As diversity continues to grow at Pleasant Valley, students’ understanding of the world and other people grow with it.
As people share their culture with their friends and other students at PV, a dilemma regarding cultural appropriation has come up. Cultural appropriation is people from outside a culture take from their ideas or practices without respecting the culture. There is a very thin line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. Quint and Prakruti were willing to share their stance on where this line sits.
Often times Indian PV students bring friends to their cultural events such as Diwali. Diwali is the festival of lights and every year many students post photos of them and their friends celebrating together on social media. When talking to Prakruti, she stated her support for sharing culture. “Asking your friends to share in your culture while explaining what it’s for or why you do it is totally cool.” Prakruti also urges more people to share their culture with others to help clear up the misconceptions about the community.
Another aspect of culture often seen used by people from outside the culture is Henna. Prakruti wanted to caution students on their use of this skin dye. She said, “I don’t think that culture should be used as an aesthetic. Each part of Asian culture has a meaning and to just pick and choose the parts that you like is disrespectful to the people that have worked hard to make their culture acceptable.” She wanted students at PV to be extra cautious of their use of other people’s culture; it’s important to always make sure that you are sharing in their culture in a respectful way.
Senior Quint Thompson thinks that educating the student body is the way to go about solving this issue at PV. He said, “I think that the actions of students are mostly out of ignorance, but there is no excuse for using derogatory terms like the N word.”
Another issue PV sees come up after spring break is many non-African American females get cornrows. Instead of being offended, Quint found the hairstyle funny because it is clearly not for their hair type. Quint appreciates any effort towards creating a more accepting and conscientious community among students at PV.
Both students felt as though respect was the most important part of creating an accepting environment. As PV’s community continues to grow in diversity, a growing understanding of cultures and people’s opinions are necessary.
