Columnist responds to criticisms
By: Kwynn Townsend-Riley – Columnist
The complaints, explanations and rebuttals I have received from alumni and students at the University of Dayton is a classic example of white privilege and the cultural appropriation that is executed from that privilege.
No living white person is at all responsible for slavery. But ALL living whites reap the benefits, just like all living blacks wear its scars. Most of you feel as if you have the privilege to take a dehumanizing, shameful word such as “ghetto” and transform it into a word that is accepting and inclusive.
Ghetto is a ghetto. It does not matter what alumni class made it up when. It does not matter what the houses were. It matters what it is now. Stop saying you live in a “trap house,” a “crack house” or “the hood.” It is not cute. Because if you did, you would be in jail, dead or a combination of the two.
I do apologize for not speaking up sooner. I should have wrote this article a long time ago, but before I leave I gotta let y’all know: This whole “ghetto,” “Trap Queen,” “Nae Nae” thing has to stop. This cultural appropriation has to stop.
Cultural appropriation is Miley Cyrus, Kylie Jenner’s braids, Hayes Grier’s ‘T-Rex’ dance and [hair style blog] Mane Addicts “mini buns” or Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off,” where you only saw black women shaking their butts. And need I mention Iggy Azalea, the worst rapper to ever exist, second only to Timmy from “Fairly Odd Parents,” another prime cultural appropriation.
I could give you so many other examples, but there just is not enough space in this article.
Cultural appropriation is a sociological concept that views the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture as a largely negative phenomenon.
If you are doubting that either of these two exist (white privilege and cultural appropriation) on or off this campus, consider this:
- Why did an elementary school student by the name of Ahmed Mohamed get arrested for his homemade clock at his school?
- Name/Count how many students of color you have in your class. Is your professor even a person of color?
- Donald Trump. Bristol Palin. Fox News.
That’s all I have to say.
So, to all of those who may have something to say to me, WHAT’S GOOD?