This weekend, people took to the streets to take advantage of the one day they can dress up as somebody else. During this Friday's Halloween there were the usual sexy cops, wannabe super heroes, and an overwhelmingly number of groups of friends dressed up as robbers or the war veterans who rob a bank in the film "Dead Presidents" (more on this later). But the most creative and most controversial award in my book goes to Ms. Benefit Card herself.
The photo which appeared on my Facebook feed as a shared post is of a young black woman with the New York State Benefit card on her face, literally. The benefit card usually grants people of low income or those at risk of poverty healthcare or financial assistance in the form of food vouchers. The young woman, who through my research remains nameless, walks happily down the street calling attention to what might simply be a joke or the need to look at the stereotypical "face" of poverty.
With something as "innocent" as this supposed costume, poverty becomes racial, a black issue, and through her smile, perceived as an every day luxury for people who are freeloaders (as is heard from some critics of welfare programs). With this costume, I read a social taboo that isn't talked about because aspects as such are accepted as every day life. A social norm. Much of the comments under the photo called the girl with the benefit card "creative"and "funny", while others said she was "killing it". Some people though weren't laughing. Opposing comments read, "How sad", "what's scary is her family getting a job" and "if social services didn't just give the money away, they wouldn't have a job." The issue with the costume and the distribution of it on popular social media sites is that it causes people to become uninformed. One comment from a white guy read, "I'm from Ohio. I don't know what this is but it's hilarious" and went on to tag one of his friends on the post. Across the nation, this photo is allowing the stereotype that black is associated with being poor and that for some reason they are okay with it.
On that note let me return to the Dead Presidents costume. On more than one occasion, both men and women were seen donning the famous face paint of the movie. This photo was found on Pinterest on a the website of a makeup artist. Although you can't clearly tell what ethnicity or race this man is (you can only assume he's either white or Latino), it calls my attention because it was a popular costume and has been for a while now. In the millennial generation where the Twin Towers turned into a graveyard of thousands, the financial crisis has left many unemployed, and the youth marched into wars under false pretenses, the popularity of such costumes states society is waking up. They are jaded and realistic to the circumstances at hand and they are going against the grain to survive. Even if it is robbing a bank. Or, at least pretend to. Innocence has been stolen and they are going to take it back.
The mentioned costumes are presented together because they fall along the same lines of poverty. When face with it, people will choose to do two things. They will wear it on their face and smile back at any shame associated with it or they will hide behind a mask to get away from it all. Either way the system that keeps them in poverty will be threatened and although blame will be put on the people with the masks, the bigger issue is facing the reality of why they put it on in the first place.
