Americans love Halloween. In fact, maybe it’s fair to say we go crazy about Halloween. How crazy?
Americans spend $310 million dollars/year on costumes…for our pets. Wow.
In total, Americans spend between $6.5 – $6.86 billion dollars on all things Halloween: costumes, candy, and decoration. More wowzers.
So, as the average consumers spends about $27 on costumes, I thought it’s never too early to encourage folks to be careful how they dress up for Halloween…even if it’s “all in the spirit of fun.”
Listen, I like fun. And while my social life is nearly zilch, I like fun parties but it’s all fun and games until someone shows up at a costume party or…err…at your front door trick-or-treating…in a borderline racist costume.
Yes, it’s not too early to tell people:
Please don’t dress up in a blackface, yellowface, brownface, or any other costumes that stereotype, denigrate, or mock another culture.
Don’t caricature another real culture. Why? Because we’re a culture and not a costume.
I don’t care if you don’t intend it to be racist. It might not be but it’s certainly racial and generally hurtful. I say generally because every single person that chooses to defend their costumer respond by saying:
“I have a ______ friend and he/she is not offended at all. They love it.”
Listen: Even if one of your friends of color say they’re not offended does not mean it’s OK because it’s not.
You see, folks usually respond with defensive words or they choose to place the blame on the “other” person. The usual responses are classic examples of power:
- “Why do you have to be a party pooper?”
- “You’re taking the subject too seriously. Relax. It’s a costume party!”
- “You need to get some thicker skin.”
- “This is your issue…your problem.”
You might not be racist but you’d be stupid in dressing up to caricature another culture.
Don’t be stupid.
If you’re dressing as a geisha, a Native Indian, or in blackface, brownface, or yellowface, don’t knock on my doors in Seattle. I will not be giving you any candy.
Despite the fact that blackface has been offensive since it originated in minstrel shows in the 19th century, some misguided Americans continue covering their face with paint or shoe polish to mimic African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians every year, particularly at Halloween. It’s been nearly a century since D.W. Griffith promoted white supremacy and blackface characters in his film The Birth of a Nation. Can we finally give up on blackface in 2011? [link]
“but I’m trying to honor your culture…”
Really?
Perhaps, I can’t judge your motivation and intent but if you’re trying to honor someone’s culture, why would you wear it on Halloween? By doing so, you diminish both its value, its importance to its culture, and your personal understanding.
Cultural sensitivity and the Christian community.
Cultural sensitivity is a must for the larger culture but it’s especially important in the Church. It’s especially hurtful when this lack of sensitivity is present in the Church because it only makes sense that the Church ought to be safe place – for people from all cultures and customs. During an earlier post I shared about Pete Hoekstra (Senate candidate) and cultural sensitivity, I made this point:
Cultural intelligence is not merely gaining intellectual knowledge about another culture. Just because you like samurai/ninja culture and have seen Kung Fu movies does not mean that you possess cultural intelligence. Instead, a leader with a high cultural IQ has developed a sensitivity to other cultures and handles those cultural contexts with honor and respect.
Without cultural intelligence, a leader runs the risk of caricaturing other cultures, as in the church’s example above. You cannot appropriately represent a culture that you have not taken the time to know or understand. And when you attempt to do so, you not only dishonor those who are a part of the culture you are diminishing, but you also dishonor the One who has created every tongue, tribe, and nation to begin with.
None of us can claim perfect understanding of the wonderful diversity that exists both around the globe and even within our own country. But Christians are called to be ministers of reconciliation, and Christian leaders are the ones who need to step forward in the hard work of developing cultural intelligence.
Black faces are wrong. Brown faces and yellow faces, too. They’re wrong every day including on Halloween and they’re especially hurtful in the Church.
So, find a good costume and if you want, you can dress like me. I won’t be offended.
But these are not okay. Okay?
Filed under: , blackface, brownface, costume, Halloween, racism, we're a culture not a costume, yellowface
“You might not be a racist but would be stupid.” LMAO!
We can only hope people listen …
Do people really do that?
Sadly, yes. More than we want to admit.
What if its the culture of your own roots? and Halloween is a good excuse to put on your traditional garb. Would you be offended with a Scottish man turning up in a kilt at your door trick or treating? what if he wasn’t Scottish, maybe Asian or black, would you then feel inappropriate, judging before you find out he is actually married to a Scottish girl and feels a bond to that culture because of that. I know somebody who is maybe 1/4 or 1/8th Japanese, and would dress up as a geisha. Not to mock, or belittle another culture, just to have some fun with something she enjoys, and tries to relate to part of her family history. I wear a Moroccan thobe, not for halloween, just to wear because i like it. I am not mocking muslims. In fact i was just looking for a medieval european sort of robe, and the moroccan thobe was the best quality and best looking product on the market.
