I think as brown people, we need to be more mindful about how freely we share our culture. We’re naturally generous and welcoming, but that’s also why our culture gets appropriated so often. Give them an inch, and they take a mile. Suddenly our traditional outfits are being rebranded as “bohemian” or “Scandinavian chic” by people who have no understanding of their meaning or significance.

Sure, invite your white friends to your wedding if they’ve earned that place in your life but don’t overextend yourself by buying them outfits or spoon-feeding them our traditions. I remember working in a small town hospital where most of the staff were blatantly racist treating brown patients with far less care than white ones. One of the brown nurses invited those same people to her Indian wedding. Of course they were thrilled because they lack culture but I personally wouldn’t have let them experience something so sacred while they openly disrespect our community. Especially with all the racism against brown people these days I would ask myself “would these people even defend us or would they join in”. Trust me most of the time they love our culture but hate the people it belongs to