Halloween, Homecoming and the last day of classes are arguably the three biggest celebrations for college students. Unlike the latter two, Halloween offers the one chance of the year to not only act but also dress outside of your normal persona.
During the past several days, several Halloween costumes have appeared online, many of which involve a racist or stereotypical depiction of someone of another race.
From people dressing up as George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin to the captains of the Asiana Airlines flight that crashed in San Francisco, it is clearly evident that we do not live in a post-racial society if people think that these costumes are anywhere near acceptable.
Although it may not be intentional, donning blackface or any other outfit for cultural appropriation is not only inherently racist, but insensitive.
The use of blackface dates back to 1830 with the creation of popular minstrel character Jim Crow. The name of this racist caricature of black culture would later be used in the early and mid-20th century to describe laws that informally institutionalized “separate but equal” facilities in the southern United States. In turn, this type of costume carries years of unfavorable history in which not all citizens of the United States were treated the same.
Like the use of blackface, other appropriations, such as dressing up in the traditional attire of American Indians, promote the idea that some cherished part of the culture is now tolerated as a costume.
A student group at the University of Ohio named Students Teaching About Racism in Society (STARS) started a poster campaign called “We’re a Culture, Not a Costume,” which has received nationwide attention since its launch in 2011. The posters have facilitated a national discussion on how it is wrong to essentially portray another culture for one’s Halloween costume.
While we haven’t seen offensive Halloween costumes as a visible problem in Chapel Hill, the administrators of several other universities across the nation are taking initiative to stop these types of costumes on Halloween.
For example, the University of Minnesota sent a letter to students to keep in mind that some Halloween costumes may reinforce racial, cultural and gender stereotypes. The letter, which was in part written by the university’s dean of students, went as far as to warn students about social media posts during Halloween.
