By Ersha Kumar and Piya Pillai Friday, October 30th, Gurski Stadium, Wilson Vs. Penn Manor - great win for us, yet somehow a huge loss for us too, or, at least, a loss for every student at Wilson with an ethnic background. In case you were not present for the ‘Indian-themed’ socio-cultural disaster (aka the halftime show), it was simply an inaccurate and, more concerningly so, sad reflection of the public’s warped idea of what India is. Without trying to sound preachy or self-important, I’m just going to say that in all my years of living in New Delhi, not once have I encountered a snake charmer. India is not a rendition of Aladdin (which was set in the Middle East, by the way), and it’s not a place you want to go to ‘find yourself’ with ancient gurus in remote forests. And it would be really nice if no one asked me if I rode an elephant to school, because I ride a Honda to school, and so does most of India. Cultural appropriation has become such a prominent issue in the United States. In some instances, it has brought awareness and understanding of different cultures from around the world. However, in other instances, such as the Penn Manor catastrophe, it may, either explicitly or implicitly, mock the history and traditions of other ways of life. Although Penn Manor may have had well-meaning intentions, the answer to the show’s (unintended) offensive nature can be explained in one word: ignorance. Blackface, Native American headdresses, and Lady Gaga’s “Burqa”- three examples of cultural appropriation gone wrong. The first two instance are examples of costumes that people thought would be fun to wear on Halloween. Instead, these people rightfully received a backlash of negative comments on their Facebook and Instagrams about how distasteful they looked. Other people’s cultures are not supposed to be put on for show as a costume during Halloween. How is it fair for someone to wear a Native American headdress when, for years, these same people were kicked off their land and did not have a home? The problem with this type of cultural appropriation is that people seem to romanticize the oppression and discrimination behind the history of these people.
So maybe Penn Manor’s show wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Yes, it had many, many flaws, but the fact that they tried to be as accurate as possible with things, such as their uniforms, shows that they tried. However, race and culture are very tricky topics to address. For some reason, we find these subjects to be “taboo.” To change the way this country works and allow cultural appropriation to stop happening this way, we need to start educating each other. Stop romanticizing history. Stop trying to censor bad events in US History. Start educating others, and maybe we can stop the ignorance that is plaguing the nation.
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Elena Caputo
Hi! My name is Elena, and I'm a senior at Wilson and one of the Editors of the Editorial section. If you have any questions or ideas or if you want to write, email me at [email protected]! Olivia MonosHello! My name is Olivia and I'm a junior this year, and one of the editors of the Editorial section! I'm really excited to write for the Paw Print again this year!
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