Inappropriate

The snappy catchphrase of the month here in Canada is "cultural appropriation".  In case you live in a less politically correct jurisdiction, this refers to a situation in which a member of the dominant culture (in Canada's case, white people) uses the culture of a minority in a way that can be considered disrespectful.

The specific point at issue here is an article in the Canadian Writers Union magazine's annual issue for indigenous authors*.  The (white) editor of the magazine decided this was a fine opportunity to declare that he didn't actually believe in cultural appropriation, and half in jest suggested a prize should be awarded to the best appropriator.  Cue uproar from indigenous writers and others from minority communities.

Over at the Toronto Star, they've been firing actual journalists (you know, the kind that go out and report on news stories) almost on a weekly basis, but they still keep a large number of columnists on staff.  These people are always quick to upbraid all and sundry for racism, anti-semitism, homophobia and the like, and one or two of them duly started to weigh in on cultural appropriation.  Then it seemed to occur to someone at the Star that having its columnists speak out for indigenous people about cultural appropriation might itself be considered a form of cultural appropriation, so actual indigenous voices were sought out to express their views.  

This controversy, such as it is, may run for some time, but the best analysis I've seen appeared in today's issue of the Star -- this article, written by the definitely non-indigenous Rick Salutin.  People who despise the concept of cultural appropriation,  such as the increasingly unhinged Mark Steyn, tend to fall back on one argument: "the minute you have to state something so butt-numbingly obvious as that Shakespeare wasn't a Prince of Denmark or a Moor of Venice, you've lost".  Alongside some other good points, Salutin has the perfect response to that.

* As it happens, one major Canadian novelist who has written from an indigenous perspective, Joseph Boyden, has recently had his claims to native heritage pretty effectively debunked.  But that's another story.