Who Owns Culture?

That was the teaser on the radio, notice of an upcoming show. It made news recently that a group of white kids won a competition doing a "black" style of dance. The black students who didn't win were upset. "Their" culture had been "stolen" from them.

I can see how it hurts being one-upped for doing your very own thing. I would think the lesson would be to try harder, practice and perfect your art, not complain that you somehow lost ownership. Maybe you could say that because I'm white, I just don't get it. I'm not qualified to have an opinion. And if the whole argument is black versus white, you'd be right: I just don't get it. But culture is much bigger than that.

Do blacks own gospel? or jazz? Is it appropriate to be upset when those spread around the globe, being performed by artists of every color and race? Or how about when a gifted Chinese pianist wins awards performing Beethovan or Mozart? Should the Germans be upset?

Culture includes food. Personally I love Indian, Chinese, Mexican, French, Italian, and other cultural food offerings. I'm not Jewish and relish an occasional bagel. Sushi - not so much. In fact I can't even get in the door; the "blech" level is just too high in my mind. I do pick and choose. The bland stuff I grew up on in "my" culture is best forgotten 99% of the time. Am I to be confined in my choices to the limited offerings from "my" culture?

Should anybody?

So who owns culture? How about anybody who wants to?