DCentric

So, no group “cast of Jersey Shore” costumes this year?

I think people need to remember that stereotypes became such because a certain aspect of a culture/race/creed is/was so prevalent at some point.  I don’t think that any particular stereotype is a reflection of an entire culture.  I also think that people need to stop being so sensitive to every little thing.  My cultural background is made fun of and stereotyped all the time, as are some of my beliefs but there’s a world of difference between stereotypes and current reality.  People need to grow a sense of humor.

The only way to take power from anything racist is to laugh at it.   I don’t understand why someone of a certain race identifies with every image that uses that race.  I don’t identify with every white person, so if someone is making fun of how hick we can be, I don’t care because I know its not about me.

Is the girl in the picture dressed like Tara from True Blood? 

ok. good cause but it has holes

Why is blackface so awful?  When Dave Chappel put on pale makeup to portray a “typical uptight white man” it was hilarious!  I’m sure nobody had a sensitivity issue with that.

I see you went to sleep during American history class(if it was even covered) or simply don’t know the history of Black people being portrayed in blackface here in America

Is it me, or did they include “Geisha” in the list of offensive costumes? I agree to an extent, but get real.  If I’m not black but I decide to wear a dashiki, that’s “offensive?” Where is the cutoff point for crybabydom? Whatever happened to just being offended, getting angry, and retaliating, whether in art, or in writing, or a statement? C’mon, people, you’re strong, not weak. Stop reveling in your victimhood. As an artist, I intend to make fun of EVERYTHING about my nation and my culture that I find stupid, and I’ll start with little preppie caucasian wannabe-cheeerleader girls that go, “Like, OMG, I’m gonna start like a tooootally cool campaign against all things offensive.”

People are being massively, massively over sensitive about this. Like, seriously, it is halloween. It is going back to the very roots of halloween to dress up as someone that you are not. 

  We see various costumes all the time such as old time gangsters, cowboys, train robbers, Marilyn Monroe look a likes, JFK and Nixon masks, Abe Lincoln… I have seen entire schools (which included children of ALL ethnicities) dress up as pilgrims, Betsy Ross, George Washington, etc. Does anyone call out “zomg racism” then, when a student who is asian/hispanic/african american/etc chooses to dress up as George Washington, since that school does not allow any kind of halloween costume, but instead chooses to focus on Americas founding fathers? No, of course not. 

  Did I myself, a female who is part Native American, ever get called out for being “racist” when I chose to dress up as Betsy Ross, or Martha Washington, as a child? Or when I later dressed up as Laura Ingalls Wilder?, or as an evil, vampire cowgirl? Or how about when I chose to dress as a zombie saloon girl? Did anyone who was caucasian call me out for “zomg trying to be white and offending my culture!!111″ ? … No.  Want to know why?
BECAUSE IT WAS HALLOWEEN!!!!

  It is common for iconic figures of ALL countries/cultures (including not only racial and ethnic cultures, but also pop culture, ie  suicide bombers) to be used as costumes. If that specific iconic figure was not POPULAR for one reason or another, then guess what.. it would NOT be used. There is a Reason for the popularity of certain figures out there, and most commonly it is a passing fade. However, some great iconic figures such as the Geisha (who, sadly, is fading out in their country) have withstood the test of time and are fully recognized as having unique qualities and they are appreciated for that. Who would not want to be a beautiful, graceful, talented Geisha, even if just for one night?

  I have seen little 100% caucasian girls in that old strict school of mine dress up as what everybody back then called “indians”… did or I, or my family get offended? NO.. because it was that halloween time of year for goodness sake.  I used to laugh and pull their fake braids, and we would run around the school yard playing in our conservative costumes. 

  I currently live in Mexico now, and you should see some of the get ups here that people use when they go around knocking on doors and singing/dancing for money. There are individuals here who attempt to “look white” on a daily basis, going so far as to white their faces out, and dying their hair. Should the caucasian side of me be offended when even more people do this on halloween?  
  Good lord no. They are just trying to do their own thing, in their own way and choose to express themselves.  
  Soon, I am moving on to yet another new country. Personally, I can not wait to see what new thing I encounter for halloween there. 

  There is a massive, massive difference between dressing up as an iconic figure, and making (or acting out) actual racist comments/actions. Dressing up as a Native American figure is massively different than someone hanging an NA figurine then burning it. Do you see the difference?  
 

Where is the example for white people being imitated? I call RACISM!

There are several different posters with several different ethnicities, why is the Black/Mixed race one the only one being addressed in this article? So the ‘race card’ being used by Black folk can be brought up again?

