Cries of cultural appropriation causes Hawaii-themed restaurant to close

[ItsTommyBitch 12,640]

He chose to close it out of respect. He didn't have to.

Props to him. He apparently owns another establishment, so its not like this was his life's dream since he was a child and gave it up to those "darn SJWs" (read, the criticism came from an Asian/Pacific Cultural Center and members of the community, so gtfo with this "everything comes from Tumblr" foolishness  )

[River 127,410]

10 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

I didn't know all that history tbh. Very nice. 

The reason they add "American" is to make a distinction that it's not authentic X food but rather the American version of it. The US is made of immigrants and many have contributed to what's "American culture" in modern times. 

Pizza and hot dogs are cultural here yet they are not foods that originated here, for example. Yet we have our own versions of these things. 

I don't see Italian symbols being marketed here much tbh. Not in the pizza industry in the large chains at least (besides pizza names). But Olive Garden does, like I said before. 

I think Italian immigrants came to accept some of these things and their descendants (like Gaga) are American and not ACTUAL Italians so they may have a different connection to these dishes than actual Italians. 

Now as for sushi, I never hear anyone compain about that. 

There is a "California roll" which is an American eggroll. California had many Asian immigrants come here so similar story I guess. 

I guess the difference in the USA is that most of these foods were introduced by immigrants of the origin countries and it   slowly integrated in USA culture in general. 

I don't think it's exactly exploiting another culture, especially a marginalized one, when it IS part of our culture. 

In the UK tea became part of their culture even though it came from Asian regions. The UK has developed their own form of tea culture. Also curry from India. As long as they don't claim they invented these things, I don't see the issue. But culture CAN blend without it being exploitation which is what cultural appropriation is concerned with. 

But then again this is just my perspective as a Hispanic American, so take it as you will haha. 

I understand, it's very interesting to see the impact of the immigrants,  and I can agree that the "I'm Italian" Americans are not Italians culturally  (Gaga spoke less than 5 words in Italian when she did the ArtRave in Milano lol)

I just think that there is a heavy and a bit brutal Americanization of cultures from outside of the US and as long as it's not dealing with the cultural problems of the different races inside the US so it's ok in some sense, it's more accepted by all the USians..

This subject it very interesting to study.. and as for me personally, because I'm living abroad and in many countries, I don't see myself as part of one country, one race and one culture, I see myself as Earthian because something from each culture merged in me in some sense and I love all the cultures and I want to learn about them as much as I can with a lot of respect..

 

 

 

 

[Goosey 3,017]

1 hour ago, Morphine Prince said:

What are you talking about? You misread  

Well, how can Americans complain about someone 'appropriating' mainstream American culture? Seems silly.

[Morphine Prince 109,655]

3 minutes ago, River said:

I understand, it's very interesting to see the impact of the immigrants,  and I can agree that the "I'm Italian" Americans are not Italians culturally  (Gaga spoke less than 5 words when she did the ArtRave in Milano lol)

I just think that there is a heavy and a bit brutal Americanization of cultures from outside of the US and as long as it's not dealing with the cultural problems of the different races inside the US so it's ok in some sense, it's more accepted by all the USians..

This subject it very interesting to study.. and as for me personally, because I'm living abroad and in many countries, I don't see myself as part of one country, one race and one culture, I see myself as Earthian because something from each culture merged in me in some sense and I love all the cultures and I want to learn about them as much as I can with a lot of respect..

Yes, I've read about cosmopolitanism before and I feel similarly. 

Americanization is kind of annoying tbh but it's inevitable here it seems. 

However Native American culture is exploited here all the time. They sell items relating to NA culture all the time to seem trendy and people have no historical knowledge of these things (See Coachella lmao). These groups are always complaining about that. And they are a marginalized group. 

Cultural misappropriation is a real thing but I think people get it mixed up and go too far to the point where they attack something that is doing no harm. 

 

[Morphine Prince 109,655]

1 hour ago, sarahb said:

Outback Steakhouse too. Like what the hell is a Bloomin' Onion? 

