Can Your Caucasian Daughter Dress As Her New Hero Moana, Or Is That Racist?
Cultural Appropriation Meets Halloween.
I'm just finding out that many of my Halloween costume choices over the years were actually culturally insensitive. Now, my kids are being told that it's racist to dress up as some of their heroes, because they are a different color. Here I was, trying to raise my girls without prejudice and telling them that everyone is the same no matter what color their skin is. I thought I was doing the right thing, but now they are expected to only dress as white princesses. Because they are not Polynesian or African American, dressing as Tiana, Uma or Moana is supposed to be off the table.
That is sad to me. Disney pulled the costume for the Moana character Maui, because it was called "brown face" by a Polynesian woman. Dressing as a character who is not of the same race as yourself is now being called racist. These kids are not making fun of anyone: Picking a costume is the highest form of compliment from a child.
What do you think of cultural appropriation? Am I culturally insensitive because I studied Belly Dance for ten years and I'm French? Share your comments on our Fan Page.
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