I generally think it’s good to no

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/454d3895-fd31-4177-af4e-0e9def9c5a5c.jpg

How is this racist? That guy was dressing up as a bomber, not just any middle eastern. That other guy was being a gangster, not a black person. They may be stereotypes, but it’s meant as comical.

People are just too sensitive. Get a grip and move on. 

Please no more nerd costumes, it offends us intelligent white people. And lord knows its hard enough these days being a white male as it is.

They did include a character that was probably meant to be a “geisha.”

The way I see it, there’s big racism and little racism. Big racism deprives people of opportunity, such as when English proficiency is required to obtain a driver’s license. This is little racism. It *is* the reduction of a people to a stereotype, but it will only reinforce stereotypes among those who already significantly biased. Ordinary people will see it for what it is – a lame costume.

my race card is getting frayed around the edges, as i’ve played it many times.  Does anyone know where I can get it laminated?

lmfao. 

Gotplasma there is a big difference in dressing up like a specific person of history and dressing up as an “Indian” (or donning black faced make-up and wearing gold chains, or as a Mexican male with a bottle of tequila, sombrero, sarape and a donkey)!

I am of mixed race and it does offend me.

i saw a  Mexican guy dressed up as a pilgrim for Halloween. and a woman dress up as a man. i was offended because of my white male heritage.

http://thechive.com/2011/10/28/cmon-guys-lets-take-halloween-seriously-25-photos/#idc-cover

I thought Halloween was about goblins and ghouls? Anyway, blackface has negative connotations in history, hence the reason it is controversial. It was wrong when they did it in 1920, and it can still be offensive to people who dealt with, and still deal with racism today.

Lol never seen a person dress as a white person for halloween, whats the fun in that?

easy for one who is white to say that laughing at racist comments or acts is the remedy for racist acts. many white people don’t realize the luxuries they enjoy because of their race. instead of laughing at this sort of thing, I’d recommend you read something about white privilege. maybe then you’ll realize why your laughter isn’t sufficient. P.S. I am white and I do not think these costumes are funny. Yes, Halloween is just one day. But the negative messages and stereotypes it can perpetuate last far beyond the thrill of making others laugh on Halloween night. 

nah, ordinary people wouldn’t give a fuck

LOL This is beyond funny.. Seriously, I being of native american blood line, Also known as prairie nigget for some. I think ANYONE who all butt hurt of this kind of stuff, should really do the free world a favor, and just kill them selves now.. take a few of your friends with you.. But do it… NOW…. you are a waste of valuable air… get over your self and join the human race..

I notice there is no white hillbilly holding a poster and looking sad, so it’s ok to go out as a hill-billy (or trailer trash, you decide) because no one is offended, right?

It is so easy for white people to come at this from a place of privilege and say “You’re being oversensitive!”. Why did I even bother to read these comments? Shaking my head.

“ There is a massive, massive difference between dressing up as an iconic figure”

It seems like you’re genuinely coming from a place of goodwill and reason with this comment. But the difference between a black kid dressing like george washington and a non-middle eastern/muslim/arab (even that awkward nomenclature gets at my point) person dressing like a suicide bomber is that george washington (or marilyn monroe etc) are actually singular icons. 

The same cannot be said of middle eastern people, muslims or arab folks. The very simple point being made here is that no culture composed of many individuals is culturally homogeneous. No one wants to be misrepresented. It’s especially painful to members of those cultures when the singular image representing them is pretty negative (“suicide bomber” may be iconic, but it sure isn’t in the same way “Geisha” is).

Though halloween may be about dressing outlandishly, there are plenty of costume choices that don’t negatively represent or over simplify members of certain cultures. I don’t see what the difficulty is in deciding to not do this with some many options (you mentioned some really cool ones that don’t negatively represent whole groups of people). 

It might help to try seeing it from the perspective of the people in these cultures, but either way I don’t think it should rile you up so much that they are offended, what the campaign asks of the public isn’t that difficult to achieve.

but in the islmasic one, many have brought up the point that they are protraying that all arabic people follow islam. Allot of arabic cultures do not follow islam.

Plus about the blackface, one isn’t she protraying as a black rapper and not just some random sterotype. 2nd she is very convincing since she has put make up all over body not just some random black paint on the face.

some of them are just stupid like the indian costume or the mexican one. But these are stupid costume which have been taken out of context and have not once belittled there culture, how do you know this is what people see as your culture, this could be done as a stupid joke.

plus if i wanted to choose something racially insensitive for the japanese culture, i would have picked an highly dressed anime girl. plus when people think japan they don’t think geishas and aren’t they suppose to represent the old idea of what is suppose to be beutiful in the old japanese way. 

