After my annual in-class Race and Halloween conversation, one of my students sent me  this BuzzFeed link. Check it out, and then see below for commentary.

Three things, BuzzFeed.

First, doing a racist thing does not necessarily mean the offender is a jerk. Often, it means they are culturally embedded and naively expressing the logics of a racist society. Bonilla-Silva famously claims that we live in a society of racism without racists, or a society that outwardly values multiculturalism and colorblindness while implicitly maintaining whiteness as the default and supreme category. The values of colorblindness and multiculturalism are tools in the perpetuation of white supremacy, as they discount racial difference as an organizing principle while ignoring deeply embedded structural and cultural racial inequalities.

To identify a person engaging in a racist act as a jerk is to define this person against the values of multiculturalism and colorblindness—the very tools that silence the voices of racial oppression. These “racist actors” are construed as bad apples, not one of us, exceptions to an otherwise racially equitable society.

This individual focus is therefore not only incorrect, it is deleterious to the project of race consciousness, a project that understands and works to rectify racism as it pervades the large and small structures of daily life.

Moreover, it is unproductive. Calling someone a racist (or a jerk) invites defensiveness, rather than thoughtful conversation.  Saying “that thing you did was racist” is entirely different, and more useful, than saying “you are racist.” There are clear means by which the offender can learn and develop from the former, while the latter binds the offender to a defense of their entire personhood.

Second, reverse racism is not a thing. Racism refers to prejudice beliefs and discriminatory behaviors leveraged against racially oppressed groups. Concretely, you can’t be racist against whites.

People of color costuming as white characters is qualitatively different than white people costuming as people of color. The vast majority of BuzzFeed’s images depict people of color in white costumes, as though whiteface were a possibility and these Halloween enthusiasts are successfully avoiding it.

The inclusion (indeed, predominance of) people of color in these  images reveals the very colorblind assumptions I just detailed in point one, above.

Third, ohmigosh Lil Wayne and Scary Spice.  I don’t know how BuzzFeeders classify racism, but apparently white people who imitate people of color with deeply racialized and stereotypical tropes are immune from censure.

Michonne is a white woman in dreads, Lil Wayne has a grill, sagging pants, and flashes gang signs(?), while scary spice wears leopard  print, cat ears, and takes an animalized pose.

For the record, one does not need to physically paint the skin to dress in blackface.

Once again, BuzzFeed’s choice of images reflects colorblind assumptions coupled with an acceptance of racial stereotypes  and their perpetuation. With that said, even the most offensive costumes do not make the costumers terrible people. Rather, as highlighted in this BuzzFeed feature, these costumers are products of systemic racism, and  their forms of play on Halloween—i.e., that racist thing they did—both reflects and reinforces an underlying racial logic.

Jenny is an editor for Cyborgology and an Assistant Professor of Sociology at James Madison University. Follow Jenny on Twitter @Jenny_L_Davis