Parents of kids at East Lansing’s Marble Elementary School got emails recently, the subject of which was “Fall Harvest msg.” The note was actually about Halloween, and I'll bet you have a pretty good idea of what it said.
“As a school district and as a staff at Marble, we are working to increase our level of cultural responsiveness and competency.
“ I want to encourage all families to be sensitive to cultures when selecting Fall Harvest and Halloween costumes, specifically to not stereotype any cultural group. In addition, please remember our policy restricting costumes depicting violence and/or a display of weapons.”
So, no native Americans, Arab sheiks, Gypsies, Eskimos, Ninjas … No sombreros, kimonos, turbans, berets, or Latin fruit hats … No plastic pirate daggers, toy Davy Crockett muskets, light sabers, Indiana Jones whips … No vampires, zombies, werewolves, or devils … And certainly no soldiers, or marines.