Hyper-Sensitive politically correct dumbasses. I don’t get offended when people of another ethnicity go as a white person. Personally, I find it hilarious and ((usually)) all in good fun. 

these people are idiots. don’t get butthurt if someone takes the piss out of ya

So the majority voted no. That kind of pisses me off. If we aren’t “Overly sensitive” to this type of topic people will remain ignorant. And if anything goes, doesn’t that mean someone from another country can dress up as a Fat Rude White American eating McDonalds as a costume? I bet you’ll get offended, because they’re playing off the stereotype of what an American is. Or how about a bloody Uncle Sam with bullet wounds? Now tell me, are these acceptable costumes as well or will you still say anything goes?

Or have people forgotten the event where white college students dressed up as the KKK, blacked faced a friend and had him tied to a noose as a costume. Tell me, what’s wrong with this costume?

And if people haven’t forgotten, the origin of Halloween was not to dress up as other people or their culture, but dress up as monsters to scare away evil spirits.

And I assume you’re playing the “you’re playing the race card”

I’m being racist as hell by painting myself green to portray an Orion from Star Trek. Not all Orions are in Starfleet! What a caricature!

The negative messages and stereotypes that are perpetuated by Halloween costumes will last far beyond Halloween night?  Give me a break.  Some costumes are racially insensitive, some are religiously or culturally insensitive and many others are just plain tasteless…but, they are costumes.  If there is a single person on this planet that is deriving real-world ideas about an entire race, culture, or religion based off of the stereotypes that are drawn up in a HALLOWEEN COSTUME  we have much bigger problems to address.

African Americans have a legacy of slavery and oppression in this country that has made whiteness a dominant group. This tradition of violence and degradation is still very much alive today. Its not the same to humor whiteness. To be white is to be part of the privileged group. Its not harmful to white folks to do white face. Black face however, is not harmless. The same logic can be used for other oppressed groups. Native American for example who suffer from highest poverty rate in this country, the most marginalized group in the USA, struggle to hold onto the culture they have left. The history of genocide is a living history. 

hmmm…

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/385396_286593678028990_100000350812053_980742_1313701146_n.jpg

Of course it’s acceptable to dress up as a fat rude American or bullet riddled Uncle Sam. In fact, that’s even more acceptable. Just like the word “honkey” will always be more acceptable than “nigger”, generally speaking. Deal with it, ya big gaping pussy. Oh no, how sexist of me! I’m objectifying women! But wait, calling someone a “dick” is less faux pas right? Fuck you!

But the real point that everyone seems to be missing… Making light of stereotypes is the only way to soften the blow, because they aren’t going anywhere. Some people need to wake up and accept that stereotypes don’t just appear out of thin air, to arbitrarily objectify a certain group of people with unfounded accusations… they are based on the dark side of reality. Why hide from it?

Isn’t the whole point of Halloween to make light of, and celebrate, and embrace the darkness, the things that scare us? Don’t even try and tell me that you’re not terrified to accept the element of truth behind every racial, sexual, and national stereotype.

If you really want to make a big change, then be a living, breathing example of an anti-stereotype, because that’s the only right you have in this matter. Stop trying to tell drunk college kids what they can and can’t dress up as for Halloween, because you will accomplish nothing.

boo stars

The girl on the “geisha” stereotype poster isn’t Japanese. She has Korean facial structure.

IRONY. “All AZNS look alike”, Ohio U?

I agree completely. I, too, am Native American, and i’m never offended when someone decides to dress as one. The way I see it is that, if anything, they are accepting our culture and acknowledging it as opposed to trying to be ‘racist’ or ‘insensitive’.

It’s not /your/ culture to struggle as. Saying there’s truth in every negative stereotype is, well, the truth. However, taking someone else’s struggles and “having fun” with it is not only incredibly offensive but it demeans the culture. A white guy as a “lazy mexican with a burrito” or a “chinese man with calculator”. Okay? At the end of the day, the white man can still take the costume off and be white again. The “lazy mexican” will still be there marginalized and the chinese will still be assumed as a smart nerd. They can’t HIDE from those. They don’t ever get to take off ‘that costume’. It’s just incredibly rude, it’s not embracing a dark side. It’s erasing any other way to view them as a fucking human being. 

Do you understand that you making a joke out of the other persons comment is insulting and racist in it’s self. I’ve excepted that everyone will not be able to understand why race is such a issue and how it affects people because they have  never had it happen to them. But that doesn’t mean I don’t except people to respect it off of principle.

I would love to know why you think just because someone is white that they’re privileged.  Please explain. 