Karl:
I guess only you will know your motivation so while I don’t intend to fixate on your motivations, I can’t help that you mostly cite your motivations and not the possibilities of how it would affect those that it might more personally affect – in the case of wearing a Moroccan thobe.
I don’t think it’s entirely off limits. In fact, I know that it’s not but I think there’s something about deeply engaging, learning, and humbling ourselves to a culture that should take place.
There’s also the entire conversation of how folks wear these “costumes” – whatever they may be – supposedly in reverence and appreciation of another culture – but they happen to do it on HALLOWEEN. What?
Really?
How does that pay respect and appreciation. If anything, one invalidates that culture by wearing it on Halloween or to a Halloween party – however cool you think you may be.
“people wear these costumes… but they just happen to do it on HALLOWEEN.”
Well…. that’s what Halloween is… It’s when people wear costumes…
I think the color of the person who is wearing the costume matters less than the fact they are playing a caricature of an entire ethnicity/race/group of people. In fact, if I saw a white woman wearing one of those “geisha” costumes (you know, the skimpy ones that aren’t Japanese AT ALL) I’d be offended, however, as someone of Asian ancestry I’d be SUPER offended if I saw one of my Asian friends do the same thing. They should know better.
Ditto.
Yes.
I concur.
So can I not dress up as a Renaissance painter because I’m not Italian? Or a Knight because I’m not British?
I agree that dressing up as a caricature of another “race” is poor taste and offensive. But things like Ninja, Samurai, Cowboys, Geisha, Roman soldiers, Egyptian mummies, etc. are historical costumes, not racial characters.
In other words, I agree with you in principle, but I think your application is far too broad.
I think you pose a good question.
Off the top of my head, I would say that when you’re choosing costumes that portray historical or cultural characters, the following questions may be helpful
1. Am I depicting a historical reality, or a pop-portrayal of a historical reality? (If the latter, then you may also be including in your costume racist aspects of the pop-portrayal of this historical reality, and would probably do best to avoid the costume)
2. Do i know enough and have enough experience with the history and culture to be sure that I’m respectfully and accurately portraying it and not inadvertently portraying it in a way that is offensive or inaccurate? (There are enough examples online of bad translation in signs and tattoos, etc to know that if you don’t know enough about what you’re trying to portray, you can communicate something that you didn’t mean to)
3. Does my costume reinforce then negative stereotypes or the limited portrayals of a particular people group in my culture? (Even if your costume is historically accurate, if it reinforces a racist stereotype, it strengthens the beliefs of those who hold that stereotype. In addition, it makes you look like you also hold that stereotype)
4. While wearing this costume is fun for me, does it hurt/offend my brothers and sisters who are part of the culture I am trying to respectfully portray? (I think this is the big one. If you are truly trying to love others as you love yourself, then even if you don’t fully understand why they feel hurt, if it’s in your reasonable power to not hurt them, you shouldn’t. In most cases, it’s within your reasonable power to choose another costume at the store).
I would also add to Richard’s great post:
5. Do I understand the history of my culture in relation to the culture I am depicting? Does my culture have a history of harming, exoticizing, othering or commodifying the culture I’m “playing dress-up” as?
Racism is often described as prejudice + power, and the same thing applies here. When a white person wears a costume depicting another race or culture it often means something very different than if the situation was reversed.
Yes.
Ditto.
I concur.
Thanks for illuminating and thoughtfully/respectfully engaging this conversation.
Great stuff.
Great answers folks. Thanks for the points you made and good discussion. I pretty much agree with everything said. I’m just hesitant whenever any Christian says “don’t ever do X” when “X” is something that is not prohibited by Scripture.
So what would people here say about girls who dress up as, say, Cleopatra/King Tut? Is that different than dressing up as a geisha? I ask because it seems to be a popular costume at parties each year.
^ What he said.
I loved this post (and reposted on FB), but the picture of you and Minhee made my day.
I know.
This year, I’m going to dress up like her.
THANK you for writing this.
Also needed on this list: ghost costumes made from bed sheets offensively caricature those in the KKK.
This was interesting to read, but I get the impression you aren’t reaching your intended audience. Clearly, you have some human being in mind, but you’ve chosen instead to scold the internet. If you want to be more productive, you might include some actual examples, better data (beyond sales numbers for all costumes, which tells us nothing about this issue), or anything other than tailored-for-winning hypothetical justification from those you are imagining as your opposition. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t disagree with your side of this issue. I am just unable to learn anything from your account of this issue. The simple demand “please don’t…” doesn’t compel me to please do… (something/anything at all). Good luck with having a website and typing on it and stuff.
