Free Republic

A Michigan State University department debuted Halloween posters titled, “A Culture is not a Costume" and included a guide called, “Is Your Halloween Costume Racist?” MSU’s Residence Hospitality and Services department featured the signs, which included a heavily detailed “Cultural Appropriation vs Appreciation” section, as spotted by Campus Reform. The boards are found throughout many of the university’s dorms. One poster brands the addition of a sombrero to a taco costume as “racist.” The poster contains a flowchart, which asks students whether their costumes use blackface, swastikas, or have “literally a name of a minority (that you are not) in...

A Michigan State University department debuted Halloween posters titled, “A Culture is not a Costume" and included a guide called, “Is Your Halloween Costume Racist?” MSU’s Residence Hospitality and Services department featured the signs, which included a heavily detailed “Cultural Appropriation vs Appreciation” section, as spotted by Campus Reform. The boards are found throughout many of the university’s dorms. One poster brands the addition of a sombrero to a taco costume as “racist.”

Despite their lofty SAT scores and sterling academic credentials, some Northwestern University students apparently need remedial instruction when it comes to selecting appropriate Halloween costumes. In an e-mail sent to the campus late Monday, Dean of Students Burgwell Howard warned against wearing racially or culturally insensitive costumes this weekend. He also discouraged "ghetto," "pimps and hos" and "gangsta" parties at the esteemed Evanston university. "Halloween is unfortunately a time when the normal thoughtfulness and sensitivity of most NU students can be forgotten and some poor decisions are made," Howard wrote. The directive follows a 2009 incident in which two students...

Catholic parents are being advised to celebrate Halloween by dressing up their children as popular saints instead of witches and devils. They should kit out their youngsters to look like St George, St Lucy, St Francis of Assisi or St Mary Magdalene rather than let them wear costumes that celebrate evil or occult figures, according to a campaign endorsed by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. Nor should pumpkins have menacing or scary faces carved into them, according to a website link provided by the bishops’ conference, but must wear smiley expressions and have crosses cut into the foreheads....