Religion and Politics, September 2022
Most progressive liberals are aware of the dangers of borrowing from racially marginalized communities. My students are no exception. They are quick to identify and condemn forms of cultural appropriation when white folks adopt styles of communities of color for financial benefit or to increase their coolness quotient. Which is all to say we are in a very important cultural moment of awareness to systemic racial injustice. We are primed to see racial borrowing as likely ethically fraught. And this is a good thing.