Thinking of being insensitive this Halloween? Don’t.
It's Halloween, and if you're thinking of being culturally insensitive this spooky season, don't do it because there's nothing spookier than being racist in 2019.
Just to be clear, when people ask you not to be insensitive towards their cultures (or just flat out racist), they’re not taking away your freedom of speech. They’re just asking you to be a decent person, and at the end of the day the constitution still has the first amendment.
Here’s some things to keep in mind while still geeking out this Halloween:
- Doing blackface or brownface or yellowface is just plain ugly.
You can embody your favorite celebrity’s characteristics without attempting to ‘hilariously’ darken your skin. Don’t worry, people will still know what you’re getting at, and the ugly history behind blackface should be enough to deter you from even going down that road.
- Dressing up as an ‘illegal alien’ isn't funny.
Even if you want to poke fun at current political issues, there’s better ways to do it than to perpetuate a harmful stereotype that often puts people's lives in danger.
- ‘Sexy’ Native American costumes are a no-go.
Don’t reduce an entire group of people who are already marginalized in various ways by wearing their traditions as overly sexualized costumes. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, American Indian and Alaska Native women are twice as likely as their white-only counterparts to experience sexual assault over the course of their lives.
- Asian, Arab, Indian, etc. ‘inspired’ looks can often be racist.
If your depiction of a character requires you to mimic racial characteristics, chances are that you shouldn’t be doing it. As a general rule of thumb, just don’t dress up as another culture.
