It is true that all cultures are special, unique, and bring a valuable perspective to the table. However, disregarding the valuable insight that African Americans bring to the discussion, doesn't give Nikhil's original essay justice. What Nikhil is suggesting is that, in addition to learning from African American culture, we should also adopt some of their positive attitudes and outlooks on life. He does not suggest that we should “appropriate” their culture in a disrespectful or disserviceable manner, but rather that we should learn from it to bring out the best in ourselves.
In fact, Nikhil's suggestion upholds the importance of recognizing and appreciating all cultures. If relations between people of different races and cultures can be improved by learning from each other and adopting each others' positive characteristics and outlooks on life, then everyone benefits. In essence, adopting some of the best aspects of black culture could help us to create a more unified society.
Furthermore, it is important to recognize that African Americans often smile more, laugh harder, and place more value in friendship. This can be seen in the way so many African American communities come together in times of tragedy and make the best out of difficult situations. This kind of strength and resilience is admirable and one that we could all benefit from by striving to appropriate some of it. It is not wrong to say that we should not strive to appropriate some of black culture; its appreciation will only bring benefit to our society!