6-2 Cultural Appropriation

Part One: Warm Up

1. What is an example of a sacred (very important) item from your culture? Why is it so important?
2. How would you feel if someone from outside of your culture used that sacred item incorrectly?
3. Have you ever heard of the term ‘cultural appropriation'? If so, what does it mean? If not, what do you think it might mean?

Part Two: Vocabulary

Part Three: Reading

Part Four: Further Discussion

• A non-Japanese person dressing as a geisha on Halloween.
• A non-Indian person eating curry at a restaurant owned by Indian people.
• A group of new immigrants to the USA celebrating Thanksgiving.
• A group of White Americans who have no connection to and little knowledge of Mexican or Mexican American culture celebrating Cinco de Mayo.

Part Five: Taking it Further

1. Try to think of an example of cultural appropriation and an example of cultural appreciation from your culture. You can search on the internet if you need to. Then, describe your examples to your partner(s) and explain why each example is appropriation or appreciation. 
2. Individually, reflect on the reading. Consider the questions below and open a document to make notes on your ideas. You will use these notes in Use of English 6-2.
   • What did you learn from the text?
   • What did you already know about cultural appropriation before reading this text?
   • What did you find most surprising or interesting about the text?
   • What might be some arguments against those presented in this text?
   • Why do you think cultural appropriation has become a more common topic of conversation since the 2010s? 
   • What cultural appropriation have you seen? This could be in real life or in the media (movies, television, music).
   • Do you feel that it is possible to truly appreciate a culture you are not part of? How or why (not)?
   • Who should determine how much harm someone might experience when cultural appropriation occurs? 
   • What are the consequences of generalizing people based on their culture?