Halloween costumes give people a chance to be someone or something else for a night. They are meant to be fun and lighthearted. After all, it’s a holiday centered on candy, parties and scary movies. Yet, some people seem to take it very seriously. There are a lot of people who think that Native American outfits, sombreros, ninjas and other costumes are no longer appropriate and a form of cultural appropriation. They argue that cultures aren’t costumes and that using another group’s culture as a costume devalues it. But that’s exactly what costumes are: a cultural homage. They can be direct representations of a culture’s historical roles, like knights or princesses. They can also come from fantasy like vampires, clowns and goblins. But they are still part of the collective social mythos of a particular culture. Creatures like fairies and goblins aren’t just things created for consumers, they stem from the mythologies of various western tribes and cultures stretching back over millennia and are a unique part of the Caucasian heritage.
Halloween simplifies these concepts. Most people aren’t having in-depth cultural discussions over their choice of Halloween costume. Nevertheless, Halloween allows people to flirt, no matter how superficially, with other cultures. Halloween mostly does that through an aesthetic perspective. Many other parts of culture are left out: religion, custom, etc. It’s definitely not a comprehensive view of a group’s cultural heritage. It’s impossible to distill hundreds of Native American tribes into a single costume, just as it’s impossible to distill hundreds of Caucasian cultures into a single costume. Not every German is running around in lederhosen nor every Scot in a kilt. But regardless of the limitations, it’s an effort done in adoration, not with ill intent. If someone wants to dress up in a culture other than their own it’s because they admire at least some aspect of the culture that’s been presented to them.
That type of cultural exchange, even on a small level, has been an important part of bringing groups of people together throughout history. In fact, that’s how Halloween came about: a product of originally pagan and Celtic practices fused with Christian tradition. The same can be said for many other holidays and even holy figures. Many Christian saints are in fact appropriated from Roman gods. These processes helped to bring peoples and customs together so that they could live in harmony, no matter the circumstances of their coming together.
If there’s a problem with Halloween, it’s not that people are dressing up as other cultures. It’s that it doesn’t go far enough and doesn’t represent the full swath and diversity of these cultures. That’s why so many different costumes exist for western tradition but only very generic ones for many of the minority cultures in this country. But silencing that cultural communication and exchange isn’t a good way to work towards that goal. If anything, it’s counter-intuitive. Cutting off venues for cultural exchange and essentially segregating culture will never work in favor of the minority. It only allows custom, tradition, cultural icons and all manner of things to be further monopolized by the dominant culture. Halloween allows only a very limited venue for this type of intercultural communication, but it does have an impact. It allows people to dissociate from their own culture, and that’s a valuable skill to practice. It makes people more comfortable to be exposed to different ideas and cultures and see the value. That helps preserve culture and give it meaning, not devalue it.