High School student's costume called out cultural appropriation

One student really mixed things up at his school's spirit week.

While most classmates dressed up in traditional costumes representing different cultural backgrounds for Culture Day, Josh Welch dressed up as a thief – representing white people stealing other cultures.

Welch, a high school senior in Maryland, shared a photo of his costume on Twitter.

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"Dressed like a thief for culture day bc white people steal everyone else's culture," Welch captioned the photo.

"I got the idea browsing the internet looking for a comedic outfit for a costume, and the idea just hit me," Welch wrote to Mashable.

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A lot of people on Twitter thought Welch's idea was genius.

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He's also received a bout of criticism on Twitter from people arguing that white people do have a culture to be proud of.

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Welch's claim that white people have a history of appropriating other cultures does not mean he's denying that white people have their own cultures to be proud of. The two are not mutually exclusive.

"I've been taken aback by the criticism but the positive response has outweighed the negative," Welch said.

"I'm a huge activist against social injustice and was shocked and glad my tweet had such a huge response!"