Teodosio, Erien Ailiana C.

ON HERITAGE AND CULTURE

Language is not just words. It unifies a community and shapes its history. Each and
every one of us, whether we admit it or not, just want to belong and that’s the purpose of
language, it helps us communicate and connect to others. Rita Mae Brown once said,
“Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where
they are going.”1 Being said, if an individual truly wants to belong to a particular culture,
they must first learn and embrace its language. In fact, according to a study conducted by
Winskel and Bhatt (2019) showed that language even has a cultural effect on the utilitarian
decision-making of individuals.2 On our major courses on the other hand, I have come across
a branch of anthropology – Linguistic Anthropology – which studies the relationship between
language and culture. With this in mind, I have learned that language defines our identity and
influences our thought process as an individual. It sets us apart to other cultures and connects
us at the same time to the culture we belong to. In Social Studies we are also thought to use
the term “developing country” rather than “third world country” to emphasize a country’s
(Philippines) forward economic growth. This shows that nations are now utilizing a
politically correct language in order to encourage inclusivity and the acceptance of a certain
ethical point of view (Phair, 2017).3 To cut to the chase, having the privilege to obtain these
knowledge, I strongly believe that everybody belonging to a particular culture should learn
the native language of that particular group.
Meanwhile, on the matter of cultural (mis)appropriation and how we should judge it,
ethically speaking, we should do what is ‘right’. Being said, as individuals belonging to a
different culture, we should not take property, styles, or concepts from other cultures. As I
have mentioned earlier, our culture and language defines our identity therefore, we should
offer the respect we demand from others to those who demand it from us as well. Spending
my time in social media, I have come across certain ethical issues regarding the appropriation
of the Inuit tribes and their throat song, the rampant use of black face and black hairstyles,
and basically using stereotypical depictions of a culture. In my opinion, instead of cultural
appropriation, we should stick to appreciation because at the end of the day, you reap what
you sow.

1
Rita Mae Brown, ❝Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where
they are going.❞ Retrieved: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1216041-language-is-the-road-map-of-a-
culture-it-tells
2
Heather Winskel & Devshree Bhatt, The role of culture and language in moral decision-making (Switzerland:
Springer, 2019) 8, 207–225 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40167-019-00085-y
3
Collette Phair, Does Language Affect Our Culture & Personal Ethics? (California: Leaf Group Ltd, 2017)
Retrieved: https://www.theclassroom.com/does-language-affect-our-culture-personal-ethics-12087378.html