Walking into Party City in Mankato, the walls are plastered with posters of models decked out for Halloween. Mixed in among the “Rabid Werewolf” and “Dazzling Pirate” costumes, is the offensive “Dreamcatcher Cutie” and “Tequila Bandito” costumes. Around the corner are all the accessories needed to complete any look. Zombie makeup kits, vampire fangs, a stereotypical “Rasta Vibration Wig” or maybe a “Rapper Facial Beard.”
When it comes to costumes, the scarier the better. Maybe a monster from a favorite television show or a character from a favorite slasher flick, but the scariest costume might not always be the blood splattered zombie or the masked serial killer…
The scariest costume of all? Cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation and Halloween go hand in hand. Retailers still market and sell culturally insensitive and downright racist costumes like the “Hey Amigo Mexican Costume” or “Super Mac Daddy Pimp Costume.”
Cultural Appropriation
“People take things from different cultures and use it to their benefit, but they don’t care about the culture as a whole,” said Lamarr Sullivan, media relations intern with Hennepin County Communications.
According to racerelations.com, “Cultural appropriation occurs when the members of a dominant group exploit the culture of less privileged groups with little understanding of their histories, experiences and traditions.” Popular costumes depicting Native Americans and African Americans are not only stereotypical and uncreative, but they are harmful, inaccurate and make light of centuries of trauma.
The “Pocahottie”
The “Adult Tribal Temptation” costume shows a model in a low cut, body hugging, turquoise dress. She seductively stares at the camera while she hikes one side of her dress up, revealing long legs and strappy stiletto sandals.
The “Pocahottie” refers to all the extremely sexualized costumes that depict Native American women. These images pose a problem because not only are they offensive but they promote and glamorize the violence Native American women face.
One in three Native American women have been raped or have experienced attempted rape. Native American women experience sexual assault at more than twice the rate of the national average, according to The New York Times. Although what someone is wearing doesn’t cause rape, turning Native women into sexualized stereotypes doesn’t help.
Native American costumes are one of the top choices for Halloweenies. These costumes appropriate Native American cultures and are also racist, sexist and glorify the disturbing history between Natives and non-Natives.
“People view what they’re doing as just dressing up in a fun and lighthearted way,” said John Neitge, who is a political science and American Indian Studies major and activist. “For Native Americans, dressing up as another culture has been a way of removing ours,”
Native Americans were told to assimilate, they had to abandon traditional practices (including clothing), or die. Now people run around in headdresses with the excuse “it’s just a joke!”
“Native American people were forced to dress up like white people so they weren’t murdered, essentially,” Neitge said. “The genocide of my people is not a joke at all.”
Blackface and All
Who can forget Julianne Hough’s 2013 Halloween costume? She dressed as “Crazy Eyes” from Netflix’s popular series, “Orange is the New Black.” She had the orange jumpsuit with the grey long sleeve underneath. Her hair was wrapped up in a bunch of mini buns; thankfully she didn’t attempt the bantu knots. The finishing touch on the costume though was the very dark makeup Hough decided to put on her face.
Blackface originated as the white man’s characterization of slaves and free blacks in the 1800’s. White performers would paint their faces black and depict black people as stupid, violent or clown-like figures. It’s problematic when Halloween celebrators decide to be a black character or celebrity and argue “it’s just for fun,” because that’s exactly how blackface started; as fun or entertainment.
“There’s a lot of baggage that comes with skin color,” Sullivan said. “I know the people choosing blackface as a costume would not choose to take that baggage on.”
Even without blackface, black actors, musicians and celebrities are also popular choices for Halloween costumes. Black trends have become increasingly popular in the media, with celebrities such as Kylie Jenner often being credited for “originating” styles that black people have been wearing for centuries.
“Girls who have very fine textured hair wearing box braids and cornrows, dressed up as some kind of hip hop icon,” said Rachel Lindquist. Lindquist is a Minnesota State University, Mankato alumni and works for UnitedHealth Group. “Box braids and cornrows are a protective hairstyle for black women… when society dubs them as ‘hip’ hairstyles it irritates me to my soul.”
Other popular costumes portray incredibly negative images of African Americans such as the pimp, convict or thug. These stereotypes are extremely dangerous, especially considering the amount of black men and women who have been killed in 2016 alone.
“People die every day simply for being black,” Sullivan said. “Being a black male in America has negative connotations to it and on this one day of the year, people find it amusing to use my likeness.”
Alternatives to Appropriation
The past decade has arguably been the most racially charged years we’ve seen since the Civil Rights Movement. Race relations have been in the forefront of politics and media. Whether it be Black Lives Matter, the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline or the Syrian Refugee Crisis; race can no longer be ignored.
With all this going on, how can people still opt for costumes that appropriate and ridicule marginalized cultures?
“It’s become such a societal norm that people don’t even think twice about it. ‘It’s just a costume’ they say, not realizing it perpetuates harmful stereotypes,” Sullivan said.
Lack of diverse education contributes to these stereotypes. In the words of Winston Churchill, “History is written by the victors.” History taught on all education levels tends to be whitewashed and always from the point of view of “the people who have the most influence in America. They aren’t minorities,” Lindquist said.
The aisles of Party City are jam packed with thousands of Halloween costumes and accessories. Go as a character from one of the year’s blockbusters, like Deadpool or Harley Quinn. Pick up some false eyelashes or fake blood and accessorize a homemade costume. This Halloween, and all the Halloweens for the rest of time, leave the moccasin boots and pimp canes on the shelf.
Disclaimer: Despite only adressing Native American and Black cultures, I understand cultural appropriation occurs in ALL marginalized peoples. Asian, Hispanic and Latino, Middle Eastern, LGBTQ and any other idenity that isn’t considered the dominant group in our society. NONE of those costumes are acceptable for Halloween. Ever.