[MENTION=14857]Powehi[/MENTION]
I understand your point but I might understand the opposite either. Or at least I think.
The problem of the cultural appropriation thing is that I have an impression that only people of one "race" can do rap, only people of "one race" can do A, B, C or D, and if people from another "race" do that, that is an offence. That is actually racism, even though it is not on the usual direction.
I mean, if you pay attention on the country vs rap thing, a 'white' labeled doing rap is an offence and cultural appropriation yet a 'black' labeled doing a country music it is not cultural appropriation. As I said, I don't think that the concept 'rap' is 'black' and 'country' is 'white' is really right, so the whole cultural appropriation goes apart.
What we have, however, is an artistic bias - and I mean, when a 'white' label people does the song or the thing, the person has a higher chance to succeed than any other 'race'. So I got a try to block white people on rap so they don't end up dominating the rap as well. That happens with US vs non-US people as well.
It is about power imbalances in society based on defined demographics. The country music issue would be a problem if it was completely taken over by another demographic without acknowledgment of its source. This is highly unlikely to happen - impossible actually given the current demographic imbalances.
If you watch the video Akala is very clear that cultural appropriation does not have to be treated racially or by placing hard boundaries and boxes on people. He talks about how he learns a Chinese martial art, but acknowledges its cultural source. This isn't about saying white people should not rap, and forcing it into that box is creating a strawman argument (I don't think you are doing that to the extreme many tend to do it). The actual position is completely reasonable and merely about respect and acknowledgment. That people fight against providing that comes across as extreme entitlement. If you write a paper and reference your sources, that is considered reasonable. At the larger cultural level there isn't necessarily one person to acknowledge, although sometimes there is, and there is always a cultural source to acknowledge.
The issue raised in the video is that the music industry has given financial and promotional preference to some white rappers when the actual style comes from outside their culture. It isn't about not letting people of other races perform hip hop or rap, but to not overrun and supplant the original people.
This isn't as much an issue for causal listeners and fans. No one is saying that everyone shouldn't appreciate an art form. The only comment in that direction was about the use of the N word, which is more of a racism issue, but still worth discussing. I did share an article about that.
My profession is in the creative arts and my colleagues are from all cultural backgrounds. This is an issue I believe in dealing with having integrity. I've changed the title of a piece I composed out of respect for a culture. I had used the same title as a well established folk song, and friend didn't point it out directly, but I'm sensitive to subtext, so I changed it. I appreciate and even perform expressions from other cultures, but ask questions about using textiles or sounds with respect to the original culture. This isn't about banning people, controlling people, or hard boundaries and boxes. It is about acknowledgment and respect. How are people not on board with that?
