Anyone Seen the Play "Collected Stories"?

I just found out that Ask a Chola is a white girl. I know, super 2010.
Whatevers, I work a lot...

When the news was happening, there were many online discussions about whether or not her Greek (not Mexican-American) heritage mattered.

Yes. It does matter.
A commenter named "Feta Queso" - a sly reference to Ask A Chola's Greek heritage - sums up why I agree so hard that Chola Chloe's ethnic background matters:

Must be nice to have the privilege of playing with marginalized identities without the social constraints that actually come with them.

Then today, in honor of April Fools Day, HuffPo published Greatest Literary Hoaxes.
The Blood Runs like a River Through My Dreams  was written by Nasdijj, a Navajo "rez to riches" story. Only it wasn't. It was written by this guy:

Nasdijj Timothy Barrus

Sherman Alexie wrote about the literary thief in TIME Magazine, admirably being candid enough to admit his own jealousy,  and then addressed the bigger issue:

So why should we be concerned about his lies? His lies matter because he has cynically co-opted as a literary style the very real suffering endured by generations of very real Indians because of very real injustices caused by very real American aggression that destroyed very real tribes.

Read more:HERE

Cholas and Native Americans couldn't be any more different, except that their unique fashion vibes make hipsters salivate: Cherohonky feather earrings, gigantic hoops, Swarovski encrusted brass knuckles, those headband thingies. But fashion is fashion.  I am looking at and finding similarities between the people who think it is okay to publicly try on ethnicities like a costume and not own up to their choice to do so when they are discovered to be fakes. The biggest indicator that they are playing dress up is that they don't come out on their own, they are found out. That lack of ownership and defensiveness is where the tones of shadiness and disrespect take over the supposed art. 


So why not actually engage in a thoughtful discussion about the use of different cultural identities and history to tell your story? Like this:

The difference that the audience knows they are an audience. And, Sarah Jones is incredible.


If facilitated properly, a discussion about appropriating cultural identities to explore your own could lead to some worthwhile discoveries. In the case of writing an entire book or creating an identity complete with backstory and web presence, why commit so much creative energy on "speaking for" another group when your own history is fertile for exploration? Are you hungry for those voices and following Toni Morrison's advice on "writing the book you want to read"? Is it a joke gone wild? An attempt to understand the world better? Trying to make money? Total cultural cluelessness and a sense of entitlement to do whatever the hell you want despite your lack of responsibility to the culture you are seeking to temporarily represent? What is it?


When questioned, both Timothy and Chloe deflected the WHY question by asking why no one was paying attention to the BIG issues:

Nasdijj's publisher dropped him because of personality conflicts even before the L.A. Weekly story came out...In response to the L.A. Weekly story, Nasdijj posted a rambling statement on his blog saying that people should pay attention to "real scandals" like poverty

La Chloe says:

“After the elections on Tuesday, they f**king got rid of ethnic studies in Arizona, why are they wasting their time with me?”

Because it matters. And if you were a chola, a Native American, or any person that is excluded from accurate representation in the mainstream media, you would understand why. 

Later, young blood in the blue polo hijacks her mentor's memories and writes a novel based on the older woman's affair with a JD Salinger type. It gets ugly.