In Defense of Blackface on Halloween

I'm dead fucking serious.  There's an article about how kids at Ohio University are mounting a campaign to end costumes depicting racial and ethnic stereotypes.  Aren't all halloween costumes ethnic stereotypes?  Viking, ninja, matador, mobster, leprechaun, samurai, native american, greek, roman, it goes on and on. Too much of anything is a bad thing, and taking ideas to an extreme eventually creates diminishing returns.  Political correctness and cultural "tolerance" are no exception to this rule.  These notions are necessary and valuable, but they don't apply in all situations, and at the risk of sounding ignorant to all you offended-for-sake-of-being-offended peeps, just lighten up.

Just Chill Mon!

Halloween is the night where we take on a new identity and get creative, and there are so many classic costumes that could be conveyed as "offensive."  Only recently have groups come forward to complain, but it seems like overkill at this point.  The average person is so sensitive and tolerant nowadays because there are real consequences to NOT being that way.  Aside tolerance being inherently "right", if you're intolerant, you could lose your job, friends, and reputation.  But don't be so greedy liberal complainers, you can't take everything as an affront to your existence.

HOW the fuck can you be so outraged at everything?

We need a standard for acceptable racial tolerance that focuses on intent rather than those that are subjectively "offended."  It's really easy to feel offended if you're in the mood for it.  People make fun of me for being colorblind, but that's something I was born with and have no control over.  It's like making fun of a kid in a wheelchair, but do I complain?  No, because there's value in making fun of each other.   If you're equating a white dork dressed as Lil' Wayne and 1920s minstrel shows, you have an overly broad definition of racism and you're waayyy too easily outraged.

Blooming Diarrhea

Ok, there are certainly some ignorant people and ignorant costumes that aren't right, but we can't just ban everything that might "offend" someone.  There has to be a line. Where is it?  I don't know, but if we oblige these bored weirdos trying to kill Halloween, they'll find something else.  Yes, once they've ruined Halloween, they'll be "offended" by something else and the next crusade will begin.  I've always thought fake-ethnic food places were ripe for the picking.  I'm sure we can find a group of Asians outraged over P.F. Changs or some Australians with their surf-trunks in a knot about Outback.  These restaurants are offensive for reasons that have nothing to do with racial insensitivity.


At this rate,  we'll outlaw everything fun and genuine.  Eventually we'll be a paste-colored asexual race that can't form opinions or communicate on a level greater than small talk.  Our free time feels more and more like a stiff office culture, let's peel it back a little.

Mardi Gras in 2050