Growing Up in Scarborough: A Free Pass?

When Drake rapped, “It’s been an east side ting, Scarborough ting from time, G,” did he mean we could make dancehall videos as we pleased?

BY: RACHEL GUANLAO

Photo courtesy of blogTO

On the east side of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) lies a not-so-little popular locality for immigrant families called Scarborough. Known for its ethnic diversity, charming natural sites (Scarborough Bluffs, the Rouge, ravines and fields stretching across the city), and affordable housing, the suburb boasts over 632,098 residents as of 2016 and is home to some Canadian stars we know and love today: The Weeknd, Mike Myers, Andre de Grassi, Maestro, Jagmeet Singh, Ellen Wong, and Lilly Singh. 

When I was young, my elementary school teacher would say that Scarborough is like a city within a forest; even as we drive through the busy streets, there is always a field of trees that we can find. But more fascinating to me than its mixed landscape is its diverse people. It is the home of hard workers, and everyone who grew up in it wants to succeed. I never perceived Scarborough as a bad place to live, unlike what’s portrayed in the news; I just knew that it is a place of hardships. As a 1.5 generation immigrant, I grew up noticing that most people worked twice as hard to succeed after starting life in another country. It is a place where you learn about financial and systemic struggles, and not only your own. 

Growing up in Scarborough has opened up a world of different lifestyles, cultures and traditions different from mine. It was the most fantastic thing for me as a child. I’d go to a friend’s house and see that she ate vegetable biryani for dinner instead of adobo and rice; I’d see beautifully decorated vases, plates and woven baskets from Ethiopia and make latkes during class; I learned that a silk bonnet/scarf was great at night for your hair and saw prayer rooms for the first time. There are so many different types of people and walks of life here. And yet, our shared experience of living in Scarborough brings our community together.

Thanks to the wide array of authentic cuisine and services offered by Scarborough, such as Hakka from Fredericks, or jerk chicken from Nicey’s, I can appreciate a taste of other people’s cultures. Sometimes the craving of Druphati’s doubles won’t be satiated by the Lechon leftovers in the fridge. Scarborough is a hotspot for cultural exchange, but how far until appreciation becomes appropriation?

Photo courtesy of Vanity Fair

Lilly Singh, 31, is a YouTube personality with 14.9 million subscribers. She’s been accused of overstepping many cultural boundaries, such as poking fun at Mexican culture and, more recently, appropriating Jamaican culture by remaking Ding Dong’s “Badman Forward, Badman Pull Up”, in which she makes her own dancehall song and sports a Caribbean accent. Users on Twitter, particularly from the Black and South Asian communities, felt disrespected and even embarrassed for her. 

Photos courtesy of Twitter

However, it is interesting that an anonymous commenter on an article against Lilly’s culture appropriating actions defended her because she grew up in Scarborough—the same Scarborough I’ve known and loved because of its ethnic diversity and authentic experience of other cultures.

A comment from “Sasha” on the aforementioned article

Does being from Scarborough give Lilly a free pass to do things otherwise deemed as cultural appropriation?

There is a huge presence of Caribbean influence in Scarborough, so much so that much of our local slang derives from patois, the Jamaican dialect. Scarberians have a shared code, and even though not all who use it are Caribbean, individuals share the language brought by the Jamaican diaspora. In an argument, if I say someone is a ‘waste yute,’ the offence is not directed towards the fact that I am not Jamaican, but by the fact that I insulted them, calling them useless, or foolish. Is it, then, cultural appropriation to use this shared Scarberian language? 

The bulk of cultural appropriation has to do with context. It is important to understand that Singh grew up in a place with Caribbean and Jamaican influence, which is very different from someone adopting cultural aspects of another without exposure, respect, or understanding for that said culture. By the Oxford definition, the term “cultural appropriation” refers to the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society. 

People of colour can still be prejudiced against other minorities, or anti-Black in Singh’s case, yet she still acknowledges that dancehall came from another culture. In her Instagram caption of the remake, she describes how much of her upbringing involves good memories when Ding Dong’s song came on at the dance floor. She also pays tribute to the artist and the genre, writing, “I think the beauty of music and art is how it speaks to different people and how we can build upon it as time goes by, while still paying tribute to the original. The original song is by Ding Dong, so be sure to check it out. And if you’re not familiar with Dancehall, it’s a wonderful genre from out of Jamaica so be sure to peep that too!” 

While Singh’s acknowledgement may seem like she was avoiding cultural appropriation, it’s crucial to note that she capitalized on the common shared experience of dancehall and made monetary gain from it. Singh’s intentions didn’t seem malicious and she gave credit where credit was due. But it goes much deeper than that—especially with regards to Black culture. The issue at hand is not that Singh made a cringe-worthy dancehall remake, the issue is that Black culture was seen (and in some parts of the world, still is seen) as undesirable and “backwards” for centuries. 

Now, people profit and commercialize off of Black culture because their talents, physical features, hairstyles, and even their accents have become influential and “trendy.” It is especially disturbing to witness the rise of “blackfishing,” a trend where people wear darker foundation or get frequent spray tans to boost their appeal by having more traditionally Afrocentric features. 

An example of “blackfishing” // Photo courtesy of Twitter

Although Singh may have grown up directly consuming aspects of Black culture, she cannot share the same experience as them being Black. Lilly can take off the “blackness” of her accent and dance moves when she’s finished with it, and then proceed to be a Punjabi-Canadian woman at home. Black folks, however, cannot do that. Their reality is that they must face everything that has to do with being Black, and that includes the negative stereotypes, racial slurs, and the systematic inequality between the Black-White wealth gap, to name a few. 

Is it really that deep though? It’s just a video.

More important than the video is the principle behind it. While on the surface it may not be that deep, condoning this behaviour can lead others to think it is acceptable-- especially with Singh’s large platform. Enjoying the food, language and art forms of a culture must be done so with respect for that culture. Singh appearing to appreciate and enjoy dancehall isn’t the problem: it's that she’s working to push her brand and profit from the fun, enjoyable traits of Jamaican culture. 

I bring up Scarborough for context regarding Lilly Singh’s situation. Scarborough is a place where cultural exchange is widely practised—but that is not a free pass for cultural exploitation. In fact, the common culture exchange could be taken as a learning opportunity to be more aware of systemic differences and discrimination. Singh is an example of someone who was able to make it out of Scarborough successfully, and though her comic caricatures have brought her far away from ‘these ends,’ she must not forget where she came from. She must not let her fame and fortune steer her towards insensitivity for the sake of views. Portraying her Punjabi roots in YouTube videos and enjoying art forms of other cultures is one thing, but profiting and building it towards her brand is an entirely different matter. 

Enjoying elements of someone’s culture can be as simple as listening to music, drinking tea, and eating good food while acknowledging that these simple pleasures originated from different cultures and have their own histories. Cultural appreciation is done through knowledge. It creates a deeper understanding and awareness that, in turn, redirects appropriation into appreciation.