Cultural Diffusion example (quotig a wiki artricle): Cultural diffusion was an important role for different Native American tribes. For example, the practice of agriculture is widely believed to have diffused from somewhere in the Middle East to all of Eurasia, less than 10,000 years ago, having been adopted by many pre-existing cultures. Other established examples of diffusion include the spread of the war chariot and iron smelting in ancient times, and the use of cars and Western business suits in the 20th century.

Cultural Appropriation, for an example by extension from the above, would be living as a privileged white person in an area historically genocided of Native civilization, and then dressing for Halloween as a cartoon Native. The white person would see no issue. A descendant of the surviving remnant of the genocided civilazation would see it differently! Their viewpoint and feelings would be just as valid and worthy of respect. The pattern of Cultural Appropriation is choosing not to respect the feelings of those descendants-- defending rather than respecting.

It's not about being PC. It's about understanding from the heart, and living together reasonably in a complicated world.

It's not splitting hairs, either; it's looking beyond the surface at the layers involved in what goes on every day, and unpacking the semantics when they get mixed up.

~S~