Every Halloween, there are blog posts and memes begging people not to turn someone else’s culture into a costume. You know… the Indian squaw, the geisha, the terrorist, the pimp or “ho”… really, pretty much anything that portrays an entire group of people in a worn-out stereotype. Well, one elementary school — Rosa Parks Elementary, a public science magnet school in Berkeley, of course— is taking the guesswork out by banning ethnic costumes altogether.
I know what some people are thinking.
- They’re taking away our freedom!
- Can’t kids have fun anymore?
But what if we turned our thinking around and looked at this ban on ethnic costumes as a way to teach children to teach how to get along in our increasingly diverse society?
In an ideal world, kids would be able to have fun, get a little wild (but not too wild), exercise their creativity — without demeaning their classmates or perpetuating stereotypes, even if it’s unintended. As parents and educators, it’s part of our responsibility to show children the how to get along with others. In elementary school, where there are already plenty of rules in place: raise your hand before you speak, share your supplies, wait your turn. We have expectations of how students should treat one another, such as not using put-downs or picking on other kids based on their appearance or ethnicity. October is also National Bullying Prevention Month. While dressing up in a racial costume doesn’t exactly equal bullying, it does falls into the category of microaggressions… those little slights that seem like not a big deal individually, but together chip away at one’s self-esteem — especially for a young child who is already outside of society’s beauty standards. It's the elementary school version of a hostile workplace.
At most campuses, there are already guidelines about clothing: take off your hats indoors, cover your belly button, don’t flaunt gang insignia or alcohol logos. And even on Halloween, elementary schools generally have some rules against wearing masks, overly scary or gory costumes, or realistic-looking weapons. And in general, these rules make sense. They keep people safe, help minimize distractions from learning, and they teach kids how to be respectful of one another.
Take a moment and watch this BuzzFeed video that shows actual Native American trying on “Indian Brave” and “Hottie Body” costumes.
And this BuzzFeed video that shows Japanese American women trying on “Geisha” costumes.
And this BuzzFeed video of Mexicans trying on “Amigo” and “Tequila Girl” costumes.
But is it going too far to ban all ethnic costumes? For people who are earnestly trying to understand what makes one costume in good fun and another one inappropriate, where does homage or satire cross the line into offensiveness? Is it against the rules to dress up as an Greek goddess or a Swiss milkmaid? And what about favorite cartoon characters? Can a child masquerade as Princess Jasmine or Mulan? What if you want to wear ethnic garb that reflects your own race?
A school flyer that was posted on San Francisco based KRON-TV’s website explains that children can dress is as a particular person or character who is not their same race or ethnicity, parents should find ways to do so without things like ethnic wigs, face paint or makeup that changes the eye shape, but with “props and costumes to capture the spirit of that character or person.”
Makes sense to me.
As a child, every costume I had was of a person of a different race, usually white. Whether I was dressed up as Cinderella or a flapper girl, it never occurred to me to paint my face or alter my features. My mother always tried to steer me towards wearing one of her old Chinese dresses for a costume. Whether that was out of frugality or to instill cultural pride, I didn’t want to. To dress up as something I already was seemed to be missing the spirit of Halloween.
A poll on the KRON website shows that 67% of readers don’t think the costume policy is going too far.
What do you think about school rules surrounding ethnic Halloween costumes? Does your children’s school have any guidelines?
News and Politics Editor Grace Hwang Lynch blogs about raising an Asian mixed-race family at HapaMama.