So what’s this great thing about being white at the end of the day?  I’m not seeing this supreme power everyone is talking about…

http://i.imgur.com/EidQ2.png

You have no idea what you are saying.

Ima dress as a Bimbo.
Stupid. Lazy. Can’t cook for shit. Light weight. Whore. Fake Tan. Full of Sperm. (:

Oh, you’re right! No white person has ever been oppressed. I totally forgot about that. I need to call my grandmother and remind her that none of her family died in that holocaust thing.

http://www.google.com/search?q=redneck+costume&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=QBOuToDRK9C2tgemyL3uDg&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1276&bih=683&sei=%20QxOuTuKnMo-2twelvqHnDg

One thing I am sick and tired of hearing is people who are people of color on message boards saying that “I am [insert underrepresented race/ethnicity] but I dressed up as [insert stereotypical costume], and it’s not a big deal to me, so lighten up!” I am sure that many, if not all of these people, have experienced so much racism in their actual everyday lives and have consumed so much mainstream racist pop culture so much to the point that they have internalized it all and are not even aware of how brainwashed they have become; that they cannot even see racism right in front of their face or even when they are wearing it on their own skin. They stereotype their own image– their own race/culture, people. That’s deeply internalized self-hate if I ever saw it. So deep that they don’t even know it. It’s pathetic, disturbing, and most of all just sad. What a sad world we live in that not only do we still have racists left and right but people of color who continue to internally hate and disrespect themselves because of these exact stereotypes that are becoming more and more accepted because they are being paraded around as “fun” or “costumes” and people are claiming “stereotypes are a normal fact of life” (WTF?). Halloween is more and more becoming a subconscious self-expression of not only people’s racism and prejudice or ignorance of others, but also some people’s own self-hate because of the institionalized discrimination of people of color in mainstream media and culture that continually conditions mainstream American society to normalize racist stereotypes. It becomes a vicious cycle that will never end so long as people continue trivializing by saying “lighten up”, “get a life” when we are talking about cultures and real people. NO- I don’t need to lighten up because if I don’t take myself seriously nobody else will. No – I don’t need to lighten up because I am in the minority in America and I do get treated differently for my race/ethnicity. And I do have a life because I do care about these issues that affect many people. If you are ignoring real people who are being seriously offended and not taking the time to educate yourself about cultural differences and the history of discrimination in america and how it’s evolved into it’s current state in 2011–THEN YOU NEED TO GET  A LIFE. Life is NOT just about “lightening up” and partying and dressing up as whatever you want just because you don’t want to take the time to think about your actions and how it affects people. So to all you ignorant folks out there, YES leading a real life does mean USING YOUR BRAIN every once in a while. Stop demonizing political correctness just because YOU’RE OFFENDED that WE’RE OFFENDED. That is called blaming the victim and it’s a real sociological problem. So YOU get a life, and while you’re at it please also find where you lost your own sense of human decency and respect for others.

If you are white you will not understand.  This is offensive, take it from a black man.  If you do not see it as offensive thats one thing, but do not dismiss those who do find it offensive because they find it offensive for a reason that you do not comprehend.  I’d go as far to say that if a white person does not find this kind of thing offensive as well then they are hopelessly socialised already into believing that people of colour are inferior and are therefore prime targets for this kind of disgusting racism.  You dont need to pick sides or feel defensive to see this nonsense for what it is – racist.  This person is racist by ignorance.  Its that simple, deny this fact and show us how far you’ve been indoctrinated.

Ryan, theyve gone from decimating your population to dressing as you as a novelty and you have no problem with this.  Might as well toss in a reservation or two and finish the job since everything is cool with you.

Have a look at this video on White Privilege to understand the context:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ABYIkI2aA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ABYIkI2aA

I honestly think the people who put together this campaign are racist themselves

because only white people are racist right?

From Visa:  You maxed out your race card months ago and none of your transactions are getting processed. 

If they really want to help keep people from being offended they should start a “Toughen the Fk Up” campaign! Instead of teaching people to try and look for anything they might be able to consider offensive they should teach people how to have a sense of humor, THAT might actually help improve people’s lives. This is the most extreme case of PC BS I’ve ever seen!

Are you serious???  Have you watched that video?  For a cop, depending on the area you patrol, you’ll use whatever info you have to make arrests.  If 90% of drug dealers are black in your area….yes, you’ll use that info to solve crimes (could be any info, but you shouldn’t disclude race just because it’s a touchy subject).  Try living in the real world and think about people’s intentions.  And I grew up in WV, didn’t have running water or electricity until I was 12….at least I grew up with white privilege though right!!!

You own personal experience, believe me, is not the common experience of the general population.  See past your own experience and look at the bigger picture.

