So, I’ve been thinking a lot about culture vultures lately, mainly because of my experiences at certain social events here in the Bay Area. I’ve been trying to figure out what really makes a culture vulture. It’s not all the white people in my capoeira class that bother me. It’s not even just white people. This issue is more complex than that.
So what makes a culture-vulture? According to the Random House Dictionary, a culture vulture is “a person with excessive or pretentious interests in the arts.”
Now, this is totally, NOT, how I see culture vultures. (I don’t know who the hell made up this definition.) In my mind, a culture-vulture is a person who practices or participates in art forms that were originated by people of color AND then uses that art form without regard or respect for the people who originated that culture.
For example, about 8 years ago, I went to Guatemala to study Spanish. While there, I met one woman who was training to become a doctor. She wanted to learn Spanish to diversify her career options in the medical field. Based on our conversations, I came to realize that this woman had little knowledge or respect for Guatemalans in Guatemala or in her hometown of L.A. She just wanted to learn Spanish so that she could get ahead but didn’t really want to be around people who spoke Spanish. To me, this woman was a culture-vulture, she was learning an aspect of Guatemalan culture–Spanish–without respecting the people who spoke that language–Guatemalans.
So, this brought me to another question. Am I a culture-vulture for going to Guatemala to study Spanish? By my own definition, I would say ‘no’. Firstly, I am Latina, and grew up hearing Spanish in my home. Yes, I too, went to Guatemala to improve my Spanish which would in turn, diversify my career options. But, I had (and have) respect for Guatemalan and Meso-American culture, both in Guatemala and back in the United States.
I have another friend who is Korean and loves Afro-Brasilian culture. She practices capoeira, loves Brazilian men (who doesn’t? : ) and has traveled to Brazil many times. Is this person a culture vulture? I would say ‘no’. My friend respects Brazilians and so even though I think she sometimes romantisizes or even fetishizes Brazilian culture, I wouldn’t call her a ‘culture-vulture’ because she respects the people that produce the culture.
What about a person of color who learns to be a sommerlier in order to move up at the restaurant where he or she works. Let’s say this person of color doesn’t really respect European culture but just does this to get ahead in his or her career. Is this person a culture-vulture? Again, I would say ‘no’. This person had to learn an aspect of European culture to move up the career ladder. There is no choice here.
Sometimes people of color have to learn aspects of European culture in order to get ahead in life. It’s not really a race thing. It has to do with the culture of the people in power. It just so happens that white people hold the power in this country. Many times people of color have to learn white culture in order to participate in certain economic and social arenas. This is exactly the case when black people have to straighten their hair (or cut their dreadlocks or take out their braids) in order to get a ‘corporate job.’ (Asians with dreads would probably have to cut their hair, too, so again not just a black/white issue but you get the idea. Would white people with dreads have to cut their hair in a corporate job? Probably.)
Power has a lot to do with this. White people are in power in this country even though they are not always the majority in terms of population. The people in power have the ability to take what they like from other cultures and use it for their own benefit. This is what I’m seeing in capoeira. People taking what they like from the art form (the dancing, the opportunity for interracial dating, the great physical workout) and leaving the rest (the martial art aspects). These same people will tell you that the new assimilated form is the right way to do capoeira when this is not necessarily the case. The tricky thing is that with an art form, there are not always clear answers as to what’s correct. So this might not always a race issue. Sometimes it’s a ‘art issue’. It is so complex!
So can people of color be culture-vultures? Yes, absolutely. There’s one person I know who may fit this definition. The truth is that I don’t know this person well enough to make this assertion. To be sure someone is a culture vulture you have to determine if they respect the culture they are learning about. Then there’s the issue of intention. Does the person intend to be disrespectful? It’s just like trying to figure out if someone is racist. You never know for sure because you can’t ‘hear’ what the person is thinking. You don’t know what the person’s true intentions are.
I will be writing more about culture-vultures in future blog entries. I appreciate any and all comments. A lot of times, comments, like a good conversation, help to clarify an issue. That is the whole point of my blog entries–to clarify issues in my mind.
P.S. Sorry for the spelling errors. I haven’t figured out how to use the spell checker and am too lazy to go get a dictionary before I post.