Bloomin' Onion is so good  

I like Outback but it's so cringey how they try to come off as authentic Australian food. Thank God I informed myself about that place before I went to eat there and wasn't fooled  

[sarahb 17,188]

6 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

Bloomin' Onion is so good  

I like Outback but it's so cringey how they try to come off as authentic Australian food. Thank God I informed myself about that place before I went to eat there and wasn't fooled  

They could call their shrimp 'prawns' if they want to at least try

Is it actually supposed to be authentic? I always assumed it was supposed to just be American food with an Australian theme. 

[Morphine Prince 109,655]

2 minutes ago, sarahb said:

They could call their shrimp 'prawns' if they want to at least try

Is it actually supposed to be authentic? I always assumed it was supposed to just be American food with an Australian theme. 

It is. But their marketing seems so try hard to come off as authentic to me. 

And I've legit heard people refer to Outback as "Australian food" and it irks me  

[Ziggy 14,038]

If it doesn't affect you then don't speak about it because you won't understand it. I'm white. This ain't my arena to fight in. Listen to the concerns of those it does bother and try to find peace that way. Just something to think about. Your opinion about how someone should feel is not really that relevant or productive to overcoming the issue and telling someone to buck up and get over it can have some nasty ramifications. They feel how they feel now how can we work to remedy any problems arising from that instead of telling them dictatorally how their feelings are wrong or misguided. That goes for both sides of this btdubs.

[sarahb 17,188]

6 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

And I've legit heard people refer to Outback as "Australian food" and it irks me  

Screw the Hawaiian restaurant, that should be the real outrage here

[River 127,410]

15 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

Yes, I've read about cosmopolitanism before and I feel similarly. 

Americanization is kind of annoying tbh but it's inevitable here it seems. 

However Native American culture is exploited here all the time. They sell items relating to NA culture all the time to seem trendy and people have no historical knowledge of these things (See Coachella lmao). These groups are always complaining about that. And they are a marginalized group. 

Cultural misappropriation is a real thing but I think people get it mixed up and go too far to the point where they attack something that is doing no harm. 

 

 

I'm familiar with the Natives issue, I started to read about it after No Doubt - Looking Hot video and it's backlash.. also it seems that it's kinda a taboo to open the Natives subject in general and I always get the impression that the comments are "wtf do they want" and it's over.. maybe I'm wrong.. but it looks like they are not that respected by the USpeople..

I think Disney did a great job with Pocahontas when they cast only Natives for the Natives roles.. and it was 1995!

Yes it's so confusing, I'm still not 100% understand haha but our conversation is very helpful! I like this conversation!

 

[Morphine Prince 109,655]

Just now, sarahb said:

Screw the Hawaiian restaurant, that should be the real outrage here

Honestly if ANY restaurant were to close down because of CA it would be Outback. 

Didn't the owner say he'd never been to Australia? I could be wrong but nnnnn

[Katie14 4,828]

3 hours ago, ZacharyMark said:

You don't understand what cultural appropriation is from the looks of it. CA is when a culture is taken and used for the use of others. "Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of the elements of one culture by members of another culture. Cultural appropriation, often framed as culturalmisappropriation, is sometimes portrayed as harmful and is claimed to be a violation of the collective intellectual property rights of the originating culture."

It's like if I started wearing traditional Ethiopian clothing and started a new trend but still didn't understand what I was actually wearing. That's a tame example, but it's usually done without the consideration of the culture in general. This guy just seemed to want to make the Hawaiian esthetic but poorly executed it. And this issue isn't about color of skin. Although it can be if a white or black person creates their own version of something without complete exposure/knowledge of the culture.

This example in the OP is probably just a guy making a cringy Hawaiian restaurant. We have yet to see pictures though. 

The misappropriation you mentioned makes sense to me. If a white person, or a Hawaiian person, ect, opened up a Hawaiian restaurant and claimed they served authentic Hawaiian food, when in reality their food is clearly not authentic, I could see how that would be wrong. If I was Hawaiian, I would get upset because I wouldn't want non Hawaiians to eat at that restaurant and then think Hawaiian food is like that, when its not true. I wouldn't want my culture to be falsely represented. However, if this guys never claimed his food or decorations are authentic, I don't see the harm. 

