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Sebastian Hayward
ENC 1101
July 23, 2015

Cultural Appropriation in the Modern World

There is always a silent and peaceful moment, a concealed passion before I play this
wooden treasure alone in my dimly lit room. The grandfather clock makes a white noise, ticking
every second. I sit on the edge of my wooden chair, close my eyes, and place my fingers on the
cold hard keys, clearing all the outside clutter from my mind. The built up excitement gradually
spills out and travels excitedly to the tips of my fingers. My heart fills with emotions in
comparison with the melodies' movements. In these precious moments, the dark room I reside in,
no longer feels lonely. The clock's ticks and tocks become a metronome. And the reality I live in
becomes irrelevant.
Growing up, I had the pleasure to learn and grow a passion for the piano. My mother
thought that it was vital that I pick up this skill at an early age to become brilliant growing up.
Any talented musician, skilled basketball player, and even popular authors all started somewhere.
They all started their journey just like I did, and just like everyone does.
A newbie.

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As years flew by, my love for music grew, my artistic ability expanded, and my creative
playing style broadened. Learning an instrument has a lot more to it than just learning to press
keys. Its a soulful journey that encompasses your life. As you grow in life, the music grows with
you. The pieces you learn represent certain aspects of your life and plays as an outlet in day-today experiences.

When I first started, I played classical songs and melodies. It ranged anywhere from Fur
Elise, to Prelude in C Major. As time progressed, I shifted my musical interest to genres to pop
culture like hip-hop and rap and the songs I played reflected that. The songs I listen to greatly
affect the type of songs I conduct. Im more likely to play a song by Fetty Wap or Mac Miller
than I am to play a song by Beethoven. In doing so, I need to be careful to construct these pieces
in a way thats not offensive. Cultural appropriation plays a crucial role in the types of music I
play, the way I play it, how I record it, and what I choose to do with my musical ability.
Its difficult to understand why cultural appropriation is offensive if youre not from that
specific culture or race. You may dress a certain way, act in such a manor or just plainly present
yourself as an interpretation of another culture. Its easy to have a negative impact on someone
with a different cultural background than yours because you never put yourself in his or her
shoes. Whats so wrong and misleading about cultural appropriation you may ask? Well, there
are a number of reasons for that but first you need to know what cultural appropriation actually

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is. To put it in simple terms, its when someone adopts or uses certain attributes associated with a
culture other than their own. Lets vision this through the perspective of the opposite culture so
you get a better idea.
Sports are a common hobby and interest in society. People are extremely
passionate about their favorite sport of their favorite team. People invest so much energy in the
love of this activity that they miss crucial underlying principles. Certain teams have a
background that people are totally unaware of. They may have some common knowledge but
they arent fully understanding of what theyre promoting. Dont get me wrong. I love football. I
love basketball. But cultural appropriation plays its part in these sports. It is both ironic and
shaming because it turns historical genocide into modern day trivia. For example, the Florida
State Seminole is the mascot for the very university we attend. Let me repeat that so it sinks in a
little. The mascot for our university is the Seminole, an Indian tribe that was eradicated by white
people. Now, its almost like it never happened. We make Native American hand signals at
football games not realizing that we basically stole their land. Violence for a group of people or
culture, especially something as catastrophic as genocide, doesnt blow over. Generations on
generations of this native tribe feel this lingering trauma. Natives from that tribe feel
disrespected and hurt and thats completely understandable. Their pain is being promoted.
Another football team that counts as a good example for this is the Washington Redskins. The
name Redskin actually comes from the time when the colonial white people invaded the natives
land. They would slaughter the natives and bring back their skin to prove that they actually killed
them. This mutilated skin was referred to as red skin. To actually believe that a football teams
name is called the Redskins is mind-blowing after knowing this information. Whats even more
puzzling is how fans chant and cheer for this team unaware of the serious history behind it. Its

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spreading lies among the masses and creates a different association and viewpoint for the native
tribes. Genocide isnt something to worship; its something to be embarrassed and ashamed of. It
shouldnt be publicized as a form of honor.

