A Culturally Appropriate Guide for this Halloween

By Donald Riddle | Brown University

The countdown to the end of October continues to tick along; little more than a week separates us from jack-o-lanterns and candy canes. On October 31st, an ideological send-off to fall occurs, concluding a weekend undoubtedly full of themed jello shots and slasher flicks. Whether in high school gymnasiums, collegiate frat houses, or downtown clubs, Halloweekend is the one time a year where a person can let loose behind a guise different than their own.

For many, this costume is the icing on the cake, Halloween stores opening earlier and earlier so folks can grab their perfect ensemble before anyone else can think of it. Still, even if youve had your costume decided for weeks and, indeed, even if youve already bought it there are some important things to consider before lacing up and hitting the streets this weekend.

Think to yourself: Is my costume connected to any specific culture or cultural group?

• If the answer is no, good work!
• Theres nothing to appropriate. Unsure of your answer? Look it up !
• If it the answer ends up being yes, ask yourself the follow up question:

Do I identify with this culture?

• If the answer is no, its okay! There are a bunch of costumes out there that are appropriate and culturally detached!
• If youre unsure of this one, probably best to just round that down to a no.
• If the answer is yes, cool - Wear away!

Inevitably, there will be those who find this concept to be insignificant; the liberal snow-flake imposing yet another PC measure to stifle freedom of expression. Unfortunately I can do nothing more than urge you to understand what a costume signifies. Appropriated cultures are - more often times than not - subjugated groups within the country. Thus imagine a society that dehumanize you due to your heritage, and then uses that same heritage as an ornament to their power. It is a monumental slap in the face (yes, even by those that consider themselves the least discriminatory people), that can so easily be avoided.

This Halloween, signaling the approach of 2018, its reasonable to assume that many are intimately familiar with discourse regarding cultural appropriation. But isnt it true that the same could have been said this time last year? Yet last Halloween was one of disillusionment, streets and campuses flooded with Egyptian Pharaohs, Native Americans, and Chance the Rapper.

Wait, is this not okay?

Plainly put, no its not. There are several nuances to cultural appropriation that are often glazed over and underdeveloped during dialogue, both by white folks and people of color, but at its root there is one simple tenet: a culture or an identity to which you have no claim is not an appropriate costume.

Seems simple, but still every year brings with it a new slew of exceptions. Egyptians had slaves. They were in power. Yes, but Egyptians a people of color, a distinct culture from northern Africa to which solely Egyptians belong. Morpheus is just a character, not a black guy. Morpheus is a character originated by a black man, carving out a small chunk of mainstream media in which black culture as an idea can partially rest, along with the holes poked by other influential black actors and artists. You can be a character from the Matrix, but unless youre black, please dont be Morpheus.

Again, there are surely mass amounts of subtleties, all of which are fierce topics of debate, but Halloween is a holiday to which the generalities of cultural appropriation can still be successfully applied. Indeed, a simple test this Hallows Eve, should you take it earnestly, will assure that candy and hard-cider are the only things you appropriate.