Keianna

For Halloween this year I was the grandaughter of Sam Manson—a character from the animated series Danny Phantom. I decided to be her granddaughter because I don’t like green, and I wanted to drop the color from my homemade costume. But it came to my attention that some people thought I’d chosen to be Sam’s granddaughter, rather than Sam herself, because my complexion is darker than hers.

Here’s something that has always really bothered me: When black people cosplay or dress up as non-black characters they are dubbed “The black (insert character here).” People make it seem as though black cosplayers can be OK but never as good as others. This is a tricky subject. I’m not sure how I should go about explaining why this frustrates me so much, which is in itself…frustrating.

As I prepared for Halloween, I was worried that I’d get into arguments over offensive costumes at school. *Sigh*. If only this time of year wasn’t so full of racial tension, and black teens were allowed to enjoy it without fear. ♦