Lynnsi, a TCK who grew up in East Africa, shares her observations on “cultural appropriation” in an American university setting where many of her monocultural peers felt “out of place” in this southern culture. She writes, “I related, but oh, how much more “outsider” I felt. My previous homes in Uganda and Kenya, now over 8,000 miles and a whole ocean away, were no longer mine in the way these other new students called Arizona or Ohio home.” Her words may resonate with your own experience.
Cultural Appropriation:
A quick Google search of “cultural appropriation” will define it as “the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.” In other words, “taking elements from a minority culture without respect or understanding and often for personal gain or trendiness.” A common example of this is the choice of a non-Indigenous person dressing their child as a Native American for Halloween.
With 2020, after the start of COVID-19, came greater awareness of how intense prejudice, inequity, and unaddressed racism had been in the United States. This civil rights movement brought awareness that some of the language and actions towards people belonging to a minority background need to change. As a result of these movements, people became more cognizant of ways our actions can offend people from different contexts; we better understood cultural appropriation, and for this, we should all be grateful!
Why is this important?
As a white TCK who sounds US American, the huge pieces of my experience living in East Africa are guaranteed to go unnoticed unless I’m asked about my past. This is a struggle that TCKs have had for years. The term “hidden immigrant” describes it well. However, this new knowledge of cultural appropriation has brought on new issues. My TCK friends and I struggled to feel we could express belonging to any culture other than the mainstream white American culture.
The Main Issue:
A friend of mine started their first year at university in the US. Like many first-year students, this friend felt homesick for Kenya and was unsure how to begin calling the US their new home. To reconnect with a piece of home from Kenya, they would sometimes wrap a Maasai shuka around their shoulders. This checkered blanket is sold all over Kenya to Kenyans and foreigners alike. In fact, Kenyans welcome the missionary communities into adopting the use of these blankets. Wrapping that red and black checkered blanket around their shoulders felt like home.
Could this simple act of comfort be offensive to someone?
It was simply an outward way they could express that important piece of their background since their skin and accent could not fully encompass their cultural identity. However they became aware that it could be considered cultural appropriation to any onlookers who did not know their full story. For that reason, my friend stopped feeling comfortable openly expressing their cultural background. Many TCKs in universities struggle to balance manifesting the unseen pieces of their cultural backgrounds for fear of offending or being “canceled” by people in the student body.
Dealing with More Loss
While it is so good to be mindful and forgo actions that hurt others and exacerbate the racial divide in the US, TCKs can feel even more invisible. Expressing outwardly the cultures that are part of us is a risk. We risk feeling judged as a white person dressed in a unique way and we risk hurting others, and causing that hurt is not okay. So we go on sometimes, feeling unseen for who we really are- pieces of our cultural identity going dormant over time, and for a TCK who’s already lost so much and said so many goodbyes, it’s important to cope with this well.
One thing to think about is to be mindful that not all settings are safe and respectful places to “whip out your Maasai shuka” or other physical expressions of past homes. While we may crave grace for ourselves and our unique experience, we also need to extend grace for people who don’t know our full story. People don’t know what they don’t know, so being ready to have conversations with others who don’t yet see how healthy it is for us to integrate our cultural backgrounds into our lifestyles is important.
So, hold onto this ability to bridge gaps between cultures. Hold onto pieces of “home,” whatever that word means to you. Hold onto the unique cultural identity you have been gifted and value it, even when others have no idea. It’s valuable. It’s you. It’s powerful. But most importantly, hold onto the power of grace for yourself as you learn and grace for others who may be learning, too.
Lynnsi Wagner is a TCK living in Pennsylvania after moving to the US 6 years ago. She spent the first 18 years of her life, first, in Uganda, and then Kenya. Lynnsi is now in the process of raising money for her salary as a future TCK Specialist with Interaction International.
