The Halloween season is upon us! Pumpkins are out, skeletons are being strung in yards, and people are thinking about what their costume will be. For the past few years, every mid-October, I have noticed a rise of people pointing out "racist" costumes on social media. In October 2016, Disney was facing ire from thousands of people online (myself included) for their costume of the character Maui, from "Moana". The costume was basically a fully tattooed brown-skinned shell, complete with a grass skirt and greasy, curly wig. Being Hawaiian, I wasn't exactly elated with this costume and took to the web to inundate Disney with angry messages. A year later, I'm finding myself in a state of discontentment.

I have come to the realization that I don't really care anymore.

Of course, I still don't want Disney to release that costume, and I don't want anyone to go out of the way to be racially insensitive. I do care, but I feel conflicted on the line of what is racist in a Halloween costume. Many people made perfectly fine costumes based off characters from "Moana" last year. I wasn't angry at the fact that there was a costume about a Polynesian character, I was angry at how Disney handled it.

My discontentment comes from the public shaming I've noticed, through social media, when someone decides to wear a potentially insensitive costume. I think the female "Moana" costume Disney released, a dress and necklace, is completely fine. Disney didn't incorporate brown skin or nappy hair in that one. However, I saw many people dressed as Moana, on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, being told that they were racists.

To my (lack of) surprise, most of the comments weren't coming from Polynesian people, they were coming from white people.

Again, I think we need to all realize when we cross a line in picking a costume, but we also need to stop boiling down everything to find racism hiding somewhere. The fact that a non-Polynesian person wore a dress that a Polynesian character wore in a movie isn't racist. I appreciate people that take up a cause for my culture but, when my culture isn't actually being appropriated, don't pretend that it is. People are now actively searching for cultures other than their own to feel offended for, even if the people of that culture aren't offended.

I would love to see this Halloween chug along smoothly. I want everyone to use common sense this Halloween. When choosing a potentially off-color costume, ask yourself why you picked it and how you executed it. When critiquing someone's potentially off-color costume, think about why you might have an issue with it, and ask if you are really offended or just virtue signaling.