It started with this post, and led to an argument on CNN about white gay males stealing the culture of black women.

It’s amusing to me how gender is a social construct, and can be changed and transformed at will from one to another (or to made-up ones) but culture and political orientation are hardwired by biology. This neatly sidesteps the issue of whether cultural behaviors can have bad effects, since one can only act according to the culture defined by their color. Anyone imitating a culture outside their race is inauthentic at best and mocking at worst.

I don’t seem to remember Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, or Gloria Gaynor(!) being too upset about gay males buying their albums. Diana Ross even did a song, “I’m Coming Out,” written for her gay fanbase.

Makes ya wonder if Notorious B.I.G.,  P. Diddy, and Ma$e knew they were sampling a “gay song” when they released “”Mo Money Mo Problems,” or just wanted a catchy beat. Speaking of which, Diddy and Ma$e sure looked like they were borrowing from white culture in the opening of that song’s video. Were they mocking white culture? Or does Diddy just like playing golf?

Ma$e appropriated white culture in his video for “Welcome Back,” borrowing from “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood” and using a sample of the theme song from “Welcome Back Kotter.” Ma$e and Diddy also sampled Latin music culture with “Feel So Good” which used the chorus from Miami Sound Machine’s “Bad Boy.” The song also brags of taking “hits from the 80s.” I think the 80s should sue.

This rabbit hole has no bottom. Where does the line get drawn? Is Eminem a cultural criminal for his plan – in his own words – “To do black music so selfishly / And use it to get myself wealthy”? Dr. Dre didn’t seem to mind too much. What about black rappers who sampled white music? Peter Gunz and Lord Tariq sampled the white boys of Steely Dan (badly) for their song “Déjà Vu (Uptown Baby).” But Steely Dan was influenced by black jazz musicians. Are the black session players who tour with The Dan race traitors? Tariq and Gunz crossed the Latin border when they sampled, in the same song listed above, Latin performer Jerry Rivera’s song “Amores Como El Nuestro” And isn’t “Peter Gunz” a riff on the old TV show with a legendary theme written by a white dude?

I told my wife about the dustup that led off this post. Her response was “Oh, minority victim war.” There are far worse problems facing the black female community than whether Miley Cyrus or gay males are twerking. But that doesn’t get you on CNN.

H/T to Andrew Klavan