Of course I see that! Of course I understand the offence. I actually did find your comment to be belittling, whether you meant to or not. It's just I'm not the kind of person to immediately see the bad in something, whether you want to be offended or not is a little bit of a choice. I'm african myself and there are plenty of "get tribal" or "afro prints" etc type of thing in the media especially in fashion. And it is fickle and it CAN be offensive but I choose to embrace it, so what? There's no need to get crazy about it, it can be endearing and I myself think it's quite charming that others would try to emulate my culture (even if they get it totally wrong) it's just the sentiment or the acceptance of it is lovely. I just thought others would feel the same. I wouldn't call it "dressing up", it's OKAY to be inspired. I don't understand cultures that like to shut themselves off. That's all.

wewearblackcouk

This is where people get confused: it’s one thing to be “of ____ descent (fill in the blank with Native American, African, Irish, etc.)”, and something totally different to grow up as a Native American or to grow up in Africa or in Ireland or wherever. Ergo, we are as offended as, say, a Zulu tribesman would be if he were to see a sacred Zulu ritual being acted out, complete with faux and fake “African” costumes and whatever else people felt were “African”. Can you imagine how the media would react if a group of people chose to build a commune around THAT concept? People would freak out and the offending commune would be subject to all kinds of negative consequences! But choose to be fake Native American, and it’s “okay”…at least by you, because deep down? You don’t think we really exist, do you? It’s always ok to pretend to be something that’s historical, like Romans or Celts or Native Americans, because they aren’t around to defend themselves. But we ARE. We are, and we will, because it’s not “inspiration”, it’s theft of our sacred traditions, a mockery of our history, and a very large demonstration of cultural privilege.