The vampires are roaming the campuses of the United States institutes of learning. From pre-school to post-graduate, the fun sucking scolds are waving their fat fingers and reminding us that cultural appropriation on Halloween is wrong. Be sensitive, be inclusive, don’t hurt feelings, and for Heaven’s sake, don’t have fun.

This year we are going to pick on Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. As reported by Campus Reform.org, The Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity, which is part of the Student Life Office, held an indoctrination session a discussion about cultural appropriation titled “There’s No Costume in Culture”. I think they were trying to be clever and play off of the line “There’s no crying in baseball.” from the movie “A League of Their Own”. Oops. Sad fail.

And, is it just me or, does “The Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity” sound like it came right out of something written by George Orwell? I know that nearly all institutions of higher learning have something like this. It just sounds like a money suck to me. It sounds like a way to give bureaucratic blatherskites a salary and position. Bullies coddling the perpetually offended. Anyway, back to Halloween.

This is straight from the Campus Reform.org article on poor Augustana College:

“The Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity invites students to a discussion about awareness of cultural appropriation on college campuses, and the social effects appropriation creates,” the event description reads. “Students will have the opportunity to sign a pledge promising not to appropriate any culture and may also buy a shirt from the office for $5 in the Brew.

Sign a pledge! No wonder colleges are creating snowflakes. But there is more:

The Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity Facebook page shared photos of posters for the event, defining culture appropriation as “the adoption of elements of a culture that is not their own.” It goes on to read, “It reduces a culture to a stereotype and removes the context that makes cultural elements meaningful.”

The posters for the event also featured a tagline saying, “let’s appreciate, not appropriate.”

Well isn’t that just so extra.

Speaking of being extra, Prager University has the new video on cultural appropriation that is so much fun:

Told you that that was fun. And, for some reason I am craving empanadas. See when we take elements of another culture and adopt them, we are generally saying we admire those elements, not we are making fun of them. Dressing up in costumes is a way of stepping out of our little boxes. But the Social Justice Zealots don’t want you to think about that. And, remember, don’t have fun.

So here’s the deal. Halloween is Irish. I am Irish, mostly. A little Scottish, Welsh and Scandinavian, too.

It’s true. The origination of Halloween is Samhain and Pagan Ireland. This Samhain image is courtesy of ClanDonnell.net.

Y’all go on and on about cultural appropriation while you are appropriating my culture without even giving the Irish a nod. Feckin’ eegits. Sure, Mexico has their day of the dead thing. Aztec history and Spanish culture mix. Many other cultures have their dress up days. But the for real pagan beginnings, the truth is Halloween is Samhain and is Irish.

From the ClanDonnell.net website:

Samhain (pronounced SAW-ween) was the ancient Celtic New Year festival, celebrated about this time of year. The time after the harvest, when the cattle and sheep have been brought in to pasture close to home and the peat cut for the winter fires.

It marked the end of one year and beginning of the next, which makes much more sense than January 1st (which is somewhat arbitrary when you think about it).

If they taught history in school, this might be a known fact. But, if they taught history in schools, there wouldn’t be a bunch of gobshite snowflakes yowling about cultural appropriation.

That’s okay. I’m not mad. The Irish have saved the world before. We know we’re good.

Feature photo credit: Pexels/rawpixel.com.