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KYLE BRUGGEMAN | DAILY NEBRASKAN
monday, october 31, 2011
happy halloween!
volume 111, issue 048
DAILY NEBRASKAN dailynebraskan.com
Students protest culturally insensitive costumes
G
oing to a Halloween party, one sees a wide variety of costumes. In the corner, a nurse talks to Waldo and Cleopatra dances with King Kong. A clown makes jokes in the kitchen while the vampire stalks throughout the room. But in the hallway sways an alcoholic Indian and a geisha makes her way up the stairs. Someone walks through the front door wearing a poncho, sombrero and mustache while riding an inflatable donkey. They might just be trying to be funny, but others feel offended. Students at Ohio University began a campaign as a response to the racial and ethnic-stereotyped Halloween costumes: “We’re a culture, not a costume.” Posters were made with title of the campaign across the top of the poster, followed by “This is not who I am, and this is not okay.” Below the words is a person of a certain ethnic background holding a photo of the stereotyped costume. The student group Students Teaching About Racism in Society (STARS) couldn’t be reached for comment. Jared Dailey, president of the Mexican-American Photo by Andrew Dickinson Student Association at the Story by Frannie sprouls
University of NebraskaLincoln and a senior business administration major, said he was proud of, but nervous for, the campaign. “The reason being is that they have taken on the viewpoints and beliefs of the minorities in society,” Dailey said. “And when you do that, you’re automatically preparing yourself for backlash and people thinking that your viewpoint is stupid.” Sam Jones, president of the University of Nebraska Inter-Tribal Exchange and junior family studies major, thinks the campaign is a good movement to start. “I think raising awareness and education is going to help take away some of the offensive costumes and people think twice about the way they dress,” Jones said. “Because you don’t know if something is wrong if you’re never taught that, and you don’t know if you’re doing something offensive if no one says anything.” Various ethnic and racial stereotyped outfits are found in costume stores. One popular store is Spirit Halloween, which has a location in Lincoln. A couple of the ethnic stereotyped costumes for men include “Tequila Pop N Dude” and “Mexican Poncho.” For females,
there is “Pocahottie,” “Native Knockout” or “Pow Wow Princess.” Mike Fitzgibbons, franchise owner of the Lincoln store, said he hasn’t taken a complaint during the nine years he has run the store. “Halloween is a humorous season and it’s not meant to offend,” Fitzgibbons said. “It’s one night of naughty humor.” Fitzgibbons said he didn’t see why any of the costumes sold at Spirit would be offensive. He said Spirit wouldn’t permit any offensive costumes to be sold. “What we sell, it’s not too outrageous,” Fitzgibbons said. “It’s not over the top.” When it comes to dressing up for Halloween, Daily listed four reasons to wear a costume: to be scary, to replicate an icon or celebrity, to be funny or to be sexy. “When you see (offensive) costumes, which category is it falling under?” Daily said. “Is it falling under the scary? I doubt it. Is it falling under the sexy? I definitely doubt that as well. It’s not replicating an icon or celebrity, that’s for sure. “So I think that only leaves the funny category and I think that’s where you are making fun of an
entire culture whether you realize it or not.” Dailey said he feels costumes based on culture are offensive to someone, somewhere. As a Mexican-American, Dailey deals with many stereotypes, such as the belief that every MexicanAmerican is an undocumented immigrant. Another stereotype, one he said was probably the worst, is that Spanish is the first language learned. “That could be true for some people but not always true for all of us, especially for myself,” Dailey said. “I don’t know Spanish, only English.” When it comes to costumes, Daily said it is not necessarily the costumes that offend him but rather how the costumes are labeled, such as “The Mexican.” So when he goes in the store and sees any stereotyped costumes, he said he puts them behind another row of some other costume. “I feel that it’s offensive to someone out there,” Dailey said. Jones said he thinks offense isn’t with the costume but rather how the person acts in the costume. “I get mad about how people perceive Indians as
COSTUMES: see page 3
Neihardt ghost tours play on campus legends DANAE LENZ daily nebraskan
“This is it. This is where I died,” a scared-looking girl with blood smeared across her face said. She pointed to the crawl space in front of her, explaining that was where they found her body. Her speech was interrupted when a man dressed in black from head to toe came thundering down the hall and she sprinted away, screaming at the top of her lungs. The man caught up to her and threw her in a room. The sounds of him beating against a wooden door rang out down the hallway.
logan page 4
This might sound like the beginning of a horror movie, but this time it’s not. This was a scene that took place in Neihardt Hall Tuesday as part of Neihardt’s annual ghost tours. About 335 people attended the event. Max Walling, Neihardt’s residence director, said the ghost tours are a “longstanding tradition.” Most of their stories, he said, come from a thesis written in 1997 by Jessica Kennedy, titled, “Folklore and Ghost Stories on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus: A Compilation.” Kennedy wrote all about the campus. She explored the ghosts of the Temple Building, the Lewis-Syford House
at 700 N. 16th St. and Selleck Quadrangle. However, many of those stories written in her thesis were from Neihardt. In her thesis, she discusses the importance of oral tradition and remembering the stories passed down. “Books of ghost stories aren’t very useful when the power goes out or while snuggled around the campfire,” she wrote. The residents of Neihardt took that very thought to heart when they recited their ghost stories. The tours began with a stop at an old elevator located next to Neihardt’s main entrance. Standing next to the
arts & literature page 5
elevator, Casey Gieseking, a freshman natural resources and environmental economics major, began her tale, “Our story begins almost 200 years ago, when an inventor named Elisha Otis creates what is dubbed the ‘safety elevator.’” She continued to tell of a girl who took a little longer to move out for the summer than her friends. By the time she left, everyone was gone. She stepped into the elevator and never left because no one was around to hear her cries for help. Or so the story goes.
Haunted: see page 3 news page 3
Weather | sunny
Creative costumes
Honoring the dead
Scary stories, older crowd
Halloween should be about creativity, not sexiness
Sheldon offers dia de los muertos celebration
Ghost storytelling event teaches adults art of horror
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bea huff | daily nebraskan
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