Sorry for my delay - HN thought I was submitting too fast and then I had to go to bed. :) The gist of what I'm thinking is this: Cherry picking the good witho

Sorry for my delay - HN thought I was submitting too fast and then I had to go to bed. :) The gist of what I'm thinking is this: Cherry picking the good without at least acknowledging the bad feeds into a longer process of erasure. Like textbooks insinuating that Africans in colonial times were treated akin to indentured servants rather than slaves - this stuff makes an impression on the overall majority, resulting in the bigger problem where the majority lacks empathy for the struggles of others because they genuinely don't think there's a noteworthy problem. (Which wouldn't matter much, except the majority has significant power and thus can inadvertently enact actual harm!) So I don't want to contribute to that attitude, and I don't want anyone in the HN community to contribute to that attitude either. There are ways to appreciate the variety of cultures the world has to offer without being exploitative, ignorant, or otherwise harmful. It just requires work that we as a society are not very accustomed to doing, thus there are a stunning amount of otherwise smart people who need this spelled out very clearly. Some possible ideas that can make your theoretical Mexican party into a better Mexican party: - Involve a Mexican in the planning - Cater the food by a Mexican company - Find a Mexican resource for clothing, decorations, etc - Have entertainment from actual Mexicans rather than people costuming as 'Mexican' - Invite some Mexicans to the party, they're peers after all These will all help humanize Mexicans to any non-Mexicans at your party. (Don't fuss about whether you find a person immediately immigrated from Mexico versus 2nd or 3rd generation immigrant. Anything's better than nothing.) (I'm not Mexican, though I do happen to be Latina). More on non-appropriation: A helpful visual example in the Blackhawks logo: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/11/18/culturally-appropriate-chicago-blackhawks-logo-first-nations-artist-goes-viral-162457 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/11/18/cultura...