Jonathan Pie’s Rant On Cultural Appropriation 

I am Indian, if I see a American women wearing a Saree or eating briyani or doing Yogasana, it will make me happy that my culture is spreading, I don't understand why anybody should cry about it.

Blimey, how did this statement of truth get past the BBC Inquisition?

They did read 1984. They thought it was an instruction manual.

“Stealing” the best bits from other cultures is how society advances, cultural collaboration.

I agree with him but the irony that this has been published the bbc is pretty hilarious

It's funny but at the same time annoying because it's true

Jonathan pie is my favourite leftist, I don't agree with him on everything he says but he nails it on the snowflake lunacy that as been coming out of the regressive left.

amazing how telling the truth in 2020 has magically become a form of comedy!

Cultural Appropriation? I call it Cultural Appreciation.

Not wanting different cultures to mix? That sounds like the real racist to me.

North Europeans: have dreadlocks since the vikings The left: *Is this like a personal attack?*

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as the saying goes. To distort it into an act of theft is disgusting. When I, a white American, was in Thailand and I told the locals that I was there to study meditation, a core Buddhist practice, they were DELIGHTED...and rightfully so. It was a statement by me that these people had figured out and preserved a valuable area of knowledge that my people didn't understand at all. It was a huge COMPLIMENT, and they understood that. Cultural appropriation is the biggest NON-issue of all time.

I had my culture appropriated once... gits just broke in and nicked it from the lab!

Can we have a moment of silence for the guy at bbc who posted this and got sent to the gulag.

It's my experience that if you dress in another people's traditional clothing, the near universal reaction is flattery. I'm Scottish and if I saw foreigners dressed in a kilt, I'd want to shake their hands buy them a drink!

It's not stealing, they still have their culture.

At least someone on the left is calling this out. Mostly we just hear everyone agreeing with the moral puritans.

It's the left who talk about multiculturalism being a great thing, and yet they actively discourage it with this lunacy. Make up your minds... You can't have both. This channel that I run is viewed by people from all over the globe, yet the vast majority of the composers on my channel are/were European. I think it's a great thing that somebody from the other side of the world listens to European music and vice versa.

God, I like this fella. A voice of sanity.

Japan has been appropriating other cultures for decades, they're masters at it. And nobody whines about it.

as an african, I've always thought that seeing a white person wearing dreadlock is beautiful.

At least BBC aren't afraid to publish this. All you BBC naysayers are never happy

As a black person I find the concept of 'cultural appropriation' itself infuriatingly insulting. Who the F*CK decided to make themselves the arbiter of what I am and am not offended by?!! You're welcome to every part of my culture. It's cool as f and that's not me being biased because I'm a snobby North London vegan cyclist who studies Theravada Buddhism and who uses Received Pronunciation ... But Jamaican food is the best tasting food on the planet and proper Reggae music amazing. I loved _'Informer'_ by Snow, Vanilla Ice was actually a decent rapper, I knew Eminem would be a game-changer and I wasn't at all bothered when I found out Rick Astley was white. Plus, half the classic Jungle tunes were made by white people as anyone who went raving in the early 90's knows. As far as looks, in this day and age, it's pure aesthetics. Black people want to be lighter, white people want to be darker ... Crack on, I say.

I remember when Coldplay got backlash for their Hymn for the Weekend video for being insensitive to Indian culture. Two things 1) The video was actually SHOT in India 2) It's arguably one of the most beautiful music videos in existence, and to think Indians would be offended by being portrayed as a vibrant, wholesome country, as that video did, is utter horseshit.

Pie is occasionally insightful, I don't agree with everything he says but he is spot on with this. As a black person whose moved in many a circle that's contained a fair few white dreadlocked hippie types, I am utterly flummoxed by this cultural appropriation nonsense. Unlike Pie however, I'd posit it to be a millennial issue rather than a "leftist" issue; I say that because this just wasn't a thing at all back in the day. Cultural appropriation seems to be about wanting to take offence for the sake of taking offence. It panders the egos of Starbucks social media activists who want to be known for something, even if that something is being an insufferable crybaby. The nadir of this issue for me is when a LITTLE GIRL was bullied online when her parents posted her in a kimono, doing a pretend Japanese tea ceremony. And as you might've guessed, none of the people taking offence were Japanese.

That's it Jon, turn in your liberal card you're basically alt-right now in the eyes of international law.

Hasn’t anyone heard the phase, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’?

Finally some decent content from bbc 3.

Marco Polo stole noodles from the Chinese. Italian restaurants should stop serving spaghetti.

