Despite what some people may think, I'm no party pooper.
I know that Halloween is coming up and you want to have a good time.You want your costume to be memorable, you may want to get a laugh, but you might want to think twice before you buy that sombrero for your Halloween costume.
I've been in college, I heard about the parties where people dress up as different ethinic groups whether its a "South of the Border" party or a "hood" party. I've seen the pictures of people on Facebook wearing sombreros and fake mustaches.
But this is bigger than just "Mexican costumes".
Making a costume out of any racial or ethnic stereotype is not funny, it's not clever, and it's never been. In fact, it's offensive, especially to those who are members of the group which you attempt to portray.
...And having a friend of that racial or ethnic group who thinks that your costume is funny (or pretends that it is) doesn't make it cool either.
So that means we don't need to see any of this...
Or this...
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Or any of these...
And none of this either...
Now, usually when people get called out on these of costumes for being offensive, there are a common set of responses they'll give:
1) "But, it's just a character, it's for fun!"
Well a ethnicity, religion, race shouldn't be a "character".
When people make "characters" based off of cultural groups, they use stereotypes and create caricatures of the group in question. Therefore, you're likely to already be in the wrong when you decide to wear that costume. These kind of costumes are pretty much walking billboards saying, "Hey, stereotypes and prejudice are hilarious!"
Plus when you make a group of people into a caricature, without even realizing it, you dehumanize that group of people. How? Because you promote the concept of racial/ethnic characters rather than individuals.
2) "Well, I'm not racist..."
Just because you don't hate the race/ethnicity that your costume portrays, that doesn't mean that your actions aren't racially offensive.
Arguments of "I'm not racist, my mailman's black" or "I'm not being offensive, I shook hands with an Iraqi man once" are dismissive of the behavior in question. That's about as silly as someone saying, "I'm not sexist, my wife is a woman!"
When someone calls you out for racially insensitive behavior, that isn't meant to say that you are a horrible person. It's meant to critique (and hopefully correct) your actions which are hurtful.
Being ignorant of how you offended someone is understandable. After all, we aren't all really taught to be culturally sensitive. However, it's how a person goes about correcting that behavior that shows their true character.
3) "Why are you worried about stuff like this, it's just Halloween, can't you take a joke?"
People who say things like this are a part of the problem too.
Just because something doesn't offend you doesn't mean it shouldn't offend others. If you don't understand why something is offensive, just ask why it's offensive. But telling people what to be offended about and not be offended about is offensive and condescending in itself.
See: EMPATHY
Instead of simply saying "it's just a joke", lets ask these questions:
Why do people want to dress up and make a joke out of being another race/ethnicity so bad in the first place?
...and...
Why do people find these costumes to be so funny that they're willing to risk offending people just to wear them?
4) "Why can't I paint my face Black?"
You can research this one on your own... You know how to get to Google don't you? Look up "Blackface".
My Point is...
Get creative with your costumes. Be funny. But don't go for cheap laughs dressing up as a racial or cultural stereotype.
Like I said, I'm no party pooper. But when the "party" consists of making a joke out of racial and ethnic stereotypes that hurt people, quite frankly, that's a party that deserves to be pooped on.
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