Everyone is getting into the spirit of Halloween as the beloved holiday quickly approaches. Halloween is a time when everyone should enjoy throwing on a costume and pretending to be anything from a wizard to a hotdog. But some people take dressing up too far, choosing costumes that are tasteless and offensive.

Too often people dress up in stereotypical, cultural costumes such as Mexican ponchos and sombreros, feathered Native American headdresses, Middle Eastern garb or over-sexualized geisha kimonos. These costumes perpetuate stereotypes and sometimes even mock these cultures. It is especially offensive when people use religious items as part of their costumes. 

Some will argue they are “honoring the culture,” but wearing a stereotypical costume is not honoring anything. I know someone of Hispanic heritage who isn’t as offended by the costumes as she is by the way people act when wearing them. People behave foolishly and say things that any other time of the year would be considered racist.

In 2011, Ohio University started the campaign “We’re a Culture, not a Costume” to help raise awareness of this issue by having posters portraying people of different races standing next to their stereotype. This campaign was all about getting college students to consider how their costume may affect people before selecting it.

Blackface, yellowface or any other kind of racial makeups used in Halloween costumes are also never OK. That is something that should have stopped years ago in the 1930’s. I was appalled to discover people still use face paint to discriminate.

One of the most insensitive costumes I have seen for this Halloween season is an Ebola containment suit. This is neither cute nor funny. People are fighting for their lives because of this disease, yet some find it humorous to waltz around wearing such a distasteful costume. It is argued that Halloween is all about having fun, and this is simply a way of making light of a serious situation, but that is the problem. This is a serious situation in which thousands of people have died. It is disrespectful to those who are currently suffering and those who have passed away.

I understand most people who put on these costumes aren’t trying to hurt anyone or be offensive. To them, they are just having fun, but that doesn’t make it OK.