there can be no rapprochement ing the offender through town to a serenade of banging pots
and that white, in particular, must be artistically and socially andpans.
censored because they cannot comprehend or use things re- These rough music events, known as charivari or casserole,
spectfullyItsuggeststhatwhitepeopleareboundtobeoppres- were also used in peasant revolts and to maintain local au-
sorsbyvirtueoftheirbirth.Thedepressingimplicationhereis tonomy against the expansion of class, wage labor, and state
thatcommunityisnotpossible. power associated with the industrial revolution. These were
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