Imagine you had an object that has sustained your family for generations and means a lot to you personally. You’re cautious, but do show it to people in hopes to educate them about it. For the most part, they’re respectful of this object and even marveled by it, which of course makes you feel appreciated.

But would you pass this treasured object to someone whose lineage has disrespected you for generations? Would you allow someone to replicate this item without demonstrating any interest in finding out what it means to you? And at that, profit off of your precious object of which they have no proper knowledge about?

Now, imagine that object is culture. In today’s society, people find themselves way too comfortable debating whether or not people should gatekeep their culture. The truth is, if a group of people are not comfortable with you participating in their cultural practices, it should be basic courtesy to respect that. 

It is too often that I see white Americans putting African box braids in their hair, and it’s never hard to tell their intentions. When it’s been made known plenty of times that box braids are exclusive to Black people for practical and cultural reasons, to continue to get them anyway will always be malicious in nature. 

It’s common for these people to chalk it up to cultural appreciation, which is a disingenuous gaslighting technique used to patronize the Black community. You don’t have to perform a cultural activity in order to appreciate it. You can visit an art museum and appreciate the pieces without recreating them yourself without the proper facilities.

The truth is, it is completely valid for ethnic groups to keep their practices closed, especially with the historical context of how they were treated because of said practices. 

Indigenous regalia has ironically been sold commercially as costumes for as long as I can, significantly erasing its meaning. These are the same Native Americans who were put in residential schools, having their culture tortured out of them for decades on end. 

Black people to this day find themselves out of jobs for wearing our cultural hairstyles which were even banned by law at a certain point in history. Black women are stereotyped and demeaned for the braids some non-black women choose to appropriate. 

Those are only a couple of examples demonstrating how paradoxical it is to expect marginalized ethnic groups to willingly share their culture with outside races. Culture is precious and placing it in the hands of those who don’t have the right amount of appreciation for it is damaging.

There is nothing inherently wrong with cultural gatekeeping, and no one is entitled to a culture that isn’t theirs.