The black community has a lot of hindrances and challenges, ranging from racism, segregation, persecution and hate crimes, but nothing compares to the effect felt or that will be felt from cultural assimilation, and appropriation of the cultures and lifestyle of the black community. What cultural assimilation, and appropriation implies; how they can operate; what effects they have on the black community; and, how we can combat them, shall be discussed in this post.
Cultural assimilation is the act of coping the cultures of a particular group and assimilating them into your own culture. If we are being honest it is just a fancy word for stealing. For cultural appropriation, it is the act by a minority group, joining another group.
See – The Future is ‘Black’, but how ready is the Black Man?
They both involve the systematic occupation of the cultural identity of a particular group or ethnicity. The aim sometimes appear to be noble, but in most times it is aimed at either exploiting the ethnicity in question (like the French government treated its colonies in Africa), or out-rightly coping their culture with the aim of using it for personal purpose and not giving credit to the ethnic group or race.
The black community has been in the front line of persistent and continuous ‘attacks’ from persons who which to identify with us through these means of assimilation or appropriation. Ordinarily, the argument may be that curious minds would love to know our way or life, or would love to mingle or live with us in our neighborhood, assume our way of life and completely mix with us. There is completely no harm in this intention. However, the issue is when people of various divergent ethnicity decide to assimilate or appropriate themselves with our culture, with the aim of taking the glory that comes from it, or exploiting our resources (human and/or natural). This particular reason is why we are making this post today.
Cultural assimilation and appropriation operates in various ways, through various means. Sometimes we do not even know that we are being manipulated or exploited, owing to how effective it is being carried out. It could be through the purchase of majority shares of a black-owned business by people who have little or no interest to the values attached to the business; it could be by the systematic distribution of palliatives to aid impoverished black residents; it could be the ‘innocent’ promotion of black music, movies, and other forms of black-oriented entertainments, and so on. It could be through politics, by visiting black settlements and localities only during elections, and promising black electorates that a certain party stands and identifies with them; it could be the deliberate sponsorship of a black representative, with the aim of using this ‘goodwill’ to penetrate and overly control the black community.
The list is endless. The effects are overwhelming. The black community is under a huge siege of cultural assimilation, and appropriation, and sometimes we do not even know the effects. Our identity becomes compromised, it becomes easy for anyone to pass off as a ‘black’ person and use the N-word. Assimilation ends up making non-black people to copy what is largely perceived as the negative side of the black man, and by exhibiting it, ends up bringing bad image to the whole black community. It also becomes difficult for us to trace our root, or identify the true origin of certain cultures, due to years of continuous assimilation, without due credit attributed to the black community. We have a lot to lose through the continuous and vigorous acts of assimilation, and appropriation.
Yet this may not have been our fault to start with. From time immemorial, the black race has been viewed with so much hate and neglect. Racism, segregation, hate crimes, were few of the many ways by which the status quo was communicated. The idea of assimilation, and appropriation was wholly borne out as a way by which the world can take look at the black community and see for itself, how wrong we have been perceived. Cultural appropriation gave room for the black community to extend its roots to Mexicans, Aborigines, and some part of Europe and Asia. We were scrambling for help from anyone who could pay heed to us. And this action has opened us up to the world; we are now suffering the aftermath.
However, we may have lost series of battles to regain our identity, but the war is still raging on and we can turn the tides to our favour. To ensure that this happens, certain steps have to be followed:
GET RID OF INFERIORITY COMPLEX
Like we stated earlier, we got to this point of having to garner recognition through allowing other race which we feel inferior to because of their skin color or history to penetrate into our community. To be able to win this fight, we must take much appreciation in ourselves, and understand that we have come a long way; and the future is definitely ‘black’.
POINT OUT CASES OF ASSIMILATION WITHOUT CREDIT
Sometimes, public figures or individuals of other race copy our culture, and deliberately decide not to give us the deserved credit. In this situation, the act of pointing out this mischief is not reserved to anyone but to all black people, even if you are a fan of that figure or individual. Consider yourself the custodian of the black community at that point and address the error publicly or privately.
PROPOSE LAWS THAT PROTECT BLACK CULTURE
The fact that most laws are still made to suit our westerner allies or colonial masters shows how backward we have chosen to become. Our black representatives in our various parliaments should take it upon themselves to fight for laws that will protect the black community to be enacted. Most laws are made to protect non-black residents and incidentally, black people, however, only few laws have been enacted that chiefly protects or preserves our culture.
