If you had done a lot of research on your ancestors, only to discover that you, or a parent or grandparent had been adopted, and your genes came from a totally different part of the world, would you have wasted your time? Not at all. Nor if you had investigated the roots of a friend, or had just picked a culture that appealed to you and delved into it.
+
@DavidSalo Appreciation is like Jack Skellington as he sings, "What's this?" Appropriation is him trying to be Santa.