Nary a day goes by without mention of the words “cultural appropriation” in American universities, and most recently they have come to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. On Feb. 22, the college’s dean of students sent an email to campus regarding an instance of “ethnic stereotyping.” The incident in question was a “tequila party,” at which some students wore sombreros and which was quickly construed as an offensive stereotyping of Hispanic students. In response, the Bowdoin Student Government issued a “statement of solidarity” decrying the party as “unacceptable” and calling for the administration to “create a space” for students who felt targeted by the party. Two of the Student Government’s own members even faced impeachment proceedings for attending the party.
As a Korean-American student, I am familiar with racial prejudice, having experienced its cruelty myself. If I had a penny for every time I was ever called a “chink” or mocked for my squinty Asian eyes, I would have a bank account to rival Donald Trump’s. Like so many other students of color, I know the pain of racial prejudice firsthand. Yet terms like “racism” or “cultural appropriation” have all but lost their meaning in how frequently they are used to describe perceived personal slights. To so many outside the American university system, they have instead become the moaning of overly coddled whiners looking for an excuse to be angry. And let’s be brutally honest with ourselves: They’re entirely right.
When university students at Bowdoin or otherwise freely accuse others of appropriating their culture, such accusations imply not only injustice but also malicious intent. To the accusers, it matters little what the true intentions might have been or whether the appeal to stereotypes was offensive by design. Nor do they consider that stereotypes and cultural appropriation can be resolved with constructive dialogue rather than by resorting to such harsh accusations. Instead, they feel hurt and lash out, rational thinking be damned.
Still, the offended parties have a slight point: Insensitivity to culture hurts. Nowhere is it more important to embrace inclusivity than in education, and ignorance does not excuse poor conduct. None of this, however, justifies the rampant and inherently divisive exaggerations that usually surround accusations of cultural appropriation. When such heavy words like “race” enter the picture, they immediately bring with them the full weight of their charged, bloody history. In their wake, they leave everyone all the angrier and more suspicious of one another. We have already seen it happen at the University of Missouri and at Yale University, and we have even seen it begin to rear its ugly head in the halls of dear old Dartmouth.
Why must we subscribe to the fallacy that culture is limited only to those born under it? We are privileged to attend a college that encourages not only the exchange of cultures but also the freedom to partake in them. Cultures can be poorly represented, yes, and the sombrero party very well may have been a poor representation of Mexican culture. But, in my opinion, it was clearly done out of the desire to celebrate a culture — not appropriate or mock it.
For those so concerned about the misrepresentation of culture, they should take it upon themselves to educate others rather than scream “racist” and make the problem worse. Does such punitive denunciation of our fellow students — who clearly mean no harm — really solve racism in any meaningful way? We should not applaud an atmosphere that would silence our peers or make them afraid to speak for fear of offending. Instead, we should seek to educate and cooperate, easing racial tensions with love rather than anger and destroying our enemies by making them our friends. What we really need is not conflict but mutual trust. Accusing everyone and everything of cultural insensitivity gives us none of that.
To the Bowdoin student body, I say this: Your accusations of “cultural appropriation” and “stereotyping” were not only ridiculous — they also risked tearing apart the fabric of the very school you supposedly love so much. Rescinding the impeachment of your fellow students is only the first step in the right direction, and I hope you continue along that path. And I, as a Dartmouth student, sincerely hope that our own college never has to deal with such embarrassment.
