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Some Halloween costumes can be offensive to students of certain backgrounds, cultures

October 30, 2014

Apparel and textile design and French senior Melisa Valdés said that many of the costumes she’s seen have been comical, but some of them have been pushed out of context and presented as racist.

During the Mexican Revolution in the 18th century, sombreros were used as sun protection for farmers. Since then, and for more than 100 years of independence, modern-day Mexicans rarely wear sombreros unless it is for festivities.

“I was raised in Mexico. You never see people dressing like a (stereotypical) Mexican. So I never thought that was a thing until I came (to the U.S.) and passed by costume stores,” Valdés said.

Valdés was referring to the stereotypical depictions of Mexicans wearing a sombrero, poncho and commonly clutching a bottle of tequila.

If generalizing a culture or ethnicity is inappropriate every day throughout the year, should Halloween be an exception?

Last Halloween, Twitter circulated pictures with offensive costumes such as interpretations of Middle Eastern individuals dressed in head wraps with fake dynamite tied around their waist. Blackface and Chinese take-out outfits are also costumes people choose to wear as a joke.

A frequent go-to costume is to dress up as a American Indian. Accompanying the outfit is often a headdress with feathers. But in American Indian cultures, a headdress is an item of honor earned over time through acts of bravery.

Since there are more than 500 federally recognized tribes, American Indians might feel disrespected if their culture is generalized. Interdisciplinary studies senior Cassondra Church is the secretary of the North American Indigenous Student Organization. As an American Indian, Church said they refer to their distinctive clothing as regalia or an outfit, and for people to call it a costume is offensive.

“(American Indians) can’t just put on a costume and call ourselves Native Americans — that’s us every day,” Church said.

While not a common sight on Halloween, the effects of blackface run deeper than just makeup — it’s overtly offensive to black men and women.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, white males used a burnt cork or grease paint to blacken their faces and performed as black stereotypes in a number of racist caricatures.

“I think people should understand that we do not live in a post-racial society,” writing, rhetoric and American culture assistant professor Denise Troutman said.

Troutman said recent incidents, such as Julianne Hough dressing in blackface, cause a resurfacing of the long history of insensitivity toward the black community in the United States. Students and others may not intend to show racism when they dress in stereotypical costumes, but education on the history of why it is inappropriate should continue to be implemented.

“I think one of the reasons people say ‘I didn’t mean it’ or ‘I didn’t intend to offend anyone’ is because there is not enough of the historical perspectives of people of color in secondary level education,” Troutman said.

She said while race is always a sensitive topic, it’s important that MSU students and students across the nation deconstruct the reasons why these are relevant issues.

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