Siara's Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation and Gen Z

Generation Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012, has frequently been described as the most “woke” and diverse generation (Schoichet, 2023). Generation Z, or Gen Z, is the generation that grew up with technology at their fingertips. While some of the older ones, those born before 2004, witnessed the technological changes of box computers to flat laptops, VHS to streaming, chalkboards to smartboards. Many did not ever have to experience a life without advanced technology such as smartphones or digital appliances, The advent of social media allowed young people to connect with people around the world and see things like violence and protests first hand. Gen Z, being multiple generations past slavery and miscegenation laws, is a more ethnically mixed group of people who are aware of how other cultures operate as well as the struggles they face. This generation is worried about things such as climate change, abortion rights and police brutality. Having grown up during the polarizing Trump Administration, unity and understanding is one of Gen Z’s main goals, is to treat other cultures with care. Gen Z is increasingly identifying as politically Independent with the fewest number of Republicans of any of the previously documented generations. Gen Z is considered to be fairly liberal, although increasingly more people are describing themselves as extremely conservative. As the generation who grew up during the polarizing Trump Administration, which was plagued with racist sentiments such as, “Build the Wall,” many people have taken the time to learn about other cultures or have inadvertently learned through internet education. However cultural appropriation permeates Gen Z culture as many people have co opted African American culture, specifically the dialect African American Vernacular English (AAVE) as “Gen Z speak.”

In looking at Gen Z and cultural appropriation, it is important to understand what some aspects of African American culture are as well as what cultural appropriation and some critiques of it. African American culture predates African Americans living in the United States. Things like Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Black Greek life, “Black is Beautiful” show the African American struggle and how people have thrived against all odds (Smithsonian). African American culture encompasses language, food, style of hair and clothing, music, dances and more. In contrast, white culture is described as, “the elements of White culture include, “rugged individualism,” the nuclear family, the scientific method, “rationalism,” the Protestant work ethic, conflict avoidance and the “written traditionFord, 2020).” White culture has been equated to American culture due to whiteness being the dominant force in our society. White culture is not a tangible thing and it is often used as a dog whistle for white supremacy. Due to the social hierarchy based on race in the United States, the connotations that white and Black culture have are entirely different.

“AAVE, also known as African American English (AAE), African American Language (AAL), Black English or Ebonics, is a style of English often spoken in Black American households. Linguists are unsure of how Black English came about, but they believe it might have originated from West African or Creole languages. Much like these speech forms, AAVE serves as communication among people with a common culture (Chery, 2022).” AAVE has been used to call Black people unintelligent for generations. The concept of code switching was invented for people of color to switch between standard English and AAVE as a way to assimilate into white society. “As Black Americans moved north and west during the Great Migration, they took the language with them, and each region created slightly different versions of Black English over time.” AAVE involves a different speech pattern where a sentence like, “she be going there” means “she goes there often” the verb “to be” is used differently and is placed in a different part in the sentence. There are also different words that are used such as period (an affirmation similar to ok), sis (meaning a gender neutral friend) or tea (a word used to describe gossip). As a Black person, I grew up hearing AAVE but I did not grow up speaking it. I was told that AAVE was “ghetto” and improper; but now I hear plenty of people (mis)using it. Chery stated, “language had been weaponized online by non-Black people to imply an aggressive tone, and how nonnative AAVE speakers sometimes mispronounced Black English words because they’d only seen them typed on a screen (2022).” A language that used to be improper is now used as “fun slang” completely ignoring the cultural context surrounding it. Social media has put this normally stigmatized dialect into the public sphere where people have adopted it to seem “hip.” Former USC student Marlize Duncan said it best, “Non-Black Gen Z members integrating AAVE into their everyday language, while Black people are stigmatized, conceals the prejudice people have toward the language and exemplifies their ignorance on the topic (2021).” All in all when it comes to AAVE and its modern usage, it is clear that it is evident of cultural appropriation.

Cultural appropriation is a highly contested term. Cultural appropriation is often looked at as a person that is not of one culture using a motif that is common in other cultures. This can happen with hairstyles, language, clothing and more; some things are not necessarily tangible despite having traceable roots, meanwhile other things like headdresses or other things of cultural significance are also used. While many people have argued that these things are unimportant because a culture cannot “own” something like a hairstyle or a dialect, others would argue that this is simply due to people’s naivete. As the term made its way online in the late 2000s, many writers looked to criticize every instance of a white girl wearing a Native American headdress at Coachella. It has since transitioned from a discussion of a phenomenon to people either violently condemning every instance of a person using another culture’s items or ignoring its original intention (Wang, 2018). This is not to be confused with cultural appreciation, such as a person traveling to another country, buying an item from a local vendor and having a rich understanding of the history and cultural context surrounding the item. With Black culture in the United States Wang says, “small annoyances laddered up to a pervasive grievance,” and points to people like Iggy Azalea, “know they can be financially rewarded for appropriating and plagiarizing cultural symbols without attribution.” Cultural appropriation can lead to financial gain amongst perpetrators while continuing to stigmatize the group from which the cultural element came. An example of cultural appropriation involving language happened with the transition of rap music listeners from the 80s to the 90s. As hip hop’s listeners changed they changed how it was made, what was normally a way to show struggle in the Black community turned into the Beastie Boys and Vanilla Ice treading a fine line between appreciation and appropriation (Abdi, 2023). While white hip hop artists were accepted in the hip hop scene and many did pay homage to those who came before them, their inherent white privilege changes their societal perception. Dissenters argue, “that culture can’t be owned,” and, “If you take the views of the more extreme opponents of cultural appropriation to their logical conclusion, you will find similarities to their sworn enemies, believing as they do in the right to exclude others from their own fixed culture (Chesterton, 2020).” Essentially arguing that everyone should have equal access to all cultures.

