AFAIK wrote:If you'd like to use a real world example look up the name of Rick Perry's ranch.
Naming your weapons of war after people you've genocided seems pretty crass to me. It's kinda funny that sports teams get more flak than the US Army but I guess Tomahawks and Apaches aren't mentioned in the news as often.
Do you find these names to be offensive? I mean, Tomahawks and Apaches? Should we also assume that when the Navy names the carrier Ronald Reagan or Nimitz, or JFK it is meant as a derogatory to those people?
Is naming your space rocket Apollo cultural appropriation of Greek Culture?
I think the problem is, trying to judge everything in the past with eyes gifted with foresight. The real characters of Einstein, Nightingale, Newton, Roosevelt, Lincoln, Socrates, Blackwell, Gallileo, Davinci, Hemingway, MLK, and thousands of others that have shaped our history, are deeply flawed characters that were shaped by their social norms, not unlike ourselves. Yes, some of them are racists, some of them might have been homophobic, etc. There will be a future, in which our progeny will think we are primitive assholes, perhaps they will criticize our effects on climate and/or our consumption of animals, but they will also criticize a billion other things that nobody today believes is wrong or even controversial, and they will still be appalled that we did them.
I think it is prudent to have context in mind, I think it is prudent to be aware of our history as to avoid repeating it. I don't think self-loathing for what someone did 400 years ago is beneficial and/or practical.
I saw you mention a Mexican cooking pizza as a potential false example of cultural appropriation. Fun fact: tomatoes originated in Mexico. Make of that what you will.
According to @Pants-of-dog cultural appropriation is anything that is adopted by another culture/identity that is "inappropriate" and/or unacknowledged (whatever that means).
I think this is a useless definition. The definition itself, assures that whatever happens to fall within the category of "cultural appropriation" is bad, because by definition, it is something that is "inappropriate".
So... if we already know something is inappropriate, why do we need to label it with yet another term that also implies a negative quality? What constitutes an appropriate adoption of elements of another culture? what constitunes an inapropriate adoption? This is a weasel term that allows people to "interpret" whatever they feel as "cultural appropriation". If I die my hair like a rainbow, there is going to be a pissed off individual that is angry that I am not gay but decided to put seven colors in my hair. Presumably @Pants-of-dog may throw a fit if I name my next kid Adahy because it is a native american name and I am not native American
(although technically I was born in the American continent....)
The best culture is that which is shared. Terms such as cultural appropriation threaten to have fake culture police like POD making up terms, and finding new scandals to be upset about.