Beware of Nelson Chamisa's cultural appropriation

While some might see nothing wrong with this picture I see cultural appropriation.

Cultural appropriation is when somebody adopts aspects of a culture that's not their own. But that's only the most basic definition. A deeper understanding of cultural appropriation also refers to a particular power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.

Of course some will say Chamisa did this to honour the Ndebele culture or that I am being too sensitive but cultural appropriation  trivializes violent historical oppression like the gukurahundi genocide. Please note that when violence systematically targets a group like gukurahundi genocide did, the resulting trauma lasts through generations.

Cultural appropriation lets people show love for the culture, but remain prejudiced against its people. We all know that even if  Chamisa can wear umqhele and carry intonga he and his supporters are still highly prejudiced against Dr Thokozane Khuphe, whom they have called all sorts of names from "hure remadissidents" to "Thokozanu" to just "hure". Of course Chamisa himself will argue he has not called Khuphe a Ndebele by any of those names but daily his supporters do so and he has not been vocal enough in stopping them hurling insults at her and no, one or two press statements don't count as having done enough. Cultural appropriation shows that you don't have to like a people or respect their identity to feel entitled to take from them.

Cultural appropriation makes Chamisa cool but the same outfit worn by the Ndebele people makes them seem threatening. This is why there was a law which outlawed the carrying of cultural objects like knobkerries. That kind of outfit is also barred in the so called "professional" environment and don't think Chamisa will stand by you if you came into the office wearing a umqhele and refused to remove it and were then subsequently sent to a hearing. The very fact that Ndebele people have to fight to be accepted in every environment to wear their costumes that a Shona  party leader can wear and be admired for shows that aspects of our culture are only appealing if worn by others.

Cultural appropriation lets privileged people like Chamisa to profit from the oppressed people's culture. Of course you might say it has been 38 years already after independence and Zimbabweans are all equal but if truth is to be told, barriers like classism, tribalism, and sexism means a lot of qualified and experienced Ndebele politicians were overlooked for the position Chamisa now holds simply because they  didn't speak the correct language. How will Chamisa profit from wearing umqhele and carrying Intonga? He will get votes from Ndebele people who are ignorant about cultural appropriation and who will see him as one of their own.

Cultural appropriation lets some people get rewarded for things the creators never got credit for, hence rock and roll is thought of as being created by Elvis Presley. Chamisa is now taking that umqhele and carrying Intonga look to mould himself as a later day resurrection of the great Joshua Nkomo who tribalist shona people wouldn't vote for and hounded out if the country while terrorising everyone around them. Surprise surprise! Look at the presidents and the vice presidents of the major political parties in Zimbabwe and see what tribes the Presidents are and what tribe the vice presidents are and then rethink the myth that politicians who rise to the top are the hardworking or even the most popular.

 
Some might say  that sharing between cultures is supposed to help us learn, but many a time cultural appropriation teaches people the wrong lessons.  For instance you might want to know what is wrong with Chamisa wearing umqhele and carrying Intonga? Well, many things, the others being the already mentioned above reasons and the other one being that Chamisa very likely doesn't know the meaning of umqhele and carrying Intonga, he doesn't know who wore it or us supposed to wear umqhele. Please advise him to leave this cultural appropriation of certain aspects of our culture alone.


Velempini Ndlovu is a legal researcher based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The opinions expressed on this column are his personal views. He can be contacted on +27768297234 or veapndlovu@gmail.com