People And Cultures Are Not Costumes And They Never Will Be

People and cultures are not Halloween costumes and they never should be. Another way to say this would be - People and cultures are not costumes, nor will they ever be. That is because, across ethnic backgrounds or cultures, there is no costume. We do not all act, dress, think, or speak alike. We don’t all have the political or religious ideologies. Culture, race, ethnicity is not a costume. It never can be. People are people. Culture and family can only influence so much for only so long, but ultimately all humans want to individualize. 

There are a myriad of reasons cultural costumes are offensive, not limited to them being demeaning, dehumanizing, degrading, and diminishing towards cultural identities. As if the tropes surrounding BIPOC in mainstream media aren’t pigeonholing enough, these ‘harmless’ costumes perpetuate false stereotypes and make BIPOC the punchline of an outdated joke. Year after year, I’m shocked by the amount of racist Halloween costumes I come across. From costume shop racks to people actually wearing them. Despite everything that has happened this last year, Target, Walmart, Amazon, and almost every other major retailer out there is still selling culturally insensitive costumes this year. From giant afros and Geishas to

“Sombrero Fiesta” and “Proud Warrior” costumes. It seems as if, if it makes a buck, who cares if it’s racist. In fact, in researching this, have also found college advocacy groups that point out that Halloween costumes are a form of free speech, and your university has no right to dictate how you exercise your First Amendment rights. That free speech is not limited to only non-offensive speech, but all forms of speech. Of course, this is true, but laws don’t dictate what’s actually right and wrong. Laws are rules which are predominately drafted by the ruling elite and have nothing to do with morality whatsoever. They rarely take the general public into consideration, and most new laws or bills written just make it easier for corporations to be legally more corrupt. 

This year, one of my children’s friends wants to dress up as a ‘Hindu Indian Girl’ for Halloween. My daughter has been trying to explain cultural appropriation to her, but she still doesn’t see what the big deal is. She has talked through all the major talking points, but the girl is unwavering. My daughter is reconsidering her friendship with this girl, over her selfish attitude and unwillingness to see things from the point of view of BIPOC. Without going into further detail on this example; talking to family, coworkers, and friends about the reasons why these quote-unquote costumes are harmful is more important now than ever before. The pandemic has canceled Halloween for 2020. Most people are planning online Halloween Zoom parties and similar options. Culturally inappropriate costumes will have a larger impact in the digital world, as these costumes, once only seen by your inner circle and whomever you passed on the way to your party, will now be shared on global platforms. I implore you to have the boldness of a thirteen-year-old girl, to use the opportunity to educate others on how cultural and ethnic stereotypes make a mockery of BIPOC and further separate us from being the human race. If not now, when? If not you, who? Who’s going to be the change you strive to see? 

A few points you can use when talking to friends or family about racist costumes:

- Are you trying to offend people, or have fun? 

- Would you be OK with someone else wearing a costume that poked fun at your culture or physical traits? 

- In this day and age, it’s almost impossible to avoid online confrontations, is that something you want to be dealing with, in the weeks following Halloween? 

- Will this impact your job? 

- Could this bring negative attention to you or your family?

- Do you understand that people are not punchlines? 

Halloween should be fun not harmful, mischievous but not racist. Maybe it is intentions vs outcome, but history never records intentions. News outlets only cover the aftermath, and they will broadcast that in all of its salacious technicolor glory. There are trends, right? Of course. White people’s attire could easily be lampooned, but who would want to dress up as white? That is also not a costume, that’s just a Land’s End ‘fashion’ show. For everything we’ve lost and gained this year, can’t 2020 also be the death of racist costumes and the birth of respecting cultural and ethnic differences?