As we all know from Facebook, Halloween is just around the corner. Ah, what a lovely time to hang up spooky decorations, bake those Pillsbury Halloween-themed sugar cookies that definitely don’t taste like glorified construction paper and stockpile candy corn. Also, what a lovely time to not wear a racist/sexist/transphobic Halloween costume that undermines the personhood of marginalized individuals.

Now we know you’re thinking, “Gosh darn it, Student Life! Here you are, trying to ruin my racist Halloween costume with your darned political correctness!” You’re probably thinking, “I’m not racist/sexist/transphobic! It’s just a joke! For Halloween! Does Student Life not participate in the making of jokes?”

We get it. Look, we at Student Life love jokes of all sorts. Just yesterday, the Senior Scene Editor did a fun joke where she stole all the staplers in the office, replaced them with sticks of butter and then cried under a table for 15 minutes. We still do not know where the staplers are. What a jokester.

But we do pose one question: Does the Trail of Tears sound like a joke to you?

Because that’s what you’re communicating when you put on a tribal headdress while crushing a Natty Lite.

Ugh, we know it’s so annoying to be told again and again to check your privilege. But also, if you do check your privilege once in a while, everyone will stop asking you to. Here’s a thing to remember if you’re white: Understand that even if something does not seem damaging or hurtful to you, it still has an effect. Even if you aren’t trying to harm others with your costume choice, the very fact that you’re making the choice to wear [insert fetishized racial outfit here] sends the message that no, you are not conscious of the world in which you exist, and no, you don’t care to be. Regardless of your intent, offensive Halloween costumes trivialize the voices of minority groups by tokenizing their very identities. Experiencing displacement and prejudice is not a once-a-year fad, so put your bindis away.

And let’s be real—it’s the 21st century. We’ve progressed so far as a nation. We have solar-powered electricity. We have racially diverse middle finger emojis. We have Uber! Do we really need to live in a world where people still think it’s hip to wear racist, sexist and/or transphobic Halloween costumes? Why not just be respectful of other identities? What’s the harm in spreading cultural competence rather than ignorance?

Here’s the bottom line—If you’re not sure if your Halloween costume is inappropriate, consider this: If it’s enough to get you on the front page of our next issue, don’t do it.