Don't Be a Jerk This Halloween by Wearing an Offensive Costume

Avoiding costumes that could be a form of cultural appropriation on Halloween should be blatantly obvious, but without fail every year someone wears a problematic costume that can ruin the holiday fun. Outfits that reduce entire ethnic groups or religious identities to stereotypes are harmful and insensitive, and they will make you remembered as "that idiot" at the party.

At the end of the night, a person can take off their offensive costume, but minorities can't easily shake off their culture in the same way. Although the term cultural appropriation has been overused to the point where the meaning seems to have eroded, the reality is that it's a form of oppression that marginalized communities are forced to deal with. Halloween can feel more like a good time when people don't have their identities turned into caricatures that are mocked rather than celebrated.

As a few misguided celebrities have shown us in the past, there are some hard and fast things that you should avoid when planning your costume. It seems like a no-brainer, but seriously: avoid wearing afro-wigs or using blackface. For people of color—particularly black people— hair is a highly politicized feature that is way deeper than an accessory for a '70s-inspired look. Also, blackface and it's derivatives, yellowface and brownface, harkens back to centuries-old practices of white people imitating minorities by using makeup or shoe polish to darken their skin and mock people of color.

Also, steer clear of Native American headdresses — unless you're actually a Native American— and Muslim headscarves. Social media campaigns like #MyCultureIsNotACostume, aren't meant to force political correctness, but instead, remind people that the costumes they wear can dehumanize another person's culture.

Here are some examples of celebrities that have done race bent or cultural appreciation costumes well:

Miley Cyrus as Lil' Kim

Beyonce, Blue Ivy Carter and Jay-Z as Barbie, Skipper and Ken

Laverne Cox as Major Nelson from "I Dream of Jeannie"

Kim Kardashian West as Aaliyah

There's a lot to be scared of on Halloween but Twitter has proven that the scariest things aren't supernatural. On October 30, #scarystats was trending as activist groups posted facts about real inequalities that will really frighten you.