Have you ever dressed up for Halloween or college party in a racially sensitive costume?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an Afro wig for a seventies party. I wore it a few times. I’m white. No one called me out, and it took a bit for it to sink in as to why a random stranger wanted a selfie with me. He was Black and definitely using my costume to make a point. I think I threw it away or gave it to someone the next day. I realize there were white combed out curls in the 70s, but it’s a Black identified style. It could have been worse, but I still need to own the mistake. It was over a decade ago and I was utterly clueless.

I had a friend with the same wig!
That said, the costume was about the 70s, not mocking a race.
FWIW, my white siblings (10+ years older than me) had natural fros in the 70s as teenagers. Their hair has since relaxed. White people can have them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went as Incredible Hulk once with Green paint and Green powder in hair. I now know Green Lives Matter and I am sorry I upset any green people

Did you get any green paint on your white hood and robe?

[Anonymous]

Stay in your lane.
What’s so hard about that?
You do it when you bike and jog and drive, you know better than to tread on someone else’s path or impede someone else’s progress.
Why is it so difficult a concept to grasp on a night originally meant to ward of ghouls and demons that was flipped to something festive for kids?
When did it become Drunken Ignorant and Insensitive Adult Cultural Appropriation and Ethnic Mocking Day?
Stay in your lane it’s not that hard people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone name a Halloween costume that is not offensive to some group somewhere? ? (I can’t).

My 3 year old was a dinosaur last year. The year before that she was Winnie the Pooh.

I can’t think of how those could be offensive?

I think the Pooh author was a huge racist, right?

And dinosaurs.....oil, pollution, etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stay in your lane.
What’s so hard about that?
You do it when you bike and jog and drive, you know better than to tread on someone else’s path or impede someone else’s progress.
Why is it so difficult a concept to grasp on a night originally meant to ward of ghouls and demons that was flipped to something festive for kids?
When did it become Drunken Ignorant and Insensitive Adult Cultural Appropriation and Ethnic Mocking Day?
Stay in your lane it’s not that hard people.

I agree with you but there are many more opportunities other than Halloween to offend, especially in college with the fraternity and sorority mixers and theme parties every weekend. I hope some of these attitudes about costumes are changing and suspect they are since the youth are way more in tune to this than we were at that age.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think I’ve ever dressed as something that’s racially offensive. Mine are mostly stars, icons or puns. I have cross-dressed, but that’s not offensive, imo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stay in your lane.
What’s so hard about that?
You do it when you bike and jog and drive, you know better than to tread on someone else’s path or impede someone else’s progress.
Why is it so difficult a concept to grasp on a night originally meant to ward of ghouls and demons that was flipped to something festive for kids?
When did it become Drunken Ignorant and Insensitive Adult Cultural Appropriation and Ethnic Mocking Day?
Stay in your lane it’s not that hard people.

Sorry, but "Stay in your lane" is bullshit. This is AMERICA. Do you know how many American things are culturally appropriated somewhere down the line? Is everyone supposed to live in a cultural silo?

I prefer "Don't be a jerk." If your costume is mocking or disrespecting someone's culture, don't use it. But "stay in your lane" implies that everything you wear, eat, dance, sing, or play has to be from your own culture, which is a terrible idea.

[Anonymous]

I dressed as Princess Jasmine as a kid and I'm not Arab....?

[Anonymous]

We had NO choice other than racist costumes. There were zero alternatives. It was just like when we had no labor options other than enslaving people of African descent. No one realizes how limited the choices were!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stay in your lane.
What’s so hard about that?
You do it when you bike and jog and drive, you know better than to tread on someone else’s path or impede someone else’s progress.
Why is it so difficult a concept to grasp on a night originally meant to ward of ghouls and demons that was flipped to something festive for kids?
When did it become Drunken Ignorant and Insensitive Adult Cultural Appropriation and Ethnic Mocking Day?
Stay in your lane it’s not that hard people.

Sorry, but "Stay in your lane" is bullshit. This is AMERICA. Do you know how many American things are culturally appropriated somewhere down the line? Is everyone supposed to live in a cultural silo?

I prefer "Don't be a jerk." If your costume is mocking or disrespecting someone's culture, don't use it. But "stay in your lane" implies that everything you wear, eat, dance, sing, or play has to be from your own culture, which is a terrible idea.

Agreed.

Furthermore, that approach fosters stereotypes.

I see no issue with kids dressing up like Disney princesses (regardless of race) or celebrities or historical figures (regardless of race). There’s no malicious intent.

[Anonymous]

is this offensive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:is this offensive?

It’s an ethnic stereotype and reduces women to sex objects. So yes.
—an AA woman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stay in your lane.
What’s so hard about that?
You do it when you bike and jog and drive, you know better than to tread on someone else’s path or impede someone else’s progress.
Why is it so difficult a concept to grasp on a night originally meant to ward of ghouls and demons that was flipped to something festive for kids?
When did it become Drunken Ignorant and Insensitive Adult Cultural Appropriation and Ethnic Mocking Day?
Stay in your lane it’s not that hard people.

Sorry, but "Stay in your lane" is bullshit. This is AMERICA. Do you know how many American things are culturally appropriated somewhere down the line? Is everyone supposed to live in a cultural silo?

I prefer "Don't be a jerk." If your costume is mocking or disrespecting someone's culture, don't use it. But "stay in your lane" implies that everything you wear, eat, dance, sing, or play has to be from your own culture, which is a terrible idea.

Agreed.

Furthermore, that approach fosters stereotypes.

I see no issue with kids dressing up like Disney princesses (regardless of race) or celebrities or historical figures (regardless of race). There’s no malicious intent.

The problem isn’t transracial costumes. The problem is blackface and stereotypes. Generic Indian princesses with huge Eagle feather headdresses and buckskin, generic “sheiks” and “harem girls”.

My younger DD was Dorothy three years in a row without putting on white makeup. My friend’s DD was Doc McStuffins and Tiana without darkening her skin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In college we dressed up as cowboys and Indians for a Greek mixer. Also pilgrims and Indians another year.

We had theme parties often, not sure these would count as offensive:
Barbie and Ken
Nerds revenge
Stepford wives and business men
Great Gatsby

For what it’s worth I’m now 35.

I'm 38 and all of our Greek parties with themes always ended in "and hoes" did yours?

GI Joes & Army Hoes
Golf Pros & Tennis Hoes
Banker Bros & Stepford Hoes
CEOs & Secretary Hoes
Ken Bros & Barbie Hoes
Service Pros & Stay at Home Hoes

I hope to god none of my kids ever go Greek.

[Anonymous]

Halloween, yes some costumes were probably insensitive.

Hula girl?

We also had Cowboys and Indians. Late 70's, early 80's.

A hobo.