Hi Melissa, Thank you for your response and for reading! Here's what I have to say.

First, just because I don't criticize African American culture doesn't mean i think it's lacking in depth like i've asserted that mainstream (read: "white") American culture often is. As a white, Christian American myself, in terms of satire/cultural criticism, it would be "punching down" for me to criticize a historically marginalized group in America- what business would I have doing that?

Second, to address your point that maybe Americans just "don't care" and that other cultures are essentially whining about appropriation and should learn from our model of being desensitized to it, I would say that, other cultures should not "learn" from us in this sense. The idea of other cultures needing to "learn" from Americans has colonial undertones, as we are one of the world's leading economic and arguably imperial powers. (I know we're not the ones invading a sovereign country right now- but still.) If we expected other cultures to "learn" from us in this sense, we would be extinguishing their own narrative and (possibly) white washing them. They should tell their story- if they think they're being appropriated, that's important for them to assert. I will reiterate that Americans are often oblivious to appropriation because as a "melting pot" country, the idea of appropriation is interwoven into our culture. But when a majority group of Americans controls the narrative of another group's assimilation into the melting pot, AKA appropriation, the assimilating group is right to raise an objection to how they're being portrayed.

To address your point that I claim another culture is appropriating America and my response is to criticize America, I would agree that is exactly what I'm saying. Pointing this out proves that Americans are often ignorant to the process of appropriation- if they weren't, they would have had objections to the song. The fact that they had no objections shows that they are oblivious to appropriation, which supports the idea that they can do it to other cultures without it being on the terms of that culture.

Again, I will reiterate that I wouldn't make these same criticisms about other cultures within America (you used African American culture as an example) because the narratives around sub-cultures in America were written by the majority (white people) from day one, so that's who I'm going to criticize: the people who skewed the representation of others.

Also, I'm not necessarily biased against "white" and "Christian" culture, as you said. It's not that I think "white Christian" culture is the only acceptable culture to degrade. It's that the West (which is mostly white and Christian) has been the main power globally in the world for the last, say, 500 years. (Yes, I know this is changing now. Thanks China.) But point being, for the last 500 years, the West has controlled and exploited the world through colonialism and other means. So, I think it's OK for me to take a crack at them. It's "punching up." They are in the position of power here. I'm not necessarily biased against them.

So, yeah- that's my response to your response! I know I went all out- I'm just passionate about this subject. I really appreciate you reading my article and giving a thoughtful response, even if I don't agree. Thank you!