The Myth of Cultural Appropriation

Marcus A.
2 min readMay 29, 2022

I’d always suspected the term “cultural appropriation” was invented and propagated by some white dude. I was right.

Arthur E. Christy, first dude to coin the term in 1945

Because you know who never complains about their culture being appropriated? White people.

Question: What’s the opposite of “cultural appropriation”? The fact that I’m writing this in English should tell you something.

Cultural imperialism… aka why the world speaks English

It’s almost like a jedi mind trick. You’ve been sold a concept that does nothing to help you in any way. So you actively inhibit the development of your own soft power… all in the name of preserving a culture that’s long extinct.

People are so eager to be outraged. To be upset about something. Anything. So they jump on the “appropriation” bandwagon and censor any mention of their culture by “outsiders”.

Successfully limiting the soft power that would give them the actual influence they seek.

This article was because some people on Twitter were being oh so precious about the “Soro soke” phrase

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Marcus A.

Think different | Nigerian on exile #WeMoveNaija