So you want to "drink tequila on a Monday morning" and wear a silly hat? I don't blame you, I also enjoy wearing a silly hat while drinking in the morning every once in a while. I went to Oktoberfest last year and also the year before that, taking ample time to wear a Bavarian hat while sipping on my 3rd liter of beer by 10am. I also attended King's Day this year, and Queen's Day last year, making sure to wear an orange hat all the while gorging on Heineken and inhaling what Amsterdam's trees have to offer.
As a brown man, I can use and appropriate symbols of white culture because there's no such thing as reverse racism. However, because of the traditional power structures which are secretly operating behind the scenes unbeknownst to most whites, when whites get drunk and wear the cultural symbols of another culture, it's: cultural appropriation -- a very evil thing.
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| As oppressive to the Latino man as overpriced tequila |
There are certain types of hats which white people simply should not don. In fact, I highly recommend against the donning of any item which cannot be acquired at a local Abercrombie & Fitch store. Each culture has the right to determine that certain dresses and costumes are such an integral part of their culture, that another culture cannot adopt them as their own. If a brown person in Latin America were to dress as a cowboy, start gun-slinging and drinking on a Monday morning, it would not be offensive because artifacts and elements of white culture, by virtue of belonging to a dominant culture, cannot be appropriated.
You see, us minorities are extremely weak and our feelings can be easily hurt. White people already stole a lot of what we had -- such as our land -- and therefore the few things that we can still call our own -- our traditional hats and ponchos, for example -- should not just be casually stolen from us by white people. If whites make a habit of wearing the religious and spiritual dresses of our culture, it could become ingrained in white culture, robbing us of what little we have left.
Now, I know that Americans like to believe that they live in a free country. If they want to have a special day where they can drink and wear the hats of the people whose land they stole, they should do so in private. If I don't learn about your wearing of my beloved Latino hats and shirts, there's no way for me to get offended. So, white people: stop inviting minorities to your parties, stop drinking in places where you could be seen by minorities, and stop taking pictures, it can only bring us emotional pain to see white people drinking and making it seem as if it's a casual everyday thing for anyone but themselves.
