A few days ago an artist came to present his work to our class.
At the beginning of his presentation he said "I know cultural appropriation is a very loaded topic, and it occupies my mind often" as a means to absolve himself from receiving criticism pertaining to cultural appropriation in his own work.
As presented to us, it seemed like he felt that the very act of acknowledging the issue is somehow similar to actually dealing / engaging with it.
I have a sense, though I cannot recall specific examples, that I have seen politicians do this often. They think they are dealing with an issue just by recognizing its existence.
I'm not sure if this fallacy has a name, but if it does, I'm struggling to find it.
I hope my question and description are clear.
Can anyone help?