I agree wholeheartedly with the essence of your article, there are many aspects of language and culture we don’t realize are appropriation or offensive to others. When we take time to educate ourselves, we choose to do better.

Sis is a nickname my biological sister and I call each other, but I would not use that term with anyone else without their permission. I honor its deeper meaning with black female communities.

As for spirit animal, I agree it’s disrespectful to describe anything a person likes with this term. It’s fine however, to show reverence towards actual spirit animals who appear in our lives to provide spiritual messages to us through their characteristics. Speaking as a shamanic practitioner and spirit animal caller who is still learning about this gift I am honored to been given. I’ve connected with many people from various ethnicities who have the natural inclination to communicate with our animal friends.

I believe everyone has culture, regardless of the amount of melanin in their skin, culture is a human experience. Most light skinned people are completely disconnected from their ancestral roots, but regardless, we do have roots.

A white person with ancestry tracing back to Romania is not the same as a white person with roots in the Netherlands. In much the same way that a black person with ancestry tracing back to Nairobi is not the same as a black person with roots in Egypt…