I know that Halloween is upon us. Folks are flocking to every costume store looking for the most outlandish Obama mask, Michelle Obama mask, or Balloon Boy Puking on GMA mask. Hey, this year I might just get crazy and pull out my Black-Man-Thinking-Deeply-When-Warned-Not-To mask and stir up some good old-fashioned trouble. I may even go off my sugar-free lifestyle and binge on a candy necklace. I have a taste for a sweet albeit processed treat. But I would never, never-ever-ever, seek out (or sell) an Illegal Alien costume that features a space alien mask with droopy mustache, orange prison jumpsuit and a plastic green card, like some people.
Richard Zagone, a self-proclaimed lefty and Chicago-based mask designer, says his brother came up with the idea for the controversial Illegal Alien mask. Apparently Toys R Us, Walgreens, Meier and Amazon loved the idea: they were selling the droopy-mustache-green-card costume on their websites. They also pulled the costume off their websites on Monday. Apparently, exploting Mexican immigrants is cool as long as there's no potential backlash from Latinos. Now a thing like this deserves a wee bit of social critique. Brent Wilkes over at the League of United Latin Citizens feels the costume is demeaning and a caricature. Jalem Getz, CEO of BuySeasons, says the costume is simply a play on words. Keith Josef Adkins, blogger over at The Root, feels the Illegal Alien costume is the creation of some butt-brain who actually believes being progressive is synonymous with cultural exploitation and having the license to tell those being exploited to relax.
Keith Josef Adkins is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and social commentator.