Discriminatory/Racist Halloween Costumes: Is Society Regressing?

when a guy dresses like a girl or viceversa does that mean they are sexist?

then why would dressing up like a person of another race or ethnicity be racism?

hey jade

that's basiclly what I'm wondering. Are either of these examples of sexism or racism? If so, then where do we draw the line? can people only dress up as witches or cats for Halloween?

I think the issue with this particualr situation was the fact that the guys actually painted themselves black which is or can be linked to the historical and discriminatory act of putting on "black face." I do not think that this is what those guys were trying to do, but other people did. So the issue of sensitivity comes up, and the fact that you really do have to be aware of yourself and your actions before deciding to do something.

Hey Rob! Thanks so much for your thoughts. I think you are right on, and I want to address some of your different statements. This is going to be long, but I want to try to get it all out. Bear with me ...

I’m not sure where you live, but you have some pretty extreme people in your neighborhood. As a Black person, I must say that even though I see many people who do perpetuate the stereotypes, the majority of the Black people that I know and meet on a day to day basis, are not influenced by the rap scene and have no desire to be or dress like the thug rappers or their scantly clad hoes. Sean John, RocaWear, and Phat Pharm are very stylish, popular, designer clothing lines that are very nice when worn appropriately as many people do, so I do not want people to wrap that up with the thug stereotype. (this would be like focusing on Lacoste polos, khaki pants, and flip flops for white guys ... It’s not the clothes, it’s how they’re worn that makes the difference)

This is not the image that the guys at my school were portraying anyway. They painted themselves and wore shirts that had some type of African print on them. That is totally separate from any part of the “thug culture” that many rap videos portray, and I think that is why more people were offended. What you are talking about is portraying the idea of “acting Black” which is separate from being Black b/c again that would be to say that every member of the Black community supports the trend toward “thug culture”, and they definitely do not. Also, if you want to make fun of this stereotype, there are other ways to go about it, such as wearing baggy pants, huge chains, and a fake grill. You don’t actually paint yourself Black.

On the other hand, I must say I agree with the fact that Black society is regressing in many ways, and it makes me so frustrated! It is up to Black people to make sure that we are seen in the appropriate light. Many Black people, in addition to Bill Cosby, do speak out against the “thug style” portrayed by some rappers. I do not think that denouncing rap in itself is the answer, though. Not all rap music or rap videos have anything to do with “bling”, “Benjamins,” or “bitches,” so I think it goes too far to try to wrap it all up together.

The unfortunate thing is that for every rapper there are ten times as many Black thinkers fighting against the stereotypes, living their lives void of Ebonics and cars with seats that lean all the way back, trying so hard to change this image; but they are many times overlooked. It cannot all be up to Blacks. The road to understanding, tolerance, respect, and enlightenment is a 2way street. If people are not open to seeing and hearing the Blacks like Bill Cosby who talk about and live the other more common side of Black culture, then we are finished before we can even start. We all have the ability to decide what to believe, what to represent, how to act, and how to interact with other people.

For the guys at my school, they know many Black people here, none of whom act like/portray the stereotype of “acting Black” or any stereotypes associated with African people. They also knew that this could be taken the wrong way, but they made the choice to ignore all of that. Being an adult is about being able to read between the lines, being able to ignore stereotypes and seek the real thing, and these guys missed that part of growing up, I think.

PREACH!!!! Nichole

Totally disagree with the idea that the black community is regressing. This idea of the "black community" is so vague to me. What exactly is the "black community" just anyone who considerd themselves black? and if that is the case is it the same across all racial spectrums? More importantly, white people are always coming to me after doing the most outrageous stuff imaginably(Examples: wearing black face, calling someone a nigga, dressing up as a rapper (fine) or a NPHC greek in black face and acting a damn fool. I feel like the white community takes the absolute worst image of black people and immitates it over and over again and then when we as this ambigous community get pissed it becomes :"Well, why are you mad, this is who you are" from all the white people. One: This is not who I am and to put that up as that is how the black community portrays itself is not only racist but ridiculous! The way that white community sees the black community is how THEY want to see it, how THEY portray US in their media, on THEIR shows, etc. It would be like me walking around with black gauchos, a white wifebeater, flip flops, and a HUGE PURSE with huge sunglasses saying "like" every 2 words and saying that this is how the white community portrays itself. Nichole is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT about choosing to read between the lines they knew how this could be taken, there are plenty of things that I would not think would be a big deal but someone might be hurt or feel disrespected so I do not do it and ADULTS should do the same.

