Can White Kids Dress as Black Panther for Halloween? Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation vs. Appreciation

Ah, Halloween: pumpkins and candy and corn mazes and hayrides and trying to keep up while your kids change their costume ideas/requirements every day for a month. Spooky season is a blast -- but it also brings up the thorny topic of cultural appropriation.?

In this environment of heightened focus on diversity and inclusion, we all face questions around what’s appropriate when it comes to representing other cultures.?

• Can white kids dress as Black Panther (or anyone else from Wakanda) for Halloween??
• Are Dios de los Muertos parties appropriate (or in May, Cinco de Mayo parties) ?
• Washington Redskins: definitely not. But Florida State Seminoles… yes?

Lessons learned from Moana

I faced a similar question myself recently. One of my passion projects is being the director and choreographer for a non-profit youth theater program. In this role for the past 12 years, I have helped the team put on a pre-professional level production with a cast of around 70 kids.

This year we are doing Moana, a fictional tale about non-fictional Oceanic cultures. In the words of Disney Theatrical Productions, Moana is “a celebration of the cultures and peoples of the Pacific Islands, inspired by their shared history of ancient wayfinding and exploration.”

In the production materials for the director, there are several resources that explain the history, folklore, and mythology of the culture complete with specific guidance for design, costuming and even choreography:

“To be respectful of Oceanic culture, avoid any design that utilizes elements that are closely related to 1950’s Hawaiian ‘tiki’ aesthetics, such as tiki carvings and luaus, and use restraint when incorporating floral motifs.”

Great! That’s helpful. Even more enlightening was their guidance regarding the costuming for Maui:

“Tattoos are an earned, sacred part of Pacific Islander culture and should not be worn by any non-Pacific Islander as part of a costume; under no circumstances should your actor wear any tattoos.”

After learning this, our costume team had to do a quick about-face and rework our ideas! But we were glad to do so, each of us with new knowledge that we hadn’t considered before.

“The difference between cultural appreciation and appropriation: doing the work”

Our theater company’s experience with Moana reminded me of a fabulous quote from Black Panther’s costume designer, Ruth E. Carter: the difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation is doing the work.?

The work she’s referring to is the education around the culture you are seeking to use or wear. That means understanding what each of the elements mean, how they are used, who gets to use them, when they are used… in essence, respecting the culture by learning about it. Ask questions. Look past your own assumptions and biases. Then adjust accordingly.?

Put a different way, intention is the distinguishing factor between appreciation and appropriation. That may sound “fuzzy,” but it makes all the difference in the world.?

4 steps to cultural appreciation, not appropriation

So what can we do as we embrace diversity and inclusion in our work and in our communities to educate and engage with the glorious tapestry of diverse cultures? Follow the 4Es.

1. Educate. Do your homework! Are you honoring and accurately depicting the true culture or are you making fun or perpetuating a negative stereotype?
2. Empathize. Hear from the voices of the culture. In my theater program, on our first day of rehearsal, we talked about the culture of the Pacific Islanders we were going to be representing and how important it was to do so with humility and appreciation. I asked our cast members if any of them were of Pacific Island descent. One young boy shot his hand straight into the air. “Miss Dionn! Miss Dionn!! I am!” The other kids turned and listened intently as he stood in his ancestry as tall as his 12-year old self would allow and told us about his lineage. Even now, several weeks into rehearsal, he often chimes in with critical pieces of background knowledge that helps us better create the scene as well as correct our pronunciation of some of the Samoan and Tokelauan words we sing.
3. Engage. Participate with accuracy, honor, and appreciation. Any kid can be Black Panther -- but as parents, it’s our job to help them engage with the character and context. Engage by reading a book or watching a movie about the culture or written by a member of that culture, make a donation to a non-profit that supports the group, learn facts about the culture and make it real by drawing the line to how it impacts your lives today or challenge your kids to come up with ideas on what they would do? (If you had super tech like Wakanda, would you share it with others or keep it just for our family to use?) Discuss both sides of the position and brainstorm middle ground.
4. Expect. Hold yourself and others around you accountable for accurately honoring and depicting cultures other than your own. My alma mater, Stanford University , banned the Indian as their mascot in 1972, two years after originally begin petitioned by Stanford American Indian Organization (SAIO) for removal of Stanford's Indian mascot—both the logo (as a “false image of the American Indian”) and the man, Timm Williams (whose live performances at sporting events were a “mockery of Indian religious practices.”) The old logo didn’t just go away, but students and organizations continue to hold the University accountable for its ongoing impact.?

FedEx, similarly, held the NFL accountable when it requested a change to the league’s Washington franchise. While the owner originally insisted that a name change would “never happen,” it turns out some pressure from financial backers did the trick.?

So, this Halloween (and every day), remember that the key is “doing the work.” Engaging in cultural diversity is a wonderful, productive element of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Like most things, to do it right, it just needs to be done with the right intention.?