Offensive Halloween Costume

[Doner Designs]

In today's PC world, you could go dressed as yourself & offend someone.

Ain't that the truth! Dress up as Donald Trump then you can offend everyone and people will love you anyway.

 

[EMoneySC2]

This is really upsetting to me. Not only are people who devote their lives to social justice, like Martin Luther King Jr, César Chávez, Betty Freidan, personal heroes of mine, they are true American heroes.

Who the heck is this guy to say such a thing? Is this pure trolling? Are you trying to get the goat of someone like me? Didn't you realize how offensive such a remark would be? Or do you not know what social justice and modern feminism are?

You're missing the point.

MLK and the like are truly hero's of history. Nobody will debate that. Today's "popular" social equality advocates...not so much.

 

[Menorahman]

With so much disparity between both races and gender this is extremely ignorant to say.

It's almost as if belonging to different groups brings with it different pro's and cons's.

 

[Menorahman]

This is what happens when you say ignorant and hateful things like feminists are selfish. Take responsibility for your speech. You've upset people. Including me (obviously).



I'm not even sure to whom your are speaking. You sound very angry for such a young person.

Nice deflection with a side of ad hominem.

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

Hmm. Perhaps I don't know who you are speaking about. I don't know if I've ever heard of "today's social equality advocates." Espcially popolar ones? Help me out here, give me an example maybe?

You're missing the point.

MLK and the like are truly hero's of history. Nobody will debate that. Today's "popular" social equality advocates...not so much.

 

[SunnBass]

Mariachi bands exist. If Hispanic bands play Classic American Rock complete with leather and denim. Do we care?

No, because we oppressed Hispanic people.

Here, from The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Who's discriminated against in America? More people say Hispanics than blacks or women – and it's far from just Hispanics who feel that way.

An Associated Press-Univision Poll found that 61 percent of people overall said Hispanics face significant discrimination, compared with 52 percent who said blacks do and 50 percent who said women.

The survey also underscored how perceptions of prejudice can vary by ethnicity. While 81 percent of Latinos said Hispanics confront a lot or some discrimination, a smaller but still substantial 59 percent of non-Hispanics said so.


It is not unusual for members of a group to feel they face more prejudice. In this survey, that was especially true when people were asked about "a lot" of discrimination. Fifty-five percent of Hispanics but only 24 percent of non-Hispanics said Hispanics encounter that.

"I see it in people's faces, in the way they react," said Raymond Angulo, 66, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen and retiree from Pico Rivera, Calif. "It's gotten somewhat better, but it's still there. I feel like it's never going away."

However, Jason Welty, a lawn care specialist in Indianapolis who is not Hispanic, said he has seen little evidence of the problem despite working frequently with Hispanics.

"They're treated by most of our clients and the people we work with just like anybody else," said Welty, 30.

The AP-Univision Poll compiled the views of 901 Hispanics, which were compared with the results of a separate AP-GfK survey of the general population.

Attention on whether Latinos face unfair treatment has intensified since last month, when Arizona enacted a law requiring local police to ascertain the citizenship of people they suspect of being in the U.S. illegally.

President Barack Obama called the statute "misdirected" Wednesday at a joint news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and he said the Justice Department will soon complete a review of whether it violates civil rights laws. But others have rallied behind the statute as a needed step with an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Lisa Navarrete, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, the Latino advocacy organization, said the poll's findings suggest a silver lining in the country's often bitter debate over immigration.

"For a lot of people, regardless of how they feel about what we should do about immigration, they're recognizing that this community has been singled out and targeted," Navarrete said.

About 40 percent of the Hispanics in the survey said they had experienced much discrimination personally – including just 13 percent who said they had dealt with it a lot.

"I was discriminated against, 'You're just a dumb Mexican,'" said Ric J. Romero, 56, a retiree in Albuquerque, N.M., who said he traces his family's origins to Spain, not Mexico. "Yes, there is still very heavy discrimination."

But Sabino Infante, 62, a college admissions counselor from Hesperia, Calif., said he has never experienced the problem. Infante, who is originally from Mexico, attributed the higher perceptions of prejudice by Hispanics than non-Hispanics to some people having "a chip on their shoulder, an attitude."

Among Hispanics, women are more likely than men to say Latinos suffer discrimination. In addition, Hispanics from cities and rural areas are more likely than those from the suburbs to say Latinos face a lot of prejudice.

Matilde Martinez, 59, a Puerto Rican-born New Yorker, said she believes Mexican immigrants face much mistreatment.

"It causes me a lot of pain," she said in an interview conducted in Spanish. "These people come to work and they do work that the Americans won't do for the little pay they get."

There also are partisan differences. Fifty-five percent of Hispanic Democrats and 38 percent of Hispanic Republicans say there is a lot of discrimination against Hispanics, and Hispanic Democrats are more likely than those in the GOP to say they have personally been affected.

Hispanics in the poll perceived discrimination against other groups a bit more often than non-Hispanics did.