Ok.
If you need “better data” to compel you to not be a stupid racist asshole, then the problem isn’t the author’s
@JM- I know you’re faux “mad at me” and all that fun stuff that comes with me not being a human being standing in front of you, but you’re making my exact point. I’m not those things, so I don’t need “better data” to not be those things. The question is, what exactly is this problem? Since I’m not the one he’s talking about and though you’re calling me names, I suspect you are not either, so why does this post exist if we are the ones being scolded to do something about it? Who is this post for?
Just to clear up any potential confusion, I’m a different JM than this JM above.
The only response I have for this is a simple, but heartfelt “Thank you!”
so if my son wants to be a Ninjago character for Halloween, I’m supposed to tell him that it’s racist? In the cartoon, they fight Snake people and they’re all made of Legos.
Only if he dresses in yellowface to look like the little Lego mans.
[...] Older » [...]
you are all effing stupid, there is nothing wrong with getting into costume, im planning on being mr t for halloween this year and mr t is black. Since I’m white ill be using blackface….to be mr t, not a racist. All of you that have a problem are the racial ones, this isn’t the 1800′s anymore move on, Its a new generation n we’re all equals… wtf is the issue, i wouldnt be offended if a whiteface was on a black person….SO SHUT UP!!!!! ur the ones that are causing discrimination
Ok then.
I think he needs to add a few more exclamation marks to fully get his point across. I mean, 5 of them just communications wishy-washy timidity…
Before I start this, I in no way support racism, but reading through this its just another post in which only the whiteface is not mentioned. In today’s society as long as you are not a white male you can’t be racist. I am simply tired of this whole discrimination scenario, despite your want white people to discriminate so that you can post about how offended you are, it just doesn’t happen anymore in most areas. Also you only posted pictures of white guys doing these color faces, you bitch and whine about how it is discriminating when you discriminate more than the race you accuse. To Jake if you are going to defend a cause in which you are passionate, please use proper punctuation and actual words not supplementary words such as ur, also no matter how many explanation points you put at the end of a sentence it is not going to make people read it louder since you wanted it to simulate you yelling at them.
I find blackface (or brown or yellow) is offensive because the practice was once used to mock a race of people (on Vaudeville) NOT because it portrays you as something you are not.
Would it be racist for a white person to wear a Barack Obama mask to dress as the President for Halloween, IMO – no. It would however be racist to go in blackface and talk like a cast member of “Roots.”
To dress as a geisha, Native American, PSY (K-pop star) or Honey Boo-Boo is not racist per-say, it is how you choose to act when portraying that character. One shouldn’t be mean on Halloween – then again, one should never be mean.
I am not a fan of the holiday, preferring to celebrate and decorate for autumn, (and my complaint is that costumes have become so slutty) but it should be the one day kids and adults have the opportunity to explore being another character and express their creativity by costuming.
Oh dear, I feel so totally sad. I dressed as a Native american when I was a kid. I am married to a Japanese guy and have dressed up in geisha outfits for halloween, he has dressed like an American soldier in uniform (borrowing my Dads from his army days). Also in Japan, we have cultural festivals where my East Indian and Nepali friends actually dress us (white people) up in Sari and the Japanese dress us up in Kimono and Koreans dress us up in Hanok. I have an African coworker to takes no offense to anyone, Asian or White wearing African clothes or even dred locks.
I think Americans can be far too sensitive. Yes, I know there is a history and there are people being disrespectful, but honestly, a lot of people are not. Nowhere else in the world do people obsess about race and cultural boundaries like we do.
So becuase I am white I should never dress in the hanbok that my mother-in-law and sister-in-law spent $500 on? I understand being respectful but who are you to immediately judge one’s motivation when they knock on your door and call them stupid for what they are wearing? How is that loving and respectful?
nw: i hope you wear that $500 hanbok proudly. it was a gift given with much love, i’m sure.
i just don’t think they bought it for you envisioning that you’d wear it for halloween.
you see the difference?
i wear my hanbok on very special days because it has very special significance.
