Over the past year this term has been tossed and slandered just about anywhere. It has grown to become one of the most sensitive topics talked about in society. With that being said it has also grown to have a misconception creating a far more misused message. A message that I think is important for my peers and young adults to understand between each other.
    

To start we need to come to agreements and learn the actual definition of this term before using it. To appropriate anything in general means accordingly to oxford definitions “the action of taking something for one's own use, typically without the owner's permission.” Taking the context that we are talking about cultures, what this term is applying to; is the idea of someone taking a certain culture idea for their own use. Now we know that culture is something so important, it gives us a background something to rely on, something that makes us who we are. Now while this is true people in our society have gotten the wrong idea of when people of other race are appropriating others. This is what has specifically has gotten out of hand and I think needs to be said.
    

Now this doesn’t mean that I’m sending the message that cultural appropriation is not a real issue or doesn’t exist because it DOES. I have experienced it a lot throughout my life actually. For a lot of people who are reading this and do not know my background, I am Mexican and very proud of my culture. Growing up in the United States I saw a lot of discrimination/hate against my people. Now that this term has gotten out for the public use, I think it’s been a very good way to show the example that minorities should be taken seriously. That we are people not just the punch line of a stereotypical joke. We are people who have always dealt with feeling left out. Our culture for all minorities (Black, Latino, Asian, etc.) is one that we take to pride and care.
    

With that being said living in the United States we see the majority which is the white American. This is the only race that has always been the majority and will never be or feel like a minority. They won’t get to experience the social oppression that we do. So in society/social media when minorities of any race see a white woman or man use a culture idea for fun, we go on and slander them using this term. We say to them that our cultural is sacred and should not be used by white people because they don’t know anything from our side. But what I think is the problem in this is when minorities say this about things that aren’t of anything from their culture. They tense up and think anything anyone does is an attack for their culture without thinking. Half of the time people are just appreciating someone’s else’s culture they are falling in love with everything just like you do, they aren’t exploiting and having an evil intention for liking a certain idea of a culture only if they know it’s not theirs and are respecting it.
    

That’s why people have to start being knowledgeable of when true culture appropriation is happening. We cannot just attack a white person for wearing something that they are appreciating and in general anyone from any race. If we do start attacking everyone with that term we will also be slowly segregating ourselves. Using this we are keeping away people from trying to explore and come as one.