Do two wrongs make a right Melissa? No.  However by attempting to highlight that other races are racist to justify this item, you acknowledge that this item IS racist.  Good.  Now if you look deeper into what Golden Silence is intimating he is ironically highlighting the very attitude that you replied to his comment with!  That you don’t even see it is testimony to how engrained this crap is

It hurts everyone

I’m a she, not a he, but thanks for defending my point.

I’m going to quote something I just saw in the comments of a Racialicious piece on this:

“Thanks for proving the point of those who are calling out people on their racism. ”

Because white people like you are racist.

And don’t even think about responding with “I’m not racist…I have a black best friend!” I’m not trying to hear that.

While I don’t think it is racist to dress up as another race, I do believe it is insensitive. You don’t see non-white people painting their skin white when they dress up as white characters or celebrities. What happened to thinking? Do people think anymore? Sorry, but we are not past racial issues, and if you think we are, just look at some of the posts on this blog alone or read the comments on the latest trending news article. Even when it has nothing to do with race, people will make it about race. Ignorance abounds, and dressing up in black face or as a non-white person for Halloween only exacerbates the ignorance. It does not abate it. Oh and Halloween should not be used as a guise to display ignorance.

I honestly think the people who put together this campaign are sick of people like you thinking it’s okay to be insensitive and proudly display your ignorance. Try taking a diversity class. Then comment.

White privilege is about this: statistically a randomly chosen white person will be doing better than a randomly chosen black person. That, put in the exact same position, a white person will find it easier to get help and be cared about by strangers than a black person. That being white is considered “normal”. That more people will trust a white person over a black person. That being white makes it easier to access educational, employment and promotion opportunities than a black person in the same situation. That being white means you’re less likely to get found guilty, likely to get a lighter prison sentence and less likely to receive the death penalty for the same crime. That being white means you can run to catch a bus or drive a fancy car without being stopped and searched by the police. That you will have received a lot less name calling, less black eyes and less exclusion in your life purely because of the color of your skin. That you won’t have the people who enslaved and lynched your ancestors, turned the hose on your grandparents, and made every step of the way a struggle for your parents now stand in front of you, dressed in the way that has been used to make fun of your culture for decades, telling you its “just a bit of fun”.

I’m a white, heterosexual, middle class man in a professional job who comes from a stable household with two loving parents. I was born about as privileged as they come. I tell you this not because of pride in who I am. A lot of what I have achieved in life has been down to this privilege and this privilege could not exist without white, straight, middle class men trampling all over other nations and ethnicities, women, people of other sexualities, the working class and anyone that they could gain use from without giving anything back. I tell you this to show that I recognize the unfair advantage I have over others. That while I can’t change who I am, I can help to change what it means. We can all say we are anti-racist, but racism doesn’t stop at the n-word. Until we recognize and address the prejudice we don’t even notice, we can never truly be equal.

Hard enough being a white male? You’re hilarious. Trying being anything but that, you would die after three days of reality.

Can someone please explain to me what is so great about dressing up as a stereotype? I mean, the group being stereotyping is saying, “We don’t appreciate it this, please stop.” Instead of listening to the groups being stereotyped and thinking about how it affects another person, jerks honestly believe that their right to dress up as a stereotype and look like an ass is more important than being respectful to the people whose culture they are denigrating. Is respecting other people not like you less important than your “right” to disregard what is being stated to you and continue to perpetuate negativity about a group of people? C’mon, people. THINK. Would you like this to be done to you over and over and over and over?

I am white  and I have been picked on all my life by all kinds of different races. Must I gives examples? White people are not the only ones who can be racist. I think everyone needs to cool it. I mean, the word “racist” is beginning to lose it’s meaning. You have been using it too many times. I seen countless costumes of “hicks” and “hillbillys” potraying white people. I don’t care! Get a grip. It’s life. You are going to run into assholes but are you going to whine about it everytime?

Ok really? Get over it. Slavery was years and years ago. You think that because of what peoples ancestors did, that they own you because yours were treated badly? The Roman Empire had all sorts of different ethnicitys of slaves. Black people are not the only ones to have ever been slaves. Why don’t you look up some of the toture devices the Romans used on their slaves.

I think stereotypes are funny.

gingers have no souls
white girls are bimbos and trash
black people are gangsters
jews are greedy
asians speak engrish no good
indian girls have moustaches
english have bad teeth
canadians…..what are canadians?

Alright folks, thanks for all of the comments, but now that Halloween has passed us, we’re going to close them on this post. Some of these comments thought-provoking and generating good discussion, but others are veering off into name-calling.