"It occurs to me yet again to wonder, is a large part of the fetishization of black skin and black culture the result of a desperate yearning for the richness of white cultures and spirituality that has been lost? Is the viewing of people of color as ‘exotic’ or ‘spiritual’ actually the recognition that there is a lack of those things in the dominant white western culture?"

Thanks for saying this. I agree 100%. The Roman empire destroyed the indigenous cultures of southern Europe, and the expansion of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman empire continued this destruction over the rest of Europe even after the Roman empire fell. While the Romans were relatively tolorant of the ways of the conquored peoples, Christianity wanted to wipe these out completely. They destroyed shrines and tortured wisdom-keepers to death in the name of their so-called god -- whose essence is Love, they say without even a drop of irony. Ever since then there has been a void in the souls of the people who would later become white. Cultural appropriation, for all its surface arrogance and entitlement, is no more nor less than a hungry person stealing food.

That's an explantion but not an excuse. Theft out of need is still theft. Though I long for the beauty of my ancestors' extinct cultures, I do my best to stay in my lane. I have some non-white ancestors from the early days of colonialsim, and I feel their influences and demands. It's a tough balancing act.