For Halloween this year there are a couple costumes that I know are going to be great: Wonder Woman and Pennywise just to name a few (clowns scare me and I hate horror movies, but you do you).
But you know what’s not going to be fun? The cultural appropriation that’s going to happen. There’s always someone who does blackface or dresses as a Native American. It’s not ok, people. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Halloween or not. Blackface is never appropriate. Telling people, “I’m dressing up as someone else, lighten up!” means you clearly don’t understand racism.
It is possible to dress as someone of a different race, have a ton of fun on Halloween, and not appropriate culture. Say you wanna dress like Black Panther? Here’s a novel idea: just wear the costume. No need to do blackface, everyone will get it thanks to the costume, I promise.
Now as a child I dressed up as a Native American. I thought it was a lot of fun—I could be Pocahontas or a generic Native American. My parents never saw a problem with it. But looking back with the knowledge I have now, I can say that what I did was wrong. The story of Pocahontas is deeply inaccurate, and dressing up as another culture isn’t okay.
But it’s fun to dress up in a luau costume, you argue. But what about the fact that the luau was a significant tradition to Hawaiian people and you know literally nothing about their culture.
What’s the harm in letting a kid dress as an Indian?
Everything, because that sends messages that Native Americans as a people are other, separate, and a group of the past to be mystified instead of real people who suffered greatly during American colonization. Feathers designate important statuses in their society, and throwing them in your braids and running around with plastic tomahawks is degrading.
Appreciating culture is totally different. If you are well-informed about Japanese culture and know how to dress to acknowledge that love without demeaning it, then show your skills with pride. The big problem with Halloween is that culture appropriation is happening, and has been happening for a while, but people don’t acknowledge it.
We live in a beautifully diverse world and I hope to be able to travel all over it someday. Halloween is a night for fun costumes and free candy—not appropriation of underrepresented cultures. Go dress up as a superhero or princess. But don’t be afraid to point out racism when it happens. As a child I never would have thought my costume was racist, but if I had had a friend to point it out to me, I could have learned. That continues now as adults.
Happy Halloween y’all. Try not to get punched in the face if you dress like a clown. Don’t appropriate culture. Have fun, stay safe, and get some free candy.
