My previous post was about a student organization that wanted to increase dialogue about racist Halloween costumes (CNN reported on their efforts soon after my post). This post will provide information about some racist Halloween costumes that you want to avoid.
I recently came across an about.com article by Nadra Kareem Nittle about racially offensive costumes that brought up some points that I never really gave much thought to in the past. It lists several examples of racially offensive Halloween costumes and explains why they are offensive.
The first was "ghetto person/black person." Nittle explains that "The problem with these ghetto fab costumes is that they invoke stereotypical images of African Americans as low-class, gauche, thuggish and sexually provocative, among others." She goes on to explain that this type of costume is both classist and racist. She mentions "ghetto fab" parties being thrown in the new millennium which I have to admit I am not very familiar with, but I can attest to the fact that I've had (Asian) friends who decided to sport a "gangster" look as their Halloween costume. Each year I might see a picture or two of a group of girls in my facebook newsfeed dressed in baggy pants with tilted baseball caps and bandannas on their heads which I never gave much thought to, but I realize now how they were displaying a representation of a very negative stereotype and by not having a problem with it I was feeding into that stereotype as well.
The next costume in the article is the "Redneck." She describes it as the "flipside of the ghetto fab costume" and explains that is also racist and classist. I would always see these type of attire in Halloween stores and party stores alike and I can vaguely remember owning a set of hillbilly teeth (similar to the vampire teeth that you can stick into your mouth) as a child. I thought nothing more of them than some funny looking teeth. What's wrong with funny? Well, Nittle explains that "Such costumes promote the stereotype that poor whites are ignorant and worthy of ridicule. They suggest that poor and working class whites are inherently inferior to their more affluent counterparts." This kind of classism would even allow more affluent whites to insensitively be representing members of their same race as an inferior group to themselves. This is particularly interesting to me because as an Asian American family, our racist stereotypes about whites are usually about them having an easy life and being rich. I would never give much thought to a less affluent group of whites who face a similar ridicule to racial minorities.
The next costume is also one that I never gave much thought to, but turns out to be one of the most appalling; the "Geisha Girl." Nittle also lists "the dragon lady," "china doll," and "lotus blossom," as additional offensive portrayals of Asian women and goes on to explain that they are racial and sexual stereotypes "thrust upon Asian women." She explains that "the geisha stereotype is one that paints Asian women as submissive, doll-like and existing only to sexually gratify others." I find this as one of the most appalling because this sexually driven stereotype is is often seen as a children's costume which just makes this even more wrong on a whole new level. Again, this is a costume that I had previously given little to no thought about in terms of being offensive in any way.
Nittle lists a few more costumes in her article including Muslim, American Indian, and Gypsy. She concludes by suggesting that people go as specific people or characters as opposed to a member of a race (her examples are Barack Obama and Bruce Lee) and adds that one should not change their physical features in historically offensive ways such as using blackface (for Obama) or taping your eyes so that they slant (for Lee). I would also like to add the suggestion of racially sensitive characters such as zombies. When the Apocalypse is upon us and the zombie virus spreads, it will know no race or favor any group. It will eventually consume us all so it is safe to assume that everyone will inevitably be a zombie.
So get creative and really think about your costume and about the costumes around you. If you put in that little bit of effort you might be able to enlighten yourself and those around you and help in spreading that knowledge that needs to get across to as many people as possible.
There are however other people who will be thinking that this is "not that big a deal" and "it's just one night in the year where people just want to have some fun," but the fact is that these costumes are based on offensive racial stereotypes and if you think these costumes should slide then on some level you probably think these stereotypes should slide too. Think about it.
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