Cultural appropriation is just one big instance of irony and hypocrisy. White people adopt
black culture but still remain prejudiced against its people. There have been many incidents
where white people, such as myself, have mimicked fashion culture from black people. In middle
school, I remember it was the thing to sag your pants or wear extremely baggy shorts. Im
embarrassed to say that I was one of those people. Rappers like Riff Raff and Stitches all copy
their slang and rapping style. The way they rap is mimicked from that of a black rapper. Rappers
like Iggy Azalea rap with a southern tone, which isnt natural to her usual voice. If shes ever
interviewed, she speaks with her normal Australian accent. Talk about fake. Why do white
musicians replicate the sounds of black artists? Even the way they dress resembles a different
culture. Riff Raff has corn rolls that are totally stolen from the black race. What I dont like about
that is the fact that if a white person does it, hes looked upon as being cool or trendy. If you see
a black person with corn rolls, you may not find it attractive or it may come off in a negative
way. Black women and men wear those hairstyles because its natural for them but they cant do
that because theyre afraid theyll look down upon. Its not fair that white people can use these
hairstyles and look appealing, or at least feel that way. Through my experience I have

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encountered many people that wear jewelry or items of clothing that have been adopted from
other cultures. Its totally hypocritical and its not done in the right way. If youre going to adopt
certain ideologies from other cultures, at least do it correctly. I cant tell you how many people
have gotten henna tattoos and the funny thing is, they have no idea what it represents or
symbolizes. They just use it for the look of it or the visually appealing standard that comes
along with it. It is necessary to pay homage to the creator of the style or the creator of the art
itself.
Now that you grasp this concept better, lets look at things through musical terms. As an
avid pianist such as myself, its impossible for me to stop playing. Ive come this far, why give
up now? Looking toward the future, I see myself writing music, recording the songs, and
creating projects that I can share online or with my friends. My favorite genre of music is hiphop and rap so I have to think about what I have to do to stay within the boundary lines and not
create cultural appropriation thats offensive or unappealing.

There are many methods and precautions I would take to show that I appreciate the black
culture rather than mimic it and call it my own. For example, when writing R&B and pop music,
I would publicly acknowledge how I appreciate and admire black genres and explain how I drew
inspiration from historical African-American music to create my own artistic music. If I ripped
off artists and stole their ideas without paying my respect, I would expect many people to have a

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thing or two to say about it. I have to give credit to the people that inspired me, and the cultures
that motivated me to play an instrument I love to this day.

When recording these videos, I have to make sure that I dont wear culturally specific
clothing, especially if I dont understand the meaning behind it. I would dress how I normally do,
with my own unique style. If I stole fashion from other cultures without addressing it or knowing
the background knowledge behind it, I would be shamed online for a good reason. Many cultural
clothing hold sacred value or have impacted the lives of many people. Looking at things from
their standpoint, its highly understandable that theyd feel violated.
Its embarrassing to admit it but I enjoy singing when I play piano, or even when Im not
playing piano. Its soulful, its freeing, and its care free, which is why enjoy it as much as I do.
When I write music in the future, I have to be sure to sing in my natural voice. I cant purposely
create an accent that isnt mine, just for the style. Even if I give credit to the culture, I cant just
steal the voice thats naturally given to a different culture. I would sing with my own unique tone
to create melodies that appeal to a specific audience. Who wants to copy work from someone
else? When people hear my voice I want them to know that its Sebastian that theyre listening
to, not a generic copycat. The moment I purposely change my tone of voice is the moment that
my music turns into appropriation.

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Knowing these guidelines I give myself saves me from a great deal of trouble. It also just
morally makes sense. For instance, how would you feel if you wrote a brilliant song and the style
was copied years later without credit given? You poured your soul out into your music, created
your own genre that fascinated the world and it was just replicated years later. These people
spent so much time and work to spread their theme of artistry to the rest of the world only for it
to be stolen and mocked. I dont know about you, but Id feel disrespected. Create your own
style of music, use your own specific voice, and have your specific style amaze other people.
I have become much more skilled in playing the piano since over the years. Rap and hiphop have always been my choice of genre and I participated in many recitals which often
exemplified that love and passion for the music. Nothing felt so surreal and calming. Nothing
could compare to the feeling it gave me, the relinquishing feeling of contempt and peace. Playing
these culturally black melodies soothed the mind and sparked creativity. Its something I never
got tired of. I aspire to get more and more artistically in tune with myself day by day. Theres no
greater pleasure than sitting peacefully alone in my dimly lit room. All I can hear is the feint
noises coming from the grandfather clock. I place my fingers on the cold keys of a sentimental
instrument, clearing all the outside clutter from my mind. The built-up energy is released through
my fingers and everything is ok again. In these precious moments, the dark room I reside in, no

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longer feels lonely. The clock's ticks and tocks become a metronome. And the reality I lived in
becomes irrelevant.