Recently, Black students at UCLA have reignited the hashtag #BlackBruinsMatter after a predominantly White fraternity and predominantly White sorority threw a racially themed costume party. It seems yearly, particularly during Halloween and back-to-campus celebrations, White students on predominantly White campuses are in the news for overtly racist actions.
However, there are examples of such acts taking place all year, and in March, the University of Oklahoma’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter was closed because of a video capturing a racist chant that went as far as to suggest lynching Black students. Similarly, in 2014, Cal State Fullerton’s Alpha Delta Pi faced sanctions after mocking Latino culture in a “Taco Tuesday” event. With numerous campuses having similar incidents making national headlines, university administrators are being forced to address racism and campus climate issues.
Today’s millennial college student has been stereotyped as “color-blind thinking,” believing that today’s racism is unrecognizable, possibly nonexistent, and a problem of the past. An education on the realities of structural and institutional racism is not the only way to challenge color-blind thinking; instead, one can to point to the persistent presence of overt racism of college campuses. This time of year, racism is far from invisible, as college students model their most creative, “racially insensitive” or overtly offensive Halloween costumes that they post proudly on social media.
The purpose here is not to complain about the annoyance and even anger that is aroused when observing students in blackface or with feathers in their hair dressed as Native Americans. Instead, we use these examples of racially offensive Halloween costumes as an opportunity to consider why racial ignorance and overtly racist ideas are still so prevalent on college campuses, as we reflect on a research study conducted on the effects of diversity course requirements.
