It’s October, meaning that “spooky szn” has arrived. Halloween movies, decorations, taking candy from strangers—what’s not to love. But this holiday isn’t all Hocus Pocus. People tend to be very racist this time of the year. So, here’s your guide on how to not be a racist this Halloween. It’s how you can really enjoy your Halloween this year without pissing anyone off. The following are some of the most common racist actions people take and, unfortunately, by no means covers all of the many racist things people have done during this holiday.
Please do not wear Native headdresses or dress up as a Native American.
Don’t be that person. Trust me, you don’t want to be that person. As a First Nations person, this one particularly rubs me the wrong way. Headdresses are sacred in native culture—definitely not something to be worn by people who want to get drunk and have Peter Pan as their only knowledge of Natives. I especially hate to see the sexualisation of Native women. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis is a genocide currently affecting indigenous people in the United States and Canada, so dressing up as a sexualised Native American is both contributing and showing an indifference to it. Some people have asked me, “What if it’s people who respect the culture and want to show that off through a costume?” My only reply is that if they respect our culture, they should know how disrespectful and completely inappropriate it is to wear headdresses if you are not Native or wear a misappropriated native dress as a “costume”.
Do not do blackface.
Next tip, don’t pull a Trudeau. Yeah, blackface is never, ever okay. Historically, blackface was done to present harmful stereotypes about Black people and some historians even claim that it was used to justify slavery. Blackface was used by white people to mock Black people as stupid, lazy, thieving, loud-mouthed and more. Blackface was thus prominently used in entertainment marketed to white people to further perpetuate their inferiority. Blackface has also contributed to Black people internalising these untrue stereotypes. The use of blackface today shows the ignorance of white people when it comes to history and the disregard for its oppression.
Or any offensive Asian stereotypes.
Each Halloween, there are always girls dressed up in Asian cultural pieces such as kimonos. No one ever bats an eyelid. This lack of response is probably because it is so often misused within our Western culture that Asian stereotypes are left out of cultural appropriation conversations. Katy Perry performed as a geisha at the American Music Awards in 2013 and claimed that the performance was a homage to Asian culture. Many Asian Americans disagreed with the statement and found an issue as well with the song choice “Unconditionally” which when paired with her appearance as a geisha, alludes to the stereotype that Asian women are passive. There is a clear difference between appreciation and appropriation and that line is often crossed when it comes to Asian culture. And please don’t put chopsticks in your hair—that’s just culturally inaccurate.
Let’s not be Mexican people either.
Whether it be sombreros or Días de Los Muertos costumes, it’s all pretty offensive. The sugar skull face painting is a Halloween staple now while most people who do that probably couldn’t tell you the first thing about the Latin festival. Dressing up in traditional Day of the Dead outfits also contributes to the misconception that Días de Los Muertos, a holiday to remember and honor family and friends who have passed, is just the Mexican Halloween. In fact, the rituals that take place are very sacred to the people that celebrate them and not something to be seen as scary or entertaining for Halloween. Also, please remember that wearing sombreros isn’t appropriate unless you’re of Mexican heritage.
For those who might have read through this thinking that it’s just people being too sensitive, I assure you it is not. All that we are asking is for our cultures to be respected and for people to understand how offensive it is to mimic this culture for a night and then take it off. All of the cultures mentioned above have been marginalized throughout history and for the people that belong to them, we cannot and will not just take it off—because our cultures are not disposable. My culture is not a costume, so don’t dress up like me.
