How to Inform a Friend Their Halloween Costume Is Racist

By Amanda Hess, Washington City Paper

“* Don’t make it personal. Try starting a general conversation with your friend about a well-publicized racist Halloween costume—not hers—and comments you have read from people who have been offended by the costume. This ‘sexy illegal alien costume,’ which was hopefully not your friend’s choice, would make for a pretty good jumping-off point to talk about two common issues in Halloween costumes: (1) visual jokes which imply that certain groups of people are not fully human, and (2) ‘sexy’ costumes which tend to objectify racial minorities. Last month, meloukhia, the author of the wonderful blog this ain’t livin’, described how avoiding direct accusations can help people learn the error of their ways:

So, recently, I made a stupid comment on the Internet. I know, shocking. And someone else responded to the post I commented on, and pointed out that my comment was stupid without explicitly calling me out on it, simply by talking about the issues in the post. It was actually pretty sly, because I read that comment and was like ‘right on,’ and then realized ‘oh, wait, this person is kind of talking about the fact that I AM AN ASS.’ I thought it was a great correction, because it allowed me to respond honestly and without defensiveness.

Perhaps your friend will realize on her own that her costume is kinda racist, and start thinking of some other options.”

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