Fifty-seven percent of Latinos and 50 percent of non-Hispanics said blacks are discriminated against. Fifty-eight percent of Hispanics and 48 percent of others said they had observed discrimination against women.

The AP-Univision Poll was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from May 7-12. It involved landline and cell phone interviews with 901 Hispanic adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5.3 percentage points.

The findings were compared to a separate AP-GfK poll of 1,002 adults from the general population, also by GfK Roper. It involved cell and landline interviews conducted from May 7-11, and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

 

[Winterglo]

As a social justice scholar who studies gender, sexuality, race, and class I can say in no uncertain terms that dressing up as a mariachi band is racist. There are a million other ways you can go to put together a band costume without resorting to essentializing an entire culture to one stereotype. Someone mentioned in a post that context is important, but I have to disagree. There is no time when it is okay to indiscriminately appropriate aspects of another culture in a disrespectful manner because you think its funny: a lesson that was learned a little too late for certain college fraternities who have been excoriated nationally for throwing Bloods and Crips, USA vs Mexico, and Colonial Bros and Nava-Hos parties. Whenever people don cherry picked signifiers of other cultures, all it ends up doing is illustrating white privilege and dominance by turning other cultures into caricatures.

Regardless of any of what I said above, I think the fact that you are uncomfortable with the idea is a pretty good indicator that you should do something else.

Wait-How did you get to White Priveledge? Dominance?? It's a costume! Why do we have to read so much into everything we do. White males can't do a lot anymore it seems, without someone getting their precious feeeeelings hurt, bringing up slavery and inevitably White Priviledge. Eddie Murphy dressed as a White Man and that was hilarious. Making fun of those stereotypes is ok, but everyone else-look out!

 

[Menorahman]

So to fix these issues it must be best get offended at a halloween costume.

 

[Anachronism]

Oh so indigenous populations benefitted as much from the Columbian exchange as Europeans did?
NAFTA did as much for the Mexican economy as it did for the US?
I'll make sure to let them know when I send in my resignation as their official champion.

So, unable to respond coherently to my point, you instead construct a series of strawmen and move the goalposts (if I may mix metaphors). You didn't just say that Mexicans have sometimes been victimized, you sought to render them absolute victims by saying that they've been scrapping the bottom for 500 years. The distinction matters because your condescending attitude requires that you deprive those whose cause you claim to champion of agency of their own, thereby justifying your officiousness toward the rest of us. If Mexicans (and those in the USA of Mexican ancestry) are not the monolithic block of victims you wish to represent, but instead a diverse and complex group of people(s) with varying levels of power and privilege...well, you can't so easily assume the superiority that allows you to step in as their champion, can you?

 

[matante]

I just want to point out before this thread is closed, that the few Mexicans who replied, including myself, all said that mariachi costume is not offensive. Just pointing that out to those of you who are arguing the opposite. Might want to take that into account and reflect on your position.

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

Well, I am doing my best to be direct, with you, Evan is it? Am I failing? Perhaps. But the fact remains you called feminists and social justice advocates misguided and selfish. And that bothers me quite a lot.

Nice deflection with a side of ad hominem.

 

[mdogs]

Tl;dr. As a musician, I am offended by many people who think they are musicians. People choose what they want to be offended by, but a band dressing up as another type of band who just happen to be Latino seems completely innocent. But I swear, if you dress up as middle age white guys with beer bellies, I will be all over you!

 

[callofcthulhu]

I'm Scandanavian. When Flavor Flav was wearing a Viking helmet on that MTV show back in the 90s, I didn't have a meltdown. I figured he was digging that aspect of the Scandanavian culture.
When non-Scandanavians wish to dress as Vikings when they go to Minnesota Viking games, that doesn't bother me me, either.
White guys dressing as Mariachis? Afrian Americans dressing as Vikings? Who cares? Get over it.

See the response someone else made about Germans:

Since Germans aren't a race; (insert Nazi joke of your choice here) it isn't racist and since Germany is a first world powerhouse in 2015, I can't really see it as malignant.

Also see my response about mocking Christianity:

You cannot simply deny the existence of power structures. Humor does not exist in a vacuum. It IS funny to mock Christianity because it has been on the top of the totem pole for the past two thousand years. It can stand to be knocked down a few pegs. Mexicans have been scraping the bottom for the past five hundred years - precisely BECAUSE of that position of power Christianity was enjoying all that time. They've payed their dues. It's not funny to see someone knocked down who's already at the bottom.

It's the same reason why you throw someone a roast to mark an accomplishment, and not at their funeral.

 

[SunnBass]

I just want to point out before this thread is closed, that the few Mexicans who replied, including myself, all said that mariachi costume is not offensive. Just pointing that out to those of you who are arguing the opposite. Might want to take that into account and reflect on your position.

Correct, wearing Mariachi costumes, while playing mariachi music is not offensive.

 

[RobBottom69]

What's the best offensive costume for metal?

 

[sevdog]

Dear Anyone who would be offended by or otherwise upset by a guy dressed as a Mariachi,

Please don't come to my Halloween Party. You are what we refer to as a "party pooper."