This whole PC business is beyond a joke, it deserves to be parodied and savagely torn to pieces. Brilliant work Pie :-)

I’m German but live in the U.K. and it makes me so happy to see Oktoberfest popping up here and there! Love to see that our culture is being appreciated, not appropriated

Cultural Appropriation is quite new to me. I first came across it when a young woman decided to wear a lovely Chinese style dress to her prom. She posted a photo online saying something along the lines of she was wearing it in honour of Chinese culture or something like that and the poor thing was set upon and forced to apologise. I just don't get it. One of the great things about living in an multicultural society is we can enjoy aspects of other people's cultures. I love the musical Hamilton where mostly black actors play people that in real life were white. No one accused them of cultural appropriation. I think where we should drawn the line is if someone is making fun of or being generally offensive to the culture in question. People should remain respectful of other people's cultures while also enjoying aspects that they are happy to share in terms of food, fashion, music etc. I also think people should stop being offended on other people's behalf. If people of a culture decides there is something they don't want others to do that is fine. Such as Australian aboriginal people have asked people to no longer climb Uluru (previously known as Ayers Rock.). This is fine and comes under the heading of respecting others people Culture and being respectful of their thoughts and feelings about things belonging to their culture. I would never show disrespect intentionally and would want someone to tell me if something I was doing made them feel uncomfortable for any reason.

😂😂😂😂very funny & spot on. The pc brigade need to get a life

Back in the early 80s and growing up in a multicultural city, we had black and Indian friends, loved UB40, The Beat, The Specials. We wore Trilby hats and Rasta scarves and black, asian and white fans all danced together at the gigs. It would never in a million years have occurred to us that we were 'culturally appropriating ' anything. It was one big party, and if anyone had conmented about the colour of a person's skin or their ethnicity we would have been genuinely confused. I really despair at the current message that is being rammed in our faces, and all it will do in the end is create division where there used to be unity. It is brutal and sad.

Dreadlocks aren't even unique African thing. It was a fashion in some ancient Greek states and Mesopotamia.

The ironic thing is, I bet half of that audience are guilty of doing exactly what he is joking about.

I've ended every argument on CULURAL APPROPRIATION by demanding back PANTS from the people who's cultures didn't invent them!

There is always something to learn, appreciate and enjoy from interaction with other cultures. If adopting those interactions into your own life in order to enrich it has become a crime, humanity has lost the plot.

I'm Italian and I'm always angry when people eat fake Italian food, not because it's cultural appropriation, but because they are being scammed and are missing the true thing. I want my culture to spread as much as possible, steal it as much as you want. If you cook your own lasagne at home, I'm a happy Italian man.

A Manchester students union has banned clapping! Instead they do jazz hands based on British Sign Language. They're not even deaf but appropriate deaf culture

Glad he added "starting with 1984" After saying "read a book"

The dreadlock thing is outrageous, Saxons had dreadlocks, Vikings had dreadlocks, ancient Egypt had dreadlocks. Mesopotamian woman had dreadlocks, African people had dreadlocks . Who's culture did she steal from ??..

Every linguist is guilty, then ? OK, let's not learn to talk to each other. 😕

All cultures evolve and influence others. A great example was curry. British were influenced by India then introduced it to Japan who made katsu curry which is now becoming popular in the UK

I fully support other races being able to use my white culture. Go for it!

It’s ironic because Pie is more left leaning. But he calls out sheer lunacy when he sees it. Whether it’s on the right or left. So if he’s calling out the left for their idiocy, you know it’s true.

Definition: the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of customs, practices, ideas, etc. Unfortunately some of the left are smearing this definition, mislabeling every display of cross-cultural inspiration. It is important to recognise that cultural appropriation does exist and is an issue - we just need to realise what it is, and what it isn’t.

then could i say its coultural appropriaton if non german read a printed book because ghutenberg crated the book press?

Everyone, I have a confession to make. My favourite food is pasta bolognese. I sincerely apologize for my racist behaviour to any Italians who see this. Please forgive me

>Straight white male privilege That's hilarious...

