cultural appropriation

  Much of this week was dedicated to the actions of the past in relation to the traumas of today, which is a timely topic, as much of the discourse surrounding many minority groups and POCs today revolve around the theme of rethinking and re-contextualizing narratives that were taught in schools, by parents, or the society they’re involved in. In the Americas, two strong narratives that come to mind in deconstructing traumas and the identity of the Americas themselves is slavery and the cultural mistreatment of indigenous people. Two topics that we explored at some points in discussion and lecture. 

  We were given the question “How does the history of slavery affect the Americas today?” in this week’s lecture. Though this question is important, my thoughts kind of expanded it to think of not just slavery, but how the history of colonialism affects the Americas. A few thoughts came to mind-

The lecture (and I suppose everyday life?) mentions that race is a social class, and I find this to be a key component in how colonialism affected the contemporary landscape. The perception of stereotypes and race derived from colonial teachings have echoes in today’s contemporary landscape.

  The third question that Jon left us with in this class was “What justice can be done?” and I was kind of hit with a mental block. “How can we heal cultural trauma?” has been a consistent question of mine for a while, and it’s come up in discussions regarding the Vietnam War, The Holocaust, The Cultural Revolution; and I don’t think I’ve found an answer to it. Acknowledgement of these events and traumas is one thing, and is a step in a direction, but from acknowledgement… where do we go from here?