Thanks,

Everyone who hasn't lost their mind

 

[EMoneySC2]

Hmm. Perhaps I don't know who you are speaking about. I don't know if I've ever heard of "today's social equality advocates." Espcially popolar ones? Help me out here, give me an example maybe?

The Tumblr crowd. Brianna Wu and Anita Sarkeesian.

There are definitely better advocates for social equality out there, but the people in the spotlight right now make mockery of the legacy started by people like MLK.

 

[Awesome Sauce]

No, because we oppressed Hispanic people.

Here, from The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Who's discriminated against in America? More people say Hispanics than blacks or women – and it's far from just Hispanics who feel that way.

An Associated Press-Univision Poll found that 61 percent of people overall said Hispanics face significant discrimination, compared with 52 percent who said blacks do and 50 percent who said women.

The survey also underscored how perceptions of prejudice can vary by ethnicity. While 81 percent of Latinos said Hispanics confront a lot or some discrimination, a smaller but still substantial 59 percent of non-Hispanics said so.


It is not unusual for members of a group to feel they face more prejudice. In this survey, that was especially true when people were asked about "a lot" of discrimination. Fifty-five percent of Hispanics but only 24 percent of non-Hispanics said Hispanics encounter that.

"I see it in people's faces, in the way they react," said Raymond Angulo, 66, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen and retiree from Pico Rivera, Calif. "It's gotten somewhat better, but it's still there. I feel like it's never going away."

However, Jason Welty, a lawn care specialist in Indianapolis who is not Hispanic, said he has seen little evidence of the problem despite working frequently with Hispanics.

"They're treated by most of our clients and the people we work with just like anybody else," said Welty, 30.

The AP-Univision Poll compiled the views of 901 Hispanics, which were compared with the results of a separate AP-GfK survey of the general population.

Attention on whether Latinos face unfair treatment has intensified since last month, when Arizona enacted a law requiring local police to ascertain the citizenship of people they suspect of being in the U.S. illegally.

President Barack Obama called the statute "misdirected" Wednesday at a joint news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and he said the Justice Department will soon complete a review of whether it violates civil rights laws. But others have rallied behind the statute as a needed step with an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Lisa Navarrete, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, the Latino advocacy organization, said the poll's findings suggest a silver lining in the country's often bitter debate over immigration.

"For a lot of people, regardless of how they feel about what we should do about immigration, they're recognizing that this community has been singled out and targeted," Navarrete said.

About 40 percent of the Hispanics in the survey said they had experienced much discrimination personally – including just 13 percent who said they had dealt with it a lot.

"I was discriminated against, 'You're just a dumb Mexican,'" said Ric J. Romero, 56, a retiree in Albuquerque, N.M., who said he traces his family's origins to Spain, not Mexico. "Yes, there is still very heavy discrimination."

But Sabino Infante, 62, a college admissions counselor from Hesperia, Calif., said he has never experienced the problem. Infante, who is originally from Mexico, attributed the higher perceptions of prejudice by Hispanics than non-Hispanics to some people having "a chip on their shoulder, an attitude."

Among Hispanics, women are more likely than men to say Latinos suffer discrimination. In addition, Hispanics from cities and rural areas are more likely than those from the suburbs to say Latinos face a lot of prejudice.

Matilde Martinez, 59, a Puerto Rican-born New Yorker, said she believes Mexican immigrants face much mistreatment.

"It causes me a lot of pain," she said in an interview conducted in Spanish. "These people come to work and they do work that the Americans won't do for the little pay they get."

There also are partisan differences. Fifty-five percent of Hispanic Democrats and 38 percent of Hispanic Republicans say there is a lot of discrimination against Hispanics, and Hispanic Democrats are more likely than those in the GOP to say they have personally been affected.

Hispanics in the poll perceived discrimination against other groups a bit more often than non-Hispanics did.

Fifty-seven percent of Latinos and 50 percent of non-Hispanics said blacks are discriminated against. Fifty-eight percent of Hispanics and 48 percent of others said they had observed discrimination against women.

The AP-Univision Poll was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from May 7-12. It involved landline and cell phone interviews with 901 Hispanic adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5.3 percentage points.

The findings were compared to a separate AP-GfK poll of 1,002 adults from the general population, also by GfK Roper. It involved cell and landline interviews conducted from May 7-11, and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

Maybe YOU have, but I've never oppressed anyone in my life. I have neither the money nor power needed to oppress one person, let alone an entire race or culture. I mean, sure, I've *tried*, but it's just so much damn work.

 

[GregT]

matante said: ↑
I just want to point out before this thread is closed, that the few Mexicans who replied, including myself, all said that mariachi costume is not offensive. Just pointing that out to those of you who are arguing the opposite. Might want to take that into account and reflect on your position.

SunnBass said:
Correct, wearing Mariachi costumes, while playing mariachi music is not offensive.

Thank you for simply answering the OPs question. Of course it isn't offensive. Mariachi bands are too cool!!!

 

[Frank77]

I'll take "offensive halloween costumes" for 1000$, Alex.