Multicultural Initiatives: Halloween Costumes

What's this blog about?

I teach several courses under the broad topic of "Multicultural Education," prioritizing social justice issues of access, power/privilege, & narrowing the academic achievement gap. I am a person of color and I almost always have a white co-teacher. We include topics, such as: racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, ethnocentrism, deculturalization, transforming curriculum, etc. This is a place where I post information that we teach; lesson plans for activities; and resources we use and/or which are shared with me by my adult students.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Halloween Costumes

Yesterday, I went with kids to get costumes. I saw the stereotypical "Indian," among other things. It's a problem that these exist and that folks choose to dress up as another culture, in a stereotypical way, particularly an oppressed group with very few positive, accurate images. Here is a great "open letter" by someone who makes important points on the topic - it's a long read, but well worth the effort to gain understanding: http://nativeappropriations.com/2013/10/open-letter-to-the-pocahotties-the-annotated-version.html