NPR

The Code Switch Guide To Halloween

Halloween each year brings a cauldron of unpleasantness for people of color. And a surge of questions to our inbox. To get through it all, we put together the official Code Switch Guide to Halloween.
Scull door knocker and cobweb Halloween decorations, on the day before Halloween in Philadelphia, Penn.

It's that time of year: Leaves are falling, temperatures are dropping, families are heading out to the pumpkin patch, and that one neighbor is preparing to hand out raisins to kids who'd much, much rather have candy. All is well ... at least until our social media feeds are flooded with the annual onslaught of racial Halloween faux pas.

Often these incidents trigger debate about what should and shouldn't be allowed when it comes to festivities. It's a tired conversation that often ends in diatribes about the tyranny of political correctness and how no one knows how to have anymore. We don't want to have that conversation; we'dUnsure if your decorations have racial overtones? Wondering what costumes fair game? We've got you covered so you can have some fearful fun.

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