Elvis

Is an actual good example.

Another example is Western Yoga. It repackages Indian philosophy, spirituality, and associated physical exercise as wholesome exotic exercise for western women. Yoga and eastern philosophy and spirituality has entered the West from the 19th century on. It has developed its own practices, distinct and separate from the Indian original, while retaining the vocabulary and exotic trinkets around it. I don’t hear many complaints about that though, neither from Indians, nor from the woke (for lack of a better concise term). Mindfulness meditation has completely done away with the exotic decorative elements.

It can be difficult to draw a line between cultural admiration, idea exchange, intercultural learning, and exploitative appropriation.

A related topic that gets no attention in the USA is cultural imperialism. The USA is so dominant culturally, it suppresses and even extinguishes local culture and languages around the world, including Western countries in Europe. That’s not only rap music, Hollywood, and blue jeans, it extends to philosophical and political ideology. Terms like PoC and white privileged are mindlessly copied to Europe. Even though anti Slavic prejudice is widespread in Western Europe, even though they are just as white, or even more blond and blue eyed (Poles and Baltics) than Western Europeans. Turks, Greeks, southern Italians, Lebanese, Cypriots, and Israelis basically look the same, but get treated differently. Still people try to shoehorn this into the term PoC, instead of developing their own models, that fit the reality in Europe. It becomes more problematic when using BIPoC, as lots of countries in Europe have indigenous majorities.

This cultural political dominance lead to huge protests during Black Lives Matter also in Europe, even though it’s a minor issue in Europe. Drowning refugees in the Mediterranean die in far higher numbers, than from police shootings. Black Europeans usually don’t have a history of being enslaved either. Most came from Africa by their own desire. (White European) Activists still rather reuse American ideas regarding this, instead of developing their own more fitting analysis.