Boo. It’s the Halloween issue. It’s that time of year where everyone’s on their spookiest behavior. There are scary pumpkins, sinister decorations, spine-chilling haunted houses, extravagant parties, and everyone’s favorite part: costumes. It’s the one time of year where it’s socially acceptable to impersonate someone else, and of course the goal is to be larger than life. To be remembered as having the very best costume of the 31st. Or at least the most liked Instagram photo.
From celebrity look-alikes to creepy monsters, everyone is performing as these characters to command attention. An integral part of Halloween is this performative aspect, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing! When you spend 364 days being you, this one day might be a breath of fresh air to act in a new role. But I ask this to the audience of this issue:
How far are you willing to go to be remembered?
By this time, most Halloween parties are probably over and I will have already seen all the chaos that ensued. And by chaos I don’t mean your typical reckless parties or drunk bar fights. I mean the mocking, sexualization, and exoticization of my people, and the trivialization and profiteering of our oppression (Big SAT words, I know). That sentence is only a chunk of what can fall under “cultural appropriation,” and there is so much more to that. The definitions of cultural appropriation range far and wide, but here is an official definition from the Cambridge Dictionary:
“The act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture.”
So, for example, the $2.99 dreadlocks from Party City might be a “vibe” to you, but you have not had to live the rest of your 364 days worried your job might fire you because of your hairstyle. You have not been sent away from getting an education because your hairstyle is “distracting.” You have not been profiled by others as being a “thug” because of your hairstyle. And you do not understand what it means to grow and cultivate your locs as a means of Black expression. And these are but a few scenarios to one accessory.
Aside from my views, I thought the best way to truly get the message across about this issue is to hear from various members of an organization this column aims to uplift: The Black Student Union. Members were given the option to submit anything they wanted this week (pertaining to Halloween) in the form of a statement, piece of advice, question, etc. Below are a few things they had to say:
Natalya Spinks: Remember what your costume represents and how it could be viewed by others. There are plenty of costumes to pick from so if you have even the smallest thought that it could cause someone to feel a certain type of way, just pick a new costume. Let’s help EVERYONE enjoy Halloween and have a good time!
Olivier Pierre: This should be a fun time. No drama. Watch what you wear. What you say. Good vibes only.
Anonymous: How should we respond to those that are close minded to the thought that something that they have done has offended or hurt someone and that wasn’t their intention?
Sylvia Boohmah: Think to yourself: if you can unzip, wash off, or easily remove a part of your “costume” that someone else cannot from their body, mind, or culture, it is not just a costume.
Micah Elias: Witches may go riding, and goblins may be seen, but don’t do any black face this time for Halloween
Zharee Richards: Can everyone please have a happy and safe Halloween and leave my culture out of it?
DuJaun Kirk: Honestly, black culture is poppin’ and it shows through some of the “costumes” I’ve seen via Instagram. But none of them come and support BSU events or GBMs, but that’s tea that no one wants to discuss yet.
Now this is a much more complicated topic than what I have the capacity to write, or what those above had the capacity to say, but I figured this would be best to help push you to seek knowledge. To tap into your empathy and rethink what your values/morals already are. Diversity Education is a great place to start, and so is simply having a conversation with any of your fellow community members. We all want to grow together so that we can all enjoy Halloween together. But until then, we’ll continue to be vocal about appropriation until it turns into appreciation. Until we understand that Halloween, or any other day, will never be the time to “cherry-pick” our identities.
Keep in mind that these viewpoints/experiences are mine and the interviewees’ and are not necessarily representative of all the Black or Brown persons at Stevens and beyond.
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