Cultural Appropriation- Are Some Halloween Costumes Unacceptable?
Jared Swislow (’20) wore a Harry Potter costume on Halloween. “Grabowski thought that it was Sherlock Holmes, I don’t know why,” he said. The costumes worn by most students weren’t controversial for any reasons that might regard race or culture.
For Halloween, some might wish to dress up as Native Americans. Some might want to be samurais. Some might want to dress up as Pocahontas. For some, none of these costumes seem particularly taboo. However, others might see these costumes as unacceptable and define the usage of them as “cultural appropriation”.
According to the Cambridge dictionary, cultural appropriation is “the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture”.
For example, a white kid might want to dress up as Moana or Maui, two characters from the Disney movie Moana. Some would see this as unacceptable, as a white person has not had the same experience as a Pacific Islander wouldn’t understand what it’s like to be a part of that group and have their culture “stolen” by the kid dressing up.
Whether cultural appropriation is something that should be talked about and addressed is often debated.
In the eyes of some, this is an issue that matters greatly, and cultural appropriation is a form of racism.
“It doesn’t have to be malicious to be racist,” Mr. Ballew said. “People who engage in it are not trying to be racist, but are complicit in a larger system.”
“It matters because it’s not your culture,” said Megan Barnett (‘20), a student who dressed up for Halloween. “If you’re stealing from it and not learning from it, then yes, it’s inappropriate.”
However, some have a different view on cultural appropriation, believing that it matters less. The opposing stance is generally that people should live and let live without being concerned about these types of issues.
Mr. Boatman, an assistant principal at Arlington High School, says that there are no rules in the dress code concerning cultural appropriation.
“Some other schools don’t allow dressing up for Halloween because of controversy, but it hasn’t been an issue up here,” he said. “We would have to look at it on a case-by-case basis… We would deal with it how we deal with a kid wearing a shirt that’s not appropriate.”
Sources:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/cultural-appropriation
http://nypost.com/2017/10/18/schools-cracking-down-on-unacceptable-halloween-costumes/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/23/halloween-cultural-appropriation-questions/780479001/
