The Harm of Appropriation: Why It's Not Just "Appreciation"

BY NICOLE LAU

"But I'm just appreciating the culture!" This is what appropriators say when called out. They don't see the harm. They don't understand why people are upset. They think appreciation and appropriation are the same thing. But they're not. Appropriation causes real, measurable harm—spiritual, economic, psychological, and cultural. And claiming you meant well doesn't erase that harm.

This article is unflinching about the real consequences of cultural appropriation. It centers the voices and experiences of people from appropriated cultures, showing the multiple layers of harm caused by taking what's not yours. Because understanding the harm is essential to stopping the behavior. And "I didn't mean to hurt anyone" is not an excuse when the hurt is real and ongoing.

The Layers of Harm

Why Appropriation Hurts

Cultural appropriation causes harm on multiple levels simultaneously:

1. Spiritual harm

2. Economic harm

3. Psychological harm

4. Cultural erasure

5. Perpetuation of colonialism

Each layer compounds the others, creating deep and lasting damage.

Spiritual Harm

Violation of the Sacred

What happens:

• Sacred practices are violated and disrespected
• Spiritual protocols are broken
• What's holy is treated as commodity
• Spiritual power is misused or diluted

Real examples:

• Indigenous ceremonies: Non-Natives performing sacred ceremonies causes spiritual harm to Indigenous communities and can be dangerous to participants
• Vodou/Santería: Non-initiates attempting to work with spirits/Orishas without proper training and protection
• Hindu practices: Sacred symbols and deities used casually or incorrectly

The impact:

• Communities feel their sacred practices are violated
• Spiritual power of practices is diminished when done incorrectly
• Relationship with divine/spirits is disrespected
• What's meant to heal becomes harmful

Why "I meant well" doesn't help:

• Good intentions don't prevent spiritual violation
• Sacred doesn't become less sacred because you don't understand
• The harm to the community is real regardless of your intent

Economic Harm

Profiting from Others' Cultures

What happens:

• Dominant culture profits from marginalized culture's practices
• Original practitioners can't make living from their own traditions
• Appropriators get opportunities denied to originators
• Economic exploitation and extraction

Real examples:

• Yoga: White yoga teachers dominate industry and profit while South Asian teachers face discrimination and lower pay
• Indigenous art: Non-Native companies sell "Native-inspired" items while Native artists struggle
• Black hairstyles: White people praised and paid for styles Black people are discriminated against for wearing
• Music: White artists profit from Black musical traditions while Black artists are underpaid and uncredited

The impact:

• People from originating culture can't make living from their own traditions
• Wealth extracted from marginalized communities
• Economic inequality perpetuated
• Appropriators benefit from privilege while originators face discrimination

The numbers:

• Yoga industry worth $80+ billion, dominated by white teachers and companies
• Indigenous artists make fraction of what non-Native companies make selling "Native-inspired" items
• Black creators consistently underpaid compared to white creators doing same work

Psychological Harm

The Pain of Seeing Your Culture Commodified

What happens:

• People see their sacred practices treated as trends
• What they were punished for is now praised on others
• Their culture is reduced to aesthetic or commodity
• They're told they're overreacting when they object

Real testimonies:

"Seeing white people wear headdresses at music festivals while my grandfather was beaten for practicing our ceremonies—that pain is real." - Indigenous person

"I was sent home from school for wearing a bindi. Now white girls wear them to Coachella and get called 'bohemian.' How is that fair?" - Hindu person

"My natural hair was called 'unprofessional' my whole life. Now white women get box braids and are called 'edgy' and 'cool.'" - Black person

The impact:

• Feeling of violation and disrespect
• Anger at double standards
• Pain of seeing sacred treated as trivial
• Exhaustion from constantly explaining why it hurts
• Trauma from ongoing cultural violation

The double standard:

• Marginalized people punished for their own cultural practices
• Dominant culture praised for same practices
• This isn't appreciation—it's theft with privilege

Cultural Erasure

Losing Meaning and Context

What happens:

• Practices are stripped of cultural context
• Meaning and depth are lost
• Origin is erased or misattributed
• Culture is reduced to aesthetic

Real examples:

• Yoga: Reduced to physical exercise, Hindu roots erased, spiritual depth lost
• Smudging: Indigenous ceremony becomes "burning sage for good vibes"
• Dreamcatchers: Sacred Ojibwe items become car accessories
• Om symbol: Sacred Hindu symbol becomes trendy tattoo

The impact:

• Future generations don't know the true meaning
• Cultural knowledge is lost or distorted
• Originators are erased from their own practices
• Dominant culture's version becomes "the" version

The erasure process:

