Costumes and Cultural Appropriation
How to Assess the Appropriateness of a Halloween Costume
- Is it offensive to any race, religion, culture, belief, group of people?
- Does it mock/make fun of/or represent a certain group of people/culture/belief?
- Does it reinforce stereotypes?
- Did people from the other culture endure negative experiences that people from your culture have not?
- Do you think that because your favorite celebrity/icon/whoever is wearing it, that makes it okay?
- Why are you "borrowing" this?
- What is the source? What does this item mean to them?
- How respectful is this to the culture? What would someone from that group feel about it?
Drawn From: “A Guide to Understanding and Avoiding Cultural Appropriation,” Nadra Kareem Nittle and “Addressing Cultural Appropriation in the Classroom: Tools and Resources,” Jason Papallo and M'Liss DeWald