© Students Teaching Against Racism in Society (STARS) / Ohio University
Halloween is just a week away, and this year, I'm going to dress up like a white person. But wait, won't that be kind of offensive? I mean, most of the real-life white people I know don't even actually like mayonnaise.
A white-person costume sounds pretty stupid, doesn't it? Absurd, really. But costumes of any minority are totally cool. Super funny. Not awkward at all. Unless, of course, you're the minority. In that case, you're kind of like, "What the hell? Do you know any Asians who walk around in kimonos?"
In the parade of trendy movie character costumes and sexy (insert small animals here) outfits, there is always that one guy who decided it would be funny to be another race for the night, based on every stereotype in the book.
That guy is why I'm glad for Students Teaching About Racism in Society, the force behind one of the best campaigns I've ever seen.
STARS, a student organization at Ohio University, created a series of posters just in time for Halloween. In one, a Latino man holds up a picture of a white guy wearing a handlebar mustache, sombrero and poncho. There's a stuffed donkey attached to the front, so that he looks like he's riding it. Similar posters feature an Asian woman, a black woman, an Arab man and a Native American man. Across the top of each poster, the text says, "We're a culture, not a costume. This is not who I am, and this is not okay."
