Halloween is just around the corner. People are beginning to pick out their costumes for the holiday, so I thought it best to address the inevitable. People tend to appropriate cultures on a daily basis, but for some reason, people believe Halloween gives them an all access pass to do so.
Cultural Appropriation is when one cultural group adopts elements or aspects of another cultural group especially if this group gets oppressed or discriminated against for these aspects. For example, a popular Halloween "costume" is that of a Native American with a headdress. While you might be praised and congratulated on a cool costume, Native Americans have been oppressed and killed for expressing their culture. Also, by wearing this "costume," you fail to recognize the deep cultural significance that it may have to Native culture. I bring up this particular example because I myself have been guilty of doing this.
During my junior year of high school, I donned the problematic mascot costume known as 'Mr. Yakoo', symbol of the North Quincy Red Raiders. I thought it was cool to put on such a costume and run around getting people hyped up for sporting events. However, little did I know how much damage I was doing to the Native American population. I realized my mistake in doing so and moved on. Unfortunately what often happens is that people will acknowledge that they have done the same but become defensive and bogged down with guilt. While guilt is a natural reaction, this does nothing to better the situation. We must be ready to call ourselves out, prevent ourselves from letting it happen again, and spread what we've learned to our peers.
Another such example of this is when white people get praised for wearing their hair in braids or dreadlocks, when people of color, especially black people, get discriminated against for doing the same. Many people would deny the validity of this, but way too often are people told that such hairstyles are said to be unprofessional or unruly. What I find especially irritating is when white people, especially designers will take credit for these hairstyles. Blackface is another form of this that is being called out on more nowadays but still happens to be a problem. While some people might think it's funny to paint their face black and pretend to be a black person, there are people who are killed for having a black face.
This isn't to say that people of color can't appropriate cultures as well, I have given my own example of doing so, but other people of color are guilty of doing it: Beyonce, Selena Gomez among other celebrities have committed some form of appropriation. Everyone can do it, and everyone should be held accountable.
Although this article is meant to be informational, we cannot neglect the emotional, social and mental implications of this topic. While you're having a fun time wearing that Native American headdress there are Native Americans who have been slaughtered for doing the same, while you put on black face, there are those who have no choice of whether or not to wear a black face and get shot for it, while you're wearing a sombrero Mexicans are being terrorized and threatened. Keep in mind that while you might wear it for a day, people's cultures are centered around these things. It is never appropriate to appropriate.
