Halloween is a time of trick-or-treating, feasting on candy, and several other fun traditions. Unfortunately, it’s also the time of year when cultural appropriation rears its ugly head most often. Ignorant or spiteful people don costumes mocking or evoking all types of cultures, and in some cases, even donning blackface. These instances blow up on social media all the time, leading us to believe it necessary for the following warning.
If you must ask if it’s offensive, it likely is.
Blackface, for example, still has a place in popular media. Aisha Harris, podcast host and writer, published a New York Times opinion piece laying out the most popular film and television examples of the offensive costume. In it, she explains that not all blackface is created equal. Sometimes, artists use it to evoke the past, and in doing so criticize our country’s history. Other times, directors will employ blackface as a critique on present-day America, ripping the mask off an underlying, permeating racism that plagues our institutions. On the more worrisome side of the spectrum, sometimes creators will use blackface just because it’s hot button, essentially taking advantage of a taboo without doing much to satirize it.
On Halloween, all those superlatives go out the window. It’s a holiday during which we dress up for amusement. Donning blackface, or any other culture’s traditional garb, is to level offense. There’s no valid reason to dress up in that way. It’s impossible to satirize or educate; one can only evoke emotion and do it “just because.”
Thankfully, in the wake of the summer of 2020 protests, we’ve grown more sensitive to these offenses. Actors fielded criticism for their roles from decades ago and mostly apologized for their part in furthering a stereotype, when applicable. But even though popular media is a huge stage for blackface, it tends to happen everywhere else on Halloween.
Sometimes, doing the right thing is about doing the bare minimum. This is one such time. Don’t use blackface and don’t dress up in another culture’s traditional wares.
The most common forms of cultural appropriation include using a sombrero and wearing a Native American headdress to evoke Pocahontas. What’s true about blackface is also true about cultural appropriation. On a holiday meant for fun costumes, cultural appropriation dismisses the validity of other cultures and pushes negative stereotypes.
Do yourself, other cultures, and everyone you know a favor this Halloween. Don’t use blackface or appropriate anyone’s culture.