Hey! I think that the actual meaning of cultural appropriation is blurred here...It's awesome if you are borrowing from other cultures. I'd be proud if someone wears a saree- traditional attire from where I am or watches a Bollywood movie. And being mad about that is preposterous. But it is unfair to praise someone for being inspired by any culture while not giving a shit about the original culture, and even looking down on them. Using the uniqueness of a different culture to make a profit for yourself is unfair. You copy stuff from the original culture to be original, and the people praise YOU for being so creative but simultaneously don't realise that you are copying a defining characteristic of another culture. A restaurant is ok because you know that you are eating Indian food, and recognise the Indian culture, but praising a white yoga 'guru' for being 'closer to nature' while laughing at Indian yogis for being 'primitive' or 'stuck in the past' is not acceptable. (Pls I do not mean to offend anyone)

BBC: may contain strong language Jonathan Pie at 0:01 : oh f*** me

Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t it cultural appropriation when someone profits off of the intellectual property of another culture? Not that that’s easy to draw the line for but I always thought that it’s a problem when people/businesses gain financially without giving proper credits.

Love the points he makes, very good! About the Canadian art exhibition: the problem as it was presented in the news was actually that Indigenous people have a really hard time getting recognition for their art and getting paid, but this artist who imitated their style was able to get an exhibition all of its own even though it's such an uphill batlle for Indigenous people. We have a deep problem with cultural erasure in Canada of our Indigenous. They still represent a quarter of prisoners because of racism and how we've been keeping them in poverty, stealing their children (literally), putting them in reform schools where we found out last year hundreds of unaccounted children's skeleton buried in the back of them, an Indigenous woman was unknowingly sterilized in BC less than 5 years ago, they have bad access to healthcare if at all, terrible housing conditions (no running water, sewage, etc) and so on. It's very systematic and even last week when we talked about it my husband and I, we asked ourselves: 'Do we even know the names of famous Indigenous people? Or do we even know how to pronounce their names?' The answer is a resounding 'No' for almost all Canadians. That needs to change. Yes, cultural appropriation goes too far at times. It is great to share the best parts of each other's cultures. But I understand why the Indigenous would be absolutely pissed at this exhibition that was yet another way they get something taken away from them.

Great segment however lets remember this is satire- some of these comments are really telling. Also cultural appropriation is not doing yoga, its when a person adopts something connected to a culture outside of their own and claims that they invented it or does not give credit to its origins. I.e kim k having canrows in her hair is considered fashionable yet on a black person considered ghetto, rachet and unproffesional. Jamie oliver making jerk rice in 3mins ! Making money from it yet not respecting its orgins -Jerk rice isnt even a thing in the Caribbean - you dont jerk rice. Dont get mixed up with appreciation and appropriation please.

hahaha, this vid makes my day! I was so sorry to hear about Ariana Grande quits studying Japanese.. I think Cultural Appropriation is just a fake justice.

Segregation at Adele concerts and MLK Jr is spinning in his grave. Or maybe... Rolling in The Deep. 😎

I LOVE this guy! He's brave and honest and, most of all... he's right!

It's literally how humans learn language and become part of a "culture" in the first place: by observing and imitating. Yes, i admit, i appropriated the german and french language from my parents, and the english language from my school. Without observing and imitating, (a process sometimes called "learning") i'd be as capable (and cultured) as a goldfish.

I'm surprised that C⋃⋂⊤s at BBC haven't purged this content yet.

I'm loving Pie even more now. Can we assume that this kind of content on the BBC is a sign of things improving in our culture?

As someone of English decent, I think all the SJW’s should stop using my language ... mostly so I don’t have to listen to them anymore.

Cultures have been appropriating cultural ideas for milennia.

“What are we left with? Greggs?” 🤣

St Patrick's Day shall only be celebrated by Irish people in future.

Dude I totally agree with this man.

My daughter at 13 white, had dreadlocks put into her blonde hair. She was sent home. This happened 28 years ago !!!!😂😂😂😂

STAGGERING absence of nuance in these comments. God help some of you if you ever watch Al Murray, your little snowflake heads will explode. Get a grip, it's satire. Oh, yeah, forgot; satire's like smallpox. Nobody gets that any more either.

Question, How is diversity a strength if you can't share your cultures? 🤔

Umm dude Yes? Ima have to take all your lightbulbs. Why? Well a white guy made it But No buts Fine

Glad to see its not just us in the US living this nightmare - thank you for helping me laugh about it!

I teach Ballet (Italian) , Tap & Jazz (USA), IRISH (Ireland), Tango (Argentina) Bollywood (India), Waltz (Austria) the list goes on, Am I bad?

The Appropriation aspect he didn't address is when another cultute profits from and "legally gains ownership and rights to something that is commonplace in another's culture. The very same way in which land that didn't belong to others was stolen and unlawfully claimed as their own.

The thing that's never brought up when talking about this is : *Is it only cultural appropriation if white people do it?* If so then that's racist. If not then does that mean you are going to go in Asia and Africa saying we shouldn't wear anything from US culture? Because I love wearing jeans 😭😭.

