Photo Credit: WHNT
Halloween is two days away. And I don’t mind telling
you that I’ve grown to actually dislike it. Why? Take a
look at the photograph leading this story. That’s a picture
of Heath Morrow, a teacher from Decatur, Alabama and
his wife dressing as Kanye West & Kim Kardashian. Morrow
decided to make his appearance more enhanced by using
blackface. After a considerable and justified uproar once
the photo hit social media via his wife’s Facebook page,
Morrow apologized in a written statement on Monday. Part
of the statement by Morrow read: “I would first like to
apologize for my error in judgement.” He faces no sort
of disciplinary action by the school board, and continues
to teach. And stories like this are beginning to pop up
everywhere online as they have in the past few years
once the end of October comes to a close. Why?
Because Halloween is the one time of the year where you
get to see how a cross-section of white people truly feel
about Black people, and other people of color. It’s the time
where they let their subsconscious speak for them, fueled
by the need to party hard and large amounts of alcohol.
Every year we see these pictures pop up on the Internet,
every year we get outraged and spread the word about it
and see who’ll be pissed off and who’ll try to defend it in
the name of fun. Halloween has been called a “holiday”
by some people. It seems like it’s a holiday for the casual
bigots. Oh sure, to those who coat themselves in blackface,
wear the headdress of Native people or don oversized
sombreros and ponchos, it’s fun to pretend. It’s paying
them a compliment! It’s also the same sentiment that is
a by-product of all of the ills this society suffers with. It
says that all of these other cultures are disposable. Something
to slip on and lose oneself in, then discard whenever they’re
ready to. Think about it - whenever you see these horrible
blackface costume wearers, look at who they try to emulate.
Rappers. Athletes. Gang members. People who they claim
they don’t pay any attention to, but on one day of the year
they look to mock or try to be? It’s a fantasy that’s steeped
in some sort of weird envy. In some cases, it’s a distinct
sickness, as shown by those who decided to go as the late
Trayvon Martin. Or the recent exploitation of the conflict
between the Palestinians and the Israelis in costumes that
could be found on Amazon recently. Right down to one that
depicted an Arab sheik with an exaggerated nose. In a lot of
ways, Halloween is escapism. For adults, more so. But when
that escapism belittles people and hurts them. It’s disgraceful.
And no, it’s not a “cry-baby” sensibility to be aware of, contrary
to what Grace Dent of the Independent says. It’s become
all too apparent that the digital shaming of those who engage
in this casual bigotry isn’t enough. There has to be firm and
swift reprocussions delivered in a consistent manner. No neat
slaps on the wrist. Frankly, you might have more action if these
people who engage in blackface & other offensive practices on
Halloween caught severe beatdowns. I’m not advocating for
violence when I say that. But let’s be real: the reason why
you see these things occur is because they’re done by people
in an environment that won’t give them any flack. There’s no
clapback for this claptrap. Now if they went to a function where
there were people of color that would give them the business?
You’d see some real consequences dealt out by fists. As much
as people love candy corn, I doubt they’d like to see their teeth
on the ground as a bloody replica of that Halloween treat.
So if you’re reading this, and you feel your Halloween attire may
have crossed into the racist zone? Check out this infographic to
get a good idea. You don’t want to catch a beatdown, in digital
form or otherwise.