In the past few years, Halloween has become less about candy and jack-o’-lanterns and more about the accompanying controversy. Either the latest “sexy” costume is ruining something banal — tariffs, The Handmaid’s Tale, or even Mr. Rogers — or it’s something more serious.
Four years ago, the student body at Yale University harassed a professor for suggesting that the university ought not to police its students’ costumes. Since then, the perils of Halloween politics have reverberated through academia.
Now at an elementary school in a Chicago suburb, the fear of running afoul of some group has caused leadership to cancel Halloween celebrations altogether.
“While we recognize that Halloween is a fun tradition for many families, it is not a holiday that is celebrated by all members of our school community and for various reasons,” said Michelle Cooney, principal of Lincoln Elementary School in Evanston, Illinois, in a statement.
“There are also inequities in how we have traditionally observed the holiday as part of our school day,” she continued. “Our goal at Lincoln is to provide space and opportunities for all students to be part of the community — not to create an environment that may feel exclusive or unwelcoming to any child.”
The news was disappointing for at least one student: Nejra Bajric’s son, a second-grader, who wants to dress up as Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man.
Bajric told the Chicago Tribune that as an immigrant from Bosnia, she finds the rule less inclusive than the school might think.
“Halloween is a cultural American holiday, and it’s being canceled because of religious groups,” she said. “We’re a Bosnia and Muslim immigrant and refugee family. Halloween, when we moved (to Chicago) from a different country, was one of the greatest things.”
She said when she moved to Chicago from Bosnia more than 20 years ago, Halloween was “a way to assimilate” at her elementary school. For people in situations similar to her own, rather than being a source of strife, Halloween should be an opportunity to come together, she said, even if the school doesn’t see it that way.
“They’re trying so hard to make everything inclusive that they’re excluding a lot of students,” Bajric said. “They’re excluding those kids from having a Halloween.”