Whatever happened to people dressing up as scary things for halloween? werewolves, vampires etc. when i was young and growing up in Scotland, it was all about that, we had to dress up as something scary/spooky and go guiseing (trick or treating) where we had to sing a song or tell a joke to get some sweets or fruit from the neighbours. Now it is just a marketing campaign, people dressing up as what and who they like, 90% of the costumes have no bearing on halloween whatsoever, If people stuck to the traditional costumes, there would be less room for others to be offended at what you wore, as non of them are religions, races or cultures. We live in a society nowadays where people think it is funny to dress up as a terrorist or something else that could be considered offensive, i wouldn’t find it offensive if someone from england wore a kilt etc, but i don’t find many things offensive, for me saying i am offended, is like telling the world i can’t control my emotions, so you have to do it for me. Not everyone is like that though, so maybe put a little thought and consideration into what you dress as, and think ‘how would i feel if someone made a parody or caricature of me and then paraded it for the world to see’
Seriously? That’s awesome! I’m going to Scotland for Halloween from now on! These dang kids need to earn their candy! Dang American brats just show up at your door with no costume and stare at you expecting free treats. Dang kids… grumble grumble…
Yeah… I’m officially a million years old.
My friend just put a picture of them in blackface as their profile picture on facebook. I am white myself but of course still find the image incredibly offensive. How do I handle this? So many of their friends are liking the picture, but dont want to stand by and say nothing. I’m really appalled but I think it is just pure ignorance on their part so I just have no idea what to do. What would you do? I dont want to just defriend them without telling them why as we were close for many years.
lauren:
imo, if this person is your friend, you should speak to the person directly (so as not to shame or embarrass) and explain why this is inappropriate and should be taken down.
I get the gist, but there’s a hugely huge HUGE difference between a geisha, Indian warrior, etc costume and straight up blackface.
That’s just a quantum leap.
Sidenote: I am intrigued that the middle eastern (?) person in the photo automatically identifies with the suicide bomber despite the costume having no racial implication.
That’s not a suicide bomber, sweetheart. The fact that you think it is a suicide bomber, given recent wars and media coverage of said wars, shows that it does unfortunately bear racial implication. That’s the typical (or stereotypical) depiction of a Sheikh, which is actually more of an honorific title, but has been terribly skewed by westerners. It now carries the negative connotations (mainly in the U.S.) of terrorists, warlords, druglords, and other unsavory characters that profit greatly from illegal activities as well as rich and powerful, seemingly “dangerous”, owners of oil wells. The “costume” is also used as a stereotypical depiction of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean/West Asian/Near Eastern (however you wish to identify that general geographical location) culture. It would be similarly offensive to wear a hijab if you are not affiliated with the Muslim religion and using the religious garment as a costume. Just throwing in some extra info. Peace.
[...] ‘hood’ without fearing that he will get killed like Trayvon Martin. A white person who goes to a bar dressed in blackface doesn’t have to worry about being turned away like a recent Harvard student for no reason [...]
[...] I already told you to not dress up as blackface, brownface, redface, or yellowface. [...]
[...] http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2011/10/open-letter-to-pocahotties-and-indian.html http://eugenecho.com/2012/10/13/please-do-not-dress-up-for-halloween-as-blackface-brownface-or-yello… [...]
so dragqueens should stop existing cause its offensive to girls…
[...] more ‘hood’ without fearing that he will get killed like Trayvon Martin. A white person who goes to a bar dressed in blackface doesn’t have to worry about being turned away like a recent Harvard student for no reason other [...]
This is so stupid. Yes, If my kids can’t carefully research a cultural or historical costume and wear it for Halloween then gay men need to stop impersonating and denigrating women. How about that? How about the drag queens who emphasize the most sexualized aspect of womanhood in the most crass ways and use terms like b**** as if that is somehow proving their femininity? I feel I could just slap the next queen I see for their denigration of my daughter. Seriously, we’re a mixed race family and the difference between blackface and a Noh actor is so huge. Any costume founded in an ignorant stereotype = bad – anything else ok. Also, by the way, isn’t there a difference between the coneheaded jerks and a little old fashioned ghostie? If we want to start calling something bad because it could possibly remind someone of something done before, no matter how bad that is, well then, let’s just cancel Halloween entirely. I never want to see another man in uniform again, but how reasonable is that?
BUT apparently it’s okay to dress up like hillbillies because hillbillies are White
Actually, no. It’s not okay to dress up as hillbillies either. Wearing a costume that essentially says that people who are poor, rural,and/or from the south are stupid, is not cool.
so i guess this post is targeted at “white” people right? so would it would be offensive to us white people if lets say a person with a brown skin toned dressed up in a traditional Celtic outfit or a cowboy outfit? but i guess it douse not work that way right? because only white people are racist
and i guess to add to that, people of color cant dress up as knights or in princess garb because its racist right?
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment
is added I get several e-mails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove people from that
service? Bless you!
[…] http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2011/10/open-letter-to-pocahotties-and-indian.html http://eugenecho.com/2012/10/13/please-do-not-dress-up-for-halloween-as-blackface-brownface-or-yello… […]