Days before Halloween, the Students Organized Against Racism (SOAR) club held a forum to discuss cultural appropriation, clearing the controversy on acceptable costumes. A panel of SOAR members considered the significance of cultural appreciation, ignorance, Westernization and more in a forum that is the first of many to come for the club.

One aim of the discussion was to define cultural appropriation, and differentiate it from cultural appreciation. On Halloween, SOAR members consider inappropriate costumes to be those that involve garments or hairstyles intended to mock or negatively portray another culture.

Some “off limits” costumes are those that involve blackface, sacred items, sexualized imitations of cultures, and overall clothes which “qualify as disrespectful” said Mateo Rincon.

However, the panel recognized that there are cases in which the use of other cultures’ styles can be appreciation rather than appropriation.

“In Bellevue, culture is so diverse it’s hard not to try it out” said Angelo Garcia.

When putting your Halloween outfit together, members recommend to “do you research before you buy a costume”, said Abdul Ali. If you ever find yourself using items or styles from another culture, Ms. Alexander and SOAR members agreed, be sure to “give credit where credit is due”.

The SOAR students also discussed how to respond to cultural appropriation witnessed online or in real life. “A lot of people approach it with an accusatory tone” said Ishika Gupta. A better strategy, some decided, was to stay objective and informative. “The biggest thing is ignorance,” said Gupta. “Education is key”.

Education and discussion play a large role in the goals of the Students Organized Against Racism. The club welcomes students of all races and viewpoints to come and express themselves.

More forums hosted by SOAR are to come in the future, so keep an eye out!