One of these things really is like the others...

[gement]

On Columbus Day, reading a bunch of links about the hipster headdress trend, I found myself pondering. The really maddening part of appropriation is people have no idea most of the time, and they're shocked, shocked I say, that people could think they meant something offensive. (Because of course it's all about what you meant.) They're hearing "I can't dress how I want" when people say "If you knew what that means to me, you wouldn't want to dress like that."

So I made this flier, suitable for sticking on surfaces in hipster neighborhoods this weekend when people are out and thinking about Halloween costumes. It's intended to say, "Don't offend people carelessly. Is that really the group you want to hurt? Know what you're doing or don't do it."

Note: The flier contains pictures of blatantly offensive racial stereotypes (blackface, Mr. Yunioshi, tacky headdress costume).

Flier PDF: One of these things really is like the others. The link at the bottom of the flier leads to a single entry blog post with a few educational links.

Please feel free to use, modify, or mirror the flier, and to link people here. I welcome public discussion and feedback/critique on this post or at the target link.

Thank you to my friends (particularly annissag and eeyorerin) who helped me extract this final version from a draft that looked like a dog's breakfast.

Comments

[maribou]

It's really neat to me to have watched your process a bit on this. This version is so much more effective and clear, and yet you preserved your initial impulse quite perfectly .... *smiles appreciatively*