Offensive Halloween Costumes: Tokio Hotel Edition

[lazmy]

Tokio Hotel's guitarist Tom Kaulitz decided to be a Native American warrior for Halloween. Complete with a fake nose, headdress, beads and battle wounds he completes his look as Tokio Hotel's culturally insensitive douchebag.

Comments

[kimoto]

I'm dutch and I see native inspired headdresses way too often. At festivals for one. I can't speak for germany but in Holland people often don't see the problem. We don't really get the history here at school. Only a tiny bit in maybe the second year of highschool. Culture appropriation just doesn't seem to be discussed that often unless it happens here.

It's sad but a lot needs to change for people to become aware.

[angelic_white]

Fellow Dutchie here. I've tried to explain that too often that here people see nothing wrong with wearing a headdress because we were never taught it is seen as offensive to Native Americans. But right now the country makes me sick anyway with the Zwarte Piet discussion :/ People seem so convinced they have the right to discriminate because they don't find it hurtful to those affected.

[kimoto]

The zwarte piet discussion is so embarrassing. I can't believe how angry people get about it. It's something to easy to change and something so obviously racist that I just don't get all the response.

[comava]

People seem so convinced they have the right to discriminate because they don't find it hurtful to those affected.

WORD

[brightstarmara]

This.

[comava]

I'm Swiss, and IA - just posted something similar in another comment. It's just not a topic here, especially when it concerns something as far-removed from Europe as Native Americans. The harmfulness of blackface or headdresses or gypsy costumes or whatever simply isn't discussed, except for post-colonial seminars at university idk idk

[kimoto]

Blackface is an european issue as well though. My country had many black slaves and are pretty guilty. Still we have a racist holiday. So I'm not sure if it's just that they don't know the history of America but it seems they like to forget their own.

[comava]

of course it's a global issue, IA completely. The problem is that if it doesn't affect them (nationally, usually, that is, if it's not a direct part of one national history) it's not topic of discussion and people aren't sensitized.

Or like you say, it's a direct part of national history that people would prefer to forget because open discussion is too shameful or painful.

[brightstarmara]

This is very true. I feel like all we discussed and were taught about were the two world wars. And not much else.