The internet allowed access to all cultures. Social media allows people to post cultural hairstyles, food, dress and more. While food lies neutral due to the fact that someone either cooked it and was able to get an understanding of cultural spices and traditions through a recipe, or supporting a person of that culture in a restaurant. The others are highly contested. Gen Z uses social media more than any other generation as they grew up with it. As traditional media consumption (things such as TV shows, movies and newspapers) decreases and the speed of the newscycle increases, new faces appear for people to enjoy. Influencers have turned into micro celebrities that can earn money based on their content (Alves, 2023). Controversy creates clicks, clicks generate revenue. If a person uses their “blaccent” or other black motifs when on social media as a “trend” their following can emulate that. As white Gen Z grows up in a world where rap music is less stigmatized than previous generations, are more racially diverse, and are constantly exposed to what they think Black culture is, they have culturally appropriated AAVE. AAVE is something that is not taught to Black children, it is something you learn as you grow up. It can be used to put Black people down, but jumpstart white Gen Zers careers. As this has caught on, the greater population has adapted to it. The Saturday Night Live skit “Gen Z Hospital” featured a group of actors pretending to be Gen Z and speaking about how they would react if their friend was in the hospital. The phrases, “on gang” “facts” “no cap” “pressed” and more come directly from Black culture. While viral videos of Black people talking have influenced how people sound, a middle aged white person would need background information on the words whereas a middle aged black person would not. The segment was slammed for being insensitive because it proved, “why WHITE millennials/old people are not only out of touch, but how they steal black s— and use it wrong (D’Zurilla, 2021).” Internet usage changing dialect has allowed non black people to mispronounce words used in Black english as well as misappropriate them. White Gen Zers use AAVE without the cultural context and have a lack of respect for the dialect, usually treating it as a way to jokingly say something which has divorced AAVE from its original use.

Cultural appropriation is a highly contested topic. While some argue that people can use any group’s culture and it is appreciation because it is becoming mainstream, it ignores the cultural connection and context one might have to their culture. It also implies that making one’s culture “popular” or dominant should be the end goal. When it comes to African American culture, the dialect African American Vernacular English has been misused and divorced from its original cultural context as a way to create revenue and be a “cool way of speaking” for white Gen Zers. This is an example of how white privilege works today as a dialect that many people were condemned for is now trendy. AAVE is not “Gen Z Speak,” it is a dialect with history and importance to many people.

Works Cited

Abdi, Mona Kosar, et al. “White Hip-Hop Artists Navigate Line between Art and Cultural Appropriation.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 22 July 2023, abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/white-hip-hop-artists-navigate-line-art-cultural/story?id=101550759.

Alves, Chelsea. “How Gen Z Are Using Social Media.” Search Engine Journal, 1 June 2023, www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media-gen-z/485152/#close.

“Black Is Beautiful: The Emergence of Black Culture and Identity in the 60s and 70s.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 24 Apr. 2020, nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/black-beautiful-emergence-black-culture-and-identity-60s-and-70s.

Chery, Samantha. “Black English Is Being Misidentified as Gen z Lingo, Speakers Say.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 19 Aug. 2022, www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/08/17/black-english-misidentified-internet-slang/.

Chesterton, George. “Cultural Appropriation: Everything Is Culture and It’s All Appropriated.” British GQ, Gentleman’s Quarterly, 1 Sept. 2020, www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/the-trouble-with-cultural-appropriation.

Duncan, Marlize. “Hustle and Fro: Gen Z Language Isn’t Real, No Cap.” Daily Trojan, 11 Mar. 2021, dailytrojan.com/2021/03/11/hustle-and-fro-gen-z-language-isnt-real-no-cap/.

D’Zurilla, C. (2021, May 11). Michael Che thought his “gen Z hospital” sketch bombed on “SNL.” now he knows why. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-05-11/michael-che-snl-gen-z-hospital-sketch-cultural-appropriation

Ford, Richard Thompson. “Opinion: There Is No ‘White Culture.’” CNN, Cable News Network, 18 Aug. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/08/18/opinions/american-culture-and-race-ford/index.html.

Offit, Tristan, and Connie Wang. “Here’s What I Got Wrong about Cultural Appropriation.” Cultural Appropriation Articles Have Made Us Less Open, Refinery29, 24 May 2018, www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/05/199256/cultural-appropriation-vs-appreciation.

Shoichet, Catherine E. “Busting This Big Myth about Baby Boomers Reveals Something about Gen Z, Too.” CNN, Cable News Network, 9 July 2023, www.cnn.com/2023/07/08/us/baby-boomers-gen-z-cec/index.html.