Thanks so much wstormm! It is so ridiculous to me that people think it is ok take one stereotype about a community as the defining factor for the whole group. A race is just the color of your skin, who you are a community or a group or a culture is so much more than that, it is complicated, and it cannot all be summed up the way the boys at my school tried to do it or the way that Rob is summing it up. You are so right. Many times these images are ones that are set up by the media and those images do not even come from Black people, but are based on a stereotype that is imposed on us and perpetuated. Again, there is no one person or group to blame and there is no one person or group that can fix it. Stereotyping and prejudice is a problem that all people individually and jointly have to face, tackle, and over come in order to fully embrace tolerance, understanding, and respect. No one is free from, above, or outside the struggle.

Nikki: I think you go to the school I went to. This happened there? Yeesh. Do the kids still hold Space Prom? Because that would never happen at Space Prom.

A lot of the counterpoints you mention from an earlier Facebook discussion do hold water. No matter how you slice it, though, I don't know *anyone* who would leave the house like that on Halloween, just because common sense says it's, at the very least, completely weird and in bad taste. Actually, you spoke to a lot of that in your reply to Rob--I'm with you there.

I personally do not think that anything should count as a discriminatory costume. In my opinion discriminations are held in the minds of people who feel inadequate or unsure of their own position in this world. There should be no limits on what you can or can't wear or at least on what is decent to or not to wear when it is set because of "discrimination." Everyone just gives too much attention to all of this and it is still living in the mind sets and complaints of those that feel singled-out because of their race or skin color. Where do you want the line to be drawn? Should it be drawn as special treatment to ethnic groups that have been mistreated, or should it be drawn by the progression of each individual in their progress or regression? Why does all of this have to be about race?

When I was a little girl I dressed up as a hawaiian dancer, I thought it was fun to wear a grass skirt and be pretty for the day, it wasn't a scary thing...it was a different thing, for me. My daughters love to dress up as Tinkerbell and Princesses, that doesn't discredit Disney because they want to be different on Halloween, does it? What about Eddie Murphy, who dresses as a woman for a movie role, or a big fat man and then turns into a skinny man to mock and laugh at the man that has a weight problem? Is that wrong to portray a difference and find humor in it? I think Eddie Murphy is an incredible actor and an extremely funny comedian. If what Murphy has projected in the movie industry to be acceptable, then what's wrong with two white guys wanting to dress as black guys for a day and get a laugh out of it? People who would laugh at them being black would show much ignorance, but people who would laugh at the difference in these two guys would be no different if they dressed as women and were laughed at...it's just something funny because it's different, not because they dressed as black men.

Why would you question dressing up as a priest or a nun to be a mockery or something bad? It's funny to some people to think that little Johnny who may act as a little devil all year long walks in as a priest to be funny. Dressing up as a race or ethnic group isn't something bad it's just something different. Michael Jackson paid a lot of money to have changes made to himself to assert a desire to look more like a white man, was that wrong?

I really do believe that people make more of the race issues out of insecurity then these issues are present. I won't deny that there are haters of all racial groups and that may never go away, but when intelligent men and women continue to raise these sorts of issues it degrades our society as a whole. Yes our society has regressed in that we think being open-minded is actually arguing over the value of who's the better candidate for President, a black man or a white man; a man or a woman? To answer your last question, No we are not open-minded and it's a shame that we have these types of concerns in the 21st century and then have a question indicating that anyone would even think themself to be open-minded. Boys don't like girls and girls don't like boys, and then they grow up. America just needs more people realizing that we all need to grow up.

Thank you for allowing me to post my opinion on your board. I hope that whatever issues you have concerned yourself with that you will just make the appropriate American stand and say, "God Bless all Americans even those who cannot come to their senses that they are not better than anyone and no one is better than them.

Best wishes for your quest.

Pamy :)