Inappropriate Appropriation

I first became aware of inappropriate appropriation about a year ago when I came upon the story of a San Francisco State University environmental science student named Cory Goldstein who was attacked by a black student for sporting dreadlocks on campus. I felt at the time that, as more black men choose to shave their heads rather than sport dreadlocks, it was more likely that I would be guilty of cultural appropriation by shaving my head. Other than a very few Rastafarians, black men - as a general rule - don't wear dreadlocks.

Not long after that post, I had pretty much forgotten about inappropriate appropriation until I came upon a story of Hispanic students at Pitzer College in Claremont, California protesting the wearing of hoop earrings by white girls. They accused the white girls of "appropriating styles … that belong to the black and brown folks" and "exploiting the culture."

Not long after reading the Pitzer College story, I came upon a news item about a Canadian New Democratic party candidate pleading guilty to - and apologizing for - her inappropriate appropriation by quoting Beyoncé in a Tweet.

With these examples of inappropriate appropriation, I was certain that I had seen the pinnacle of Progressive racial craziness. I was wrong, however.

No, the ultimate expression of Liberal lunacy came when I came upon an editorial piece by daily49er Staff Writer, Samantha Diaz who believes milk has become a new sign of racism in America.

Diaz writes,
Milk has now become a symbol of racial superiority for white nationalists and neo-Nazis, claiming that their ability to process milk makes them racially superior.

Like many commenting on the article, I believed that Diaz was either insane or a clever satirist. I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, until I took a look at other samples of editorial writing by Diaz. Sadly, she shows no sign in any of her other articles of having any talent for satirical writing. It looks as if she was entirely serious when she told us that milk is the new symbol of hate.

No word on the status of chocolate milk and whether it is another example of inappropriate appropriation.