One detail - cultural appropriation is offensive act if dominating culture steals from dominated culture. For example - if one nation invades other nation, dominate it and then come to idea to adapt that nation rituals, because it's "fun", then it's not fun, it's not flattery. It's just attempt to trivialize culture of people you tried to destroy earlier.

Cultures have always influenced each other and that's how mankind has progressed. The idea of fencing off cultures is very odd. I think maybe what the problem is, is when people feel exploited.

Its kind of interesting because extending cultural appropriation to its logical conclusion would lead to the exclusion of anything thats not distinctly American, which is an agenda of the far-right.

He predicted the Adelle scenario pretty accurately

While I think the idea of cultural appropriation being considered bad is ridiculous there is a limit... and it’s ironic this is being talked about by a British guy because the British have gone far beyond any limit many times. Like in the case of the “British” museum, where the only thing that’s British in it is the theft of all the artifacts from cultures better than their bland, crumpet eating, tea drinking culture. Not even the cement they used to stick everything to the walls to make you understand these things are never being returned wasn’t British,

Every time my countrymen see Asains trying out our traditional wares, they got nothing but compliments. I share this with them. I love seeing foreigners enjoy our traditions, it's heartwarming and I'm not much of a patriot. Cultural appropriation is one of the biggest bs in the world. It's very Western/USA centered, since I know that asians aren't actually bothered by white people wearing traditional robes.

It's a huge mistake to assume they are well meaning.

Dude’s 110% right and absolutely hilarious... although I can’t believe someone at the BBC actually had the balls to put this up. I hope they rest in peace.

There is an organization in southern America called 'Yoga Faith'. Their whole philosophy is that yoga was invented by Christains and the yoga poses were already written in Bible. Now that is cultural appropriation right? This is where it becomes a problem.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Cultural appropriation: Telling people they can't eat, wear or do certain things because they have the incorrect skin colour.

I’m offended that people get offended for me

Left= You're culturally appropriating. Me= Why do you celebrate Halloween and Christmas?

"How did this get past the censor?"

What he's saying makes sense, but that's because the examples given are not actually cultural appropriation. This term is often misunderstood and misapplied by the public, and the actual examples of cultural appropriation involve distortion of the elements borrowed from a minority culture so that they completely lose their meaning, and eventually people completely forget that the original culture even had a connection to it. For example, the one example of appropriation I personally find disgusting is the Nazis using the Swastika, an ancient Hindu symbol for the sun, prosperity and good luck, as a symbol for their political party and ideology which really had nothing to do with what the Swastik (and not the westernised 'swastika') stands for, except for their misguided belief that they had something to do with Aryans and Sanskrit. And today, people around the world associate the Swastik with racism and white supremacy and are completely oblivious to the fact that it has been an auspicious symbol for Hindus for thousands of years.

Girl in my school was suspended because she's white and she (As a joke) said she was gonna dress up as Moana for Halloween.

Cultural appropriation is an ideology made by americans without giving a crap about ACTUAL cultures. Im from Morocco and when we see a foreigner where our outfits we are not mad whatsoever.

Rarely considered: how much is British culture being appropriated around the world? Consider the English language, in and of itself.

This may be comedy and it may have far more bad language than I'm comfortable with but I genuinly think it's one of the best speeches I've ever heard!!

You mean to say the BBC allowed this?? The truth?? Wow.. I'm impressed

0:54 Pretending all cultures are always equal in terms of power is naive at best. You might want to learn about Canada😬Appropriating the culture of indigenous people who are literally experiencing an ongoing genocide - it's been upgraded from 'cultural genocide' by the supreme court of Canada because that didn't quite capture the reality of the fresh corpses - is generally frowned upon. In Canada, it's comparable to doing blackface. The problem with the smug right wing culture warriors - "it's political correctness gone maaaaad" - is not understanding what the things they are criticising actually mean - 'it's health and safety gone maaaad' - and instead setting up a bunch of moronic straw men to whinge about so they can feel 'oppressed.' But piss on a picture of the Queen and they lose their shit

Don't be knocking Greggs.

Wait, BBC is posting this? Y'all balancing out or something?

Cultural Appropriation makes me crazy. We need a revolution. Jonathan Pie gives me hope for a better world.

Jonathan Pie is a great example of how you don't have to be on Team Left or Team Right, or swallow every idea your team's loudest (and usually more extreme) voices thrust in front of you. Check the facts, ignore the loud voices and think about where you stand on the issue and I think most people will have typical Right views on some issues and typical Left views on others.

I like chilli con carne, does that make me a bad person