Do you think its a cultural appropriation to eat food outside of your own culture? Im guess you, and most people wouldn't, because we do it all the time. But, I do not understand how eating is different from what you wear on your body. Why is it okay for me to eat Indian food for example, but if I wore a sari that would be offensive? I eat Indian food because I enjoy it, and I don't know the cultural meaning of the food. So, why can't I wear a sari because I think they are beautiful?

[Morphine Prince 109,655]

6 minutes ago, River said:

 

I'm familiar with the Natives issue, I started to read about it after No Doubt - Looking Hot video and it's backlash.. also it seems that it's kinda a taboo to open the Natives subject in general and I always get the impression that the comments are "wtf do they want" and it's over.. maybe I'm wrong.. but it looks like they are not that respected by the USpeople..

I think Disney did a great job with Pocahontas when they cast only Natives for the Natives roles.. and it was 1995!

Yes it's so confusing, I'm still not 100% understand haha but our conversation is very helpful! I like this conversation!

 

Yeah even natives in other countries have their cultures taken and made mainstream. 

In my family's country (Honduras) they make Mayan imagery seem as if it was Honduran culture when in reality most people have no real connection to this culture and it's just used for tourism purposes. 

It's more accepted because the ancient Mayans are dead... but it's the same concept. 

Mexico also comes to mind but the history is a bit different. 

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

1 minute ago, Katie14 said:

The misappropriation you mentioned makes sense to me. If a white person, or a Hawaiian person, ect, opened up a Hawaiian restaurant and claimed they served authentic Hawaiian food, when in reality their food is clearly not authentic, I could see how that would be wrong. If I was Hawaiian, I would get upset because I wouldn't want non Hawaiians to eat at that restaurant and then think Hawaiian food is like that, when its not true. I wouldn't want my culture to be falsely represented. However, if this guys never claimed his food or decorations are authentic, I don't see the harm. 

Do you think its a cultural appropriation to eat food outside of your own culture? Im guess you, and most people wouldn't, because we do it all the time. But, I do not understand how eating is different from what you wear on your body. Why is it okay for me to eat Indian food for example, but if I wore a sari that would be offensive? I eat Indian food because I enjoy it, and I don't know the cultural meaning of the food. So, why can't I wear a sari because I think they are beautiful?

Food is food. Unless there's a symbolic reason for eating a certain food in a certain way then there shouldn't be a problem. 

if I wore a sari that would be offensive?

I feel like it would only be offensive if you wore it as a fashion statement and ignored the cultural significance of it. It would be like wearing a hijab as a cool head scarf instead of wearing it for religious reasons. However, someone could wear a sari and not understand the culture behind, but in no way mean to cause harm. And that's where this gets tricky. Because then there's the example of fraternities having "Mexican" parties where students wore stereotypical Mexican outfits. That would surely be cultural appropriation. At the end of the day, I think people just need to use common sense. Sometimes "SJW"(don't like that term...) may takes things way out of context, but sometimes they may be right. 

And these things may differ from case to case. There is no blanket statement that can cover all cases of cultural appropriation. Like I said in an earlier post, this article is very vague and we don't know the complete details of what happened. All we can assume is that the restaurant owner MAY have poorly decorated or themed his Hawaiian restaurant that ended up receiving backlash. But, he may not have meant to cause harm. In that case, this isn't really cultural appropriation but more so just an example of a business owner needing to educate himself about his business. Again, CA is tricky. I suggest you just stay objective to what you see. Sometimes it's messy and sometimes people make too big of a deal out of it. A simple suggestion to the restaurant may have settled this rather than making a huge deal out of it. However, the article doesn't really tell us, so stay objective.

[MJHolland 12,725]

4 hours ago, Miracle said:

Unlike the Kesha matter, I think this is actually logical. Monetizing a whole culture with no knowledge of it is disrespectful. 

 

you are part of the problem if you think  Hawaiian culture is represented "(as) a whole" by a family owned restaurant in America