I ended my last blog on this subject without coming to any sort of resolution. I have now resolved the matter to my satisfaction. Resolution: You shouldn't be appropriating a culture you're oppressing.
Consider minstrels and Amos and Andy. Both of these kinds of entertainment can be innocent and amusing. However, they come from an era when African Americans were truly oppressed.
They came from an era when blacks were denied a stage before white audiences; they were denied work in TV. In other words, it brought laughter to white audiences based on the culture of blacks, but failed to focus on the true conditions faced by blacks. It's that which made them inappropriate.
It's as if Muslims were to put on a TV show in Egypt called "The Goldbergs. " (Thank goodness they haven't had to imagination to pull that one off.)
That, however, as far as I can see, is not the same as using costumes derived from early peoples.
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