Micah Sample, a student at Indiana Wesleyan University, was harshly punished for publishing a statement rejecting the idea that "cultural appropriation" is something to be condemned.

One of the comments pointed out that the article errs in describing his statement as "trollish". He stated his sincere views, not a phony provocation.

I've stated similar views and I stand by them. Culture exists for everyone to appropriate, because that is how culture develops. It is as harmful for an ethnic group to own a cultural practice as it is for Disney to own one.

This is not to say that there is no such thing as an offensive statement. Obviously, a statement or gesture can mock or insult people, and it is normal for the targets to take offense at this. Harsh mockery and insults are unkind, and can get to the point of being nasty.

However, the issue at hand is the claim that incorporating elements from some other cultural group into your statement or gesture is not merely unkind but a violation of their rights, and that this is regardless of the intended meaning.

There is an inherent risk in borrowing or "appropriating" elements from a culture you don't know well: that of displaying your ignorance or looking like a fool. (The same things can happen with other microsubcultures in your own culture.) Don't blame anyone else if you make such a mistake. But we should let people live those mistakes down.