There is no faster way to ruffle feathers than to accuse someone of cultural appropriation. Whether their kids are wearing insensitive ?Native princess? costumes (whatever that is?my people certainly had no monarchy) or performing careless Japanese tea ceremonies, anger is almost always the first and most powerful response that people have when you ask them to respect other cultures. And it?s an odd reaction. After all, finding out that you?re hurting someone, especially unintentionally, shouldn?t immediately make you angry at the person you?ve hurt. It should make you reflective and, hopefully, remorseful.

.related-article-block{display:inline-block;width:300px;padding:.5rem;margin-left:.5rem;float:right;border:1px solid #ccc}@media (max-width: 525px){.related-article-block{float:none;display:block;width:280px;margin:0 auto 2rem}}
Why your white kid probably shouldn?t dress up as Moana for Halloween
Now, of course no one wants to hear that they?re letting their kids do something wrong, culturally insensitive or harmful. After all, your kids like something and they?re too young to have bad intentions, so who is it harming" Can?t kids just have fun"
But this isn?t just fun and games; there are real, tangible consequences to perpetuating stereotypes and robbing significant cultural touchstones of their meaning. I?ve had to witness the appropriation of my culture my whole life, and it?s far from harmless. When I was a child, I was shamed for both havin...