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[Edited 12.9.09-Decided to retire Halloween costume masthead and replace it with something less intense, as if white lettering on a black background was anything BUT intense. I will post my former masthead for this post's purposes.]

I'm making good on my word and giving you the long-awaited BLOG MASTHEAD EXPLANATION POST. I actually stumbled upon the word masthead not too long ago. While trying to use the word in a previous post I had trouble recalling the nautical sounding term. Was it starboard? Anchor? I had to refer to a blog that I regularly visit in order to figure it out.

So yes, we can now conclude that I AM A DORK.

Every Halloween BYU-ers never fail to impress me by using creativity to compensate for the lack of skanky costumes. Skanky costumes are not too hard to pull off, nor do they require much creativity. You get bonus points for just being half naked. Us BYU chicks don't have that luxury, though sometimes I think a few of us might benefit from the taking the easier road. Sometimes I see a costume and just think, man if only she showed a little skin that costume would be BOMB (Psh, you know you were thinking it too!).

As for me, I usually dress up as something involving minimal effort. Let me review the past years at BYU:
Year one-nothing (ultimate minimal effort)
Year two-witch (a witch hat and black clothing)
Year three-school girl

And finally, my crowning achievement came during YEAR FOUR, for it was this year I dressed up as a white girl. Explaining my costume was a bit awkward as I am mainly surrounded by white folk. Most people I told thought it was hilarious but didn't ask me my reasoning behind choosing to do so. If you know me you'll know that I have to have meaning behind most things I do. Not all mind you, that would get a little crazy. I guess most people just assumed that I chose my costume on a whim. Let me assure you, it was much more than that: my costume was going to make a statement and hopefully send a message. I didn't get much visibility with it, considering I didn't attend many parties. I'm not the party-goer type in case you were wondering. So in hopes that this blog post might send the message I was meaning to send on Halloween night, here goes nothing.

Is it appropriate to dress up as a member of an ethnic group you do not belong to? And if you are going to dress up as a member of an ethnic group, what features will you choose to incorporate into your costume in order to make it seem obvious that you are mimicking a member of such ethnic group? Is it the dark skin of an African? The obliqued eyes of an Asian? Furthermore, will you proceed to act in a stereotypical manner of that ethnic group? If you are in costume as an African-American will your actions be "gangster" in nature? My problem with costumes that suggest a certain ethnicity is that they often rely on stereotypes in order to make very apparent the ethnicity that is being represented. While I respect costumes that give respect to the culture being represented, for instance if a person of Caucasian descent where to wear a qipao (traditional Chinese dress) I would not have a problem with it. However, if a Caucasian were to wear a qipao while slanting their eyes and speaking in a thick broken English accent, I would have a word or two with them. If you want to be a white gangster, be my guest. Paint your skin brown, wear a grill and pop caps? Offensive. But Jess, isn't it all in good fun? Shouldn't Halloween be a time to let loose and have a laugh or two?

I refer to the following passage from West Virginia University's official publication, The Daily Athenaeum:

Blackface incident continues to cause consternation for some in community

By Adriane Williams

The Nov. 6 edition of The Daily Athenaeum published a story about members of the West Virginia University women’s soccer team painting their faces and padding their buttocks to imitate black women for Halloween.

The President’s Office for Social Justice decided the incident was not racist because there was no ill intent and because they were participating in a fun team event.

The incident itself was not shocking.

Every Halloween, students at colleges and universities across the nation engage in racist activities.

It is as if Halloween provides blanket permission to engage in hateful behavior. Blacks, foreign and domestic, along with Mexicans, Mexican-Americans and Native Americans seem to be easy to reduce to cartoons and caricatures.

I am certain the girls on the soccer team knew they were doing something wrong, because if the report is correct, they asked their black teammates to agree with their choice of costume.

We do not ask permission for things we know are appropriate.

There is no need to.

But I am perfectly willing to believe they have no idea just why they needed to ask.

And I am sure they are unclear about why their Facebook photos should have found their way to the President’s Office for Social Justice for investigation.

Blackface has an ugly legacy that is not a part of our collective education.

We are not taught about how whites painted themselves as caricatures of blacks, to dehumanize us, making it all the more permissible to keep us bound, to marginalize us, to lynch us and to do it all with impunity.

What is now seen as excusable because it was fun was also fun public entertainment in the recent past.

It was particularly fun for audiences to gather during slavery and through Reconstruction to watch men painted in blackface with exaggerated facial features perform as jovial ignorant caricatures of blacks – Jim Crow, sambos and coons.

With the advent of film and television, people were able to enjoy the mockery on the big screen or in the comfort of their homes.

Here in the early 21st century, there is still much fun to be had in demeaning people of color.

The obvious lesson from this incident is that we have holes in our education.

People who would very much like not to be called racist deal in racist speech and activity on a regular basis because of their ignorance.

Blacks as well as whites are ignorant of our national history.

We could all stand to learn more about who we are and from whence we come.

I sincerely believe that if those members of the soccer team knew they were choosing to participate in something with such a hateful legacy, they would have made a different choice.

Adriane Williams I commend you for being willing to call out something you deemed offensive, even though your school's administration felt otherwise. It is important to recognize that while something may seem innocent in the present, there are historical and cultural implications that must not be ignored. We are commissioned to learn from the past and improve upon our predecessors' mistakes. I believe West Virginia's soccer team took a step backward by choosing to resurrect racist behaviors from America's history.

So in short, I dressed up as a white person for Halloween 2009. I relied on "preppy" stereotypes while choosing what clothes and accessories to wear. I didn't go so far as to act like I just returned from a day at the country club, white privilege exuding from every pore. That just might've been a little too offensive...

Here's to hoping for less blackface, yellowface, redface (and every color in between) costumes in the future.