Blurb:

This reply to Craig Martin’s “When Is It OK to Borrow?” returns
to the discussion of power dynamics involved in narrative
acts that describe particular histories of race and experience.
Those dynamics are likewise at work in classifying whether
various depictions and narratives are nuanced introspections
or, following up on Martin’s response, cultural appropriations.
The question of what kind of priority is given to various
identifications—and who gets engage in such ranking—should
be considered in relation to Martin’s helpful challenge to think
in terms of the “material consequences of such scholarly claims
about syncretism.” In taking up this question, I argue that the
problem is not with appropriation so much as it with the authenticity
claims contained therein.