1. Practice is taken from originating culture
2. Context and meaning are stripped away
3. Dominant culture's simplified version spreads
4. Original meaning is forgotten or unknown
5. Originators are told their own practice is "universal" now

Perpetuation of Colonialism

Continuing Historical Harm

What happens:

• Appropriation continues colonial pattern of taking from colonized peoples
• Treats cultures as resources to extract
• Ignores ongoing oppression and inequality
• Reinforces power imbalances

The colonial pattern:

1. Colonizers suppress Indigenous/marginalized culture
2. Punish people for practicing their own traditions
3. Nearly destroy the culture
4. Once it's "safe," take what they want from it
5. Profit from what they tried to destroy
6. Claim it's "appreciation" or "universal" now

Real examples:

• Indigenous practices: Criminalized until 1978, now appropriated freely
• African diaspora religions: Suppressed during slavery, now commodified
• Hindu practices: Denigrated during British colonization, now taken without credit

The impact:

• Colonialism continues in new form
• Historical trauma is reopened
• Power imbalances are reinforced
• Marginalized communities continue to be exploited

The Compounding Effect

How Harms Multiply

These harms don't exist separately—they compound:

Example: Non-Native smudging with white sage

• Spiritual harm: Sacred ceremony violated
• Economic harm: Non-Natives profit from sage sales, Indigenous harvesters don't benefit
• Psychological harm: Indigenous people see practice they were punished for now trendy
• Cultural erasure: Ceremony reduced to "burning sage," Indigenous origins erased
• Colonial harm: Continues pattern of taking from Indigenous peoples

One act of appropriation causes harm on all five levels simultaneously.

Who Gets Hurt

The Impact on Communities

Individuals:

• Personal pain and violation
• Economic loss
• Discrimination for practicing own culture
• Exhaustion from educating appropriators

Communities:

• Cultural practices distorted or lost
• Economic opportunities stolen
• Ongoing trauma and violation
• Fighting to protect what's left

Future generations:

• May not know true meaning of practices
• Inherit distorted versions
• Lose connection to heritage
• Continue to face discrimination

Why "I Didn't Mean To" Doesn't Help

Intent vs. Impact

The defense:

• "I didn't mean to hurt anyone"
• "I was just appreciating the culture"
• "I had good intentions"

Why it doesn't matter:

• Impact matters more than intent
• Harm is real regardless of intention
• Good intentions don't erase damage
• Claiming good intent centers you, not the harmed community

The analogy:

• If you step on someone's foot, saying "I didn't mean to" doesn't make their foot hurt less
• The appropriate response is: apologize, get off their foot, be more careful
• Not: argue that you meant well so they shouldn't be hurt

Crystals for Accountability and Truth

Facing Reality

Truth-seeing:

• Obsidian: Facing uncomfortable truths, seeing your impact
• Smoky quartz: Grounding in reality, transmuting defensiveness
• Black tourmaline: Protection from self-deception

Accountability

• Sodalite: Truth, honest self-assessment
• Hematite: Grounding, staying accountable
• Clear quartz: Clarity about your actions and their impact

How to Use

• Hold when examining your actions
• Meditate with to see truth about your impact
• Use to stay grounded in accountability
• Keep as reminder to prioritize impact over intention

What to Do When You've Caused Harm

Accountability Steps

1. Listen

• When told you've caused harm, listen
• Don't get defensive
• Center their experience, not your intentions

2. Acknowledge

• Recognize the harm you caused
• Don't minimize or excuse
• Take responsibility

3. Apologize

• Genuine apology without excuses
• "I'm sorry I hurt you" not "I'm sorry you feel hurt"
• Don't center your feelings

4. Stop the behavior

• Immediately stop the appropriative practice
• Don't argue or negotiate
• Just stop

5. Make amends

• Support the community you harmed
• Amplify their voices
• Give back financially when possible

6. Do better

• Educate yourself
• Change your behavior going forward
• Don't repeat the harm

Integration: The Harm Is Real

Cultural appropriation isn't just "appreciation gone wrong." It's not a misunderstanding or oversensitivity. It causes real, measurable harm—spiritual, economic, psychological, cultural, and colonial. The harm compounds and multiplies. Communities suffer. Individuals are hurt. Cultures are erased.

Your good intentions don't erase this harm. Your desire to "appreciate" doesn't override their right to protect what's sacred. Your feelings about being called out don't matter more than the pain you caused.

The harm is real. Believe people when they tell you you've hurt them. Stop centering your intentions. Start centering their impact.

That's what accountability looks like.

Next in this series: Power Dynamics and Spiritual Theft: Colonialism's Legacy