Who is running whose culture war?

Over the years, I have become quite accustomed to wars against various holidays and celebrations. There is a longstanding war on Christmas, a war on Thanksgiving, and of course the annual war on Columbus Day, and these wars are pretty much run by the politically correct left, for the usual politically correct reasons.

But a war on Halloween? That’s more akin to waging war against fun. One might think the left would beg off on that one and leave it to a few religious kooks and uptight puritans. You know, people more inclined to be on the right?

Wrong. These days, most of the uptight puritans who wage war against fun are decidedly on the left, and their latest target really is Halloween.

The University of Boulder has told students to:

avoid costumes including cowboys, indians, white trash or anything potentially deemed offensive

Also, no sombreros! And no hillbilly costumes either!

Interestingly, many of the redneck jokes I have heard were told by proud rednecks, but never mind that!

Here’s the “reasoning”:

According to a student news website Christina Gonzales, the dean of students, wrote: “Making the choice to dress up as someone from another culture, either with the intention of being humorous or without the intention of being disrespectful, can lead to inaccurate and hurtful portrayals of other people’s cultures.

What a load of steaming crap. But it is being taken very seriously, and it is by no means limited to the anointed bureaucrats at the University of Boulder. Right here in my town, the University of Michigan recently came down hard on a fraternity because they wanted to have a hip-hop event. The party has been canceled, and the fraternity forced to apologize. What utterly fascinated me was the bureaucratic outrage over the fact that white students had used a forbidden word said to belonged to another culture. This crime is called “cultural appropriation,” and the forbidden word is “ratchet”:

[Black Student Union Secretary] Gaines said she was particularly offended by the use of the word “ratchet,” which she says is prominently used in the Black community to describe something terrible or someone who doesn’t know how to handle themselves.

And:

[Erica Nagy] specifically took issue with the fact that no one involved in the fraternity identified with Black culture and that they used language “that wasn’t theirs to use” in an attempt to directly offend people.

Though this was the first time she had been invited to a party with an offensive theme, Nagy she knows it happens often — both in and out of Greek Life — because people don’t understand the ramifications of cultural appropriation.

As far as I’m concerned, this “cultural appropriation” (yes, it has a Wiki page) stuff is rat shit! These people have absolutely no sense of humor. Nor can they understand that the event organizer — a fan of hip-hop — was not mocking hip-hop, but echoing and celebrating it. From his apology:

Just because we celebrate and enjoy the music and terminology used by predominantly Black hip-hop artists, that does not mean we are attempting to appropriate Black culture. We take it for what it is, and that’s hip hop as music, and thus, hip-hip culture. If current hip hop is dominated by terminology like “twerking,” “ratchet,” and “swag,” then that’s what its audience absorbs as hip hop: it doesn’t have to be Black. But if people perceive it as so, then I agree that it’s completely inappropriate.

Since when is appropriation of culture an evil thing? Have not cultures been appropriating from each other since the beginning of humanity?

Since when has “culture” become sacred? Where does it end? Are white kids to be banned from playing rap music, wearing certain clothes, or, say, eating burritos?

And Halloween itself — indeed, the very idea of costumes, acting, performing — consist largely of cultural appropriation.

It strikes me that what these activists seek is cultural segregation.

Almost any costume worn is some sort of stereotype. And what about costumes showing blood and mangling, or zombies? Are they not mocking injury, incapacitation, and the dead? I guess that means we should just ban them all.

And as if that isn’t enough, there is also a war on Halloween candy. Instead of candy, children in Fargo were given this letter:

Lest anyone think this woman is alone in her war against Halloween candy, check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cnzbZ2RA4qQ

At least the kids have the courage to say they don’t like what they’re told is good for them.

MORE: This headline intrigued me.

Michelle Obama Says Kids Will One Day Trick-or-Treat for Vegetables

Well, I believe in freedom, and that includes the freedom to trick or treat for any and all vegetables.

Oh, wait.

Marijuana, hemlock, opium, belladonna, and henbane are all vegetables, are they not?