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The Statement
Comments
Get over it.
People seem to forget that the ability (and sense of entitlement) to deny people who experience--or are the targets and subjects of--racist and racially discriminatory behavior the ability to identify and the right to name that behavior is the cornerstone of racism.
And why is that people continue to confuse the freedom of speech with a right to express one's self freely without having to answer for it?
As a U of M graduate, I find some of these comments extremely embarrassing! It's probably trolls who are not affiliated with umich in any way, but it still reflects poorly on our community.
Just go in white face next year.
We have freedom of speech and freedom of expression in the US. This silly diatribe against a costume that is considered politically incorrect by this author is a microcosm of the leftist attitude. The conclusion is that we must stop people if they express something that we find offensive. Let's call it "hate speech", then we can ban it. Chairman Mao is so happy to read these articles from the PC machine at the Daily.
Matt, thank you for starting this critical analysis and dialogue about the offensiveness of some Halloween costumes.
For those saying that their costumes were not "intentionally racist", it is more about the IMPACT that your actions have on someone than your intention to "not be racist". Think about your costume within the context of the historical subjugation and caricature of non-white peoples. It is not permissible to say that you "didn't intend to be racist" or that you "didn't know". It is our responsibility to unlearn our prejudices and educate ourselves.
I read this comment yesterday, and there was something bothering me about this idea of having to consider the impact that I couldn't put in to words. After thinking about it I think I have a way.
The problem with this is that it can quickly lead to the suppression of political speech (the most important kind of speech). For instance, if I want to make a political statement by dressing up as Chairman Obama (Obama dressed as Chairman Mao), there is no way to do this without wearing some kind Obama mask, which some may consider as black-face.
I remember seeing multiple instances where people were either hanging a Bush puppet or behind bars as a protest against the wars. If someone where to use the same images but with Obama, people in the racism business could easily brand them as racists because the imagery could be said to invoke lynching imagery or because of the disproportionate percentage of minorities that are incarcerated.
Additionally, there were the images of Bush's head or face merged with a monkey's as commentary on his looks or perceived lack of intelligence. If someone where to do that to Obama as commentary on his perceived lack of intelligence or his treatment of his detractors, it could again be considered racist even if his race had nothing to do with the commentary.
You wrote that this experience "caught [you] by surprise" and then, four paragraphs later, that such things were "unsurprisingly, prevalent". You might have instead written "gibbledee gopp schnibble-dee shoo."
For Halloween, I went out as Terelle Pryor (it was satirical, ok?). I am white and I technically wore a black person as a costume. Did I do it with the intention of being racist? No, I did it as a U of M fan. If this girl is wearing the black face and afro with the intention of just being "a black person", then, yeah, I'd say it was offensive, but If she was doing it to be Macy Gray or Lenny Kravitz, it could be done with good intentions (I said COULD).
Why doesn't the daily print another idiotic article on racist costumes? This is absolutely ridiculous. I especially love the part where the writer says: "We sat there in sadness, anger and fatigue, with a burning sense of our race and its seeming insignificance."
Yeah, that's right, you're race is INSIGNIFICANT. This quote is an implicit confession that the author usually sees his race as a significant aspect of his life. If that isn't a blatant sign of being a racist, I don't know what is...
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