Not automatically. “Racist Violence” is not the first thing that pops into my head when I see pictures of Hitler. “Guy that started WWII” is. “Evil Megalomaniac” springs readily to mind to. But “Symbol of Racist Violence” is a bit further down the list.
Has it been established there are Jewish or Black students at the school in question?
Good thing it’s not about you then. Me, I see a 14yrold kid in a Nazi uniform, my FIRST thought is to wonder if he’s gotten himself involved with a neo-nazi outfit. Maybe it’s an American context.
Irrelevant. Also, HUGELY relevant. Case one: there are students who are likely to be offended. Cast two: this happens at AN ALL WHITE SCHOOL? Extra layers of WTF. (I.e., it’s irrelevant because it’s unacceptable either way.)
That’s about as irrelevant as it is possible to get. If the kid walked into my classroom, I would take it as a personal insult to me, and I’m neither Jewish nor Black.
Even if he was a neo-nazi, wouldn’t he be dressed as a generic Nazi rather than dressing up as Hitler in particular, complete with moustache?
It’s a Halloween costume, being worn on Halloween. It’s not that difficult a concept.
While I think it is 100% probable that a kid wearing Hitler costume is quite deliberately goading people for a reaction how specifically is it a deliberate *personal *insult to you?
Given my last name, very specifically. (Think The Man In The Glass Booth.)
Interesting - I never heard of that movie before.
THe Eichmann trial connection was also interesting and the origin of the phrase “the banality of evil”.
That’s where the differing perspectives come into. Obviously it’s a dickish thing to do if your teacher has a Jewish (or German) name, or there are black or Jewish kids in the school. No-one argues that. The point I’m making is that it’s about context, and Hitler is not automatically offensive just because some of the people on this messageboard think he should be- or think they should be offended, which is not the same thing either.
So it’s not a dickish thing to do if you say offensive things as long as there’s no one of the offending group around? :dubious:
I agree with you on context matters, but in this case, I disagree with the way you’ve presenting it. Because it seems like you’re saying it’s dickish to be offensive when people you make fun of are there, but when they leave then you can talk all you want about them.
Intent and motivation should be considered as well as Context.
Well, my “Lewinsky?” was meant as a joke, though desertnomad took it a bit too seriously.
That having been said, I find that guy’s costume to be fucking hilarious. Though the “white stain” (itself practically an historical figure) might have been inappropriate for school. If I was his teacher I would have told him I didn’t like it, then laughed my ass off about it in the teachers’ lounge.
As several have mentioned already, it’s a bad precedent because it’s disruptive. And maybe not to kids (crack open a book already, nimrods!) but to other members of the school community - like other teachers.
Which is why most schools in America, I imagine, were like mine: no costumes on Halloween, or if they are allowed, they have to be put on for the Halloween parade and taken off shortly after. Hitler’s a distraction, but so is the kid whose costume cost a lot of money, the one that the other kids thought was lame, etc.
As a teacher, Halloween was absolutely the worst day. Kids were completely distracted and hopped up on candy. It was more or less a complete loss as far as instruction went. And people who scheduled tests on that day were dicks.
So - as a teacher, I hope that I would have advocated for a policy well in advance so this wouldn’t happen - if it did, the take-'em-outside-for-a-come-to-Jesus-talk would be the approach, and remove the costume. Parent, I’d not allow my kid to go to school dressed as anything/anybody.
Depends on the context and the nature of the “offensive things”, but to an extent, yeah.
Not quite how I’d put it. I mean, suddenly announcing to an all-white group “You know who I hate? Niggers” would be dickish. Chiding a friend who was being stingy with “What are you, Dutch?”, when there are no Dutch people present? Not dickish, IMHO.
I agree on this. My point is that the mere wearing of a Hitler costume should not automatically be presumed to be an RL version of trolling.
I did a double take at this - I could (perhaps) give it a pass if it was some random US cutey pie that was trying to be funny, but if its genuinely worn by a recent immigrant who genuinely believed in it as a good luck symbol?
I actually thought it was kind of funny. I hadn’t noticed it the first time, but a “kind demon” is kind of like “friendly monster” and that juxtaposed with “Hitler” made me think of a Sesame Street Nazi outfit.
If it makes you feel any better, I did this too, as a 12-year-old. (My parents had no idea.)
I was looking for a quick and easy costume idea that was yet original, and having earlier noticed that a formal suit I owned had a very old fashioned, fairly military look to it, I converted it to a quick-change Hitler costume. I wore the suit with a white shirt to school, then when it was time for us kids to change into costume, I added a black necktie, a swastika armband (made with a strip of paper, crayons and tape), drew on a toothbrush mustache with my mom’s eyeliner pencil and slicked down my hair with some water.
I hadn’t taken three steps out of the door before one of my friends shouted, “Look! It’s HITLER!” But instead of getting laughter I found myself getting mobbed by three or four of them. The armband was the first to go, with the jacket sleeve getting ripped at the underarm seam in the assault. I myself was taken down to the ground. I protested, “Hey guys, it’s me in here”, and like you had a rather shamefaced talk with these of my friends who had lost family members in the Holocaust. What to me had been simply an interesting, notorious and well known historical figure was a symbol of living evil and personal tragedy to them. It was an eye-opener.
Lesson learned: “Hey, I’ve never seen anyone else do this costume” may have an element beyond originality to it that’s worth thinking about first.
As for contrasting a costume of Hitler versus any other person of immensely evil stature in history: with Hitler there’s the combination of recent history and for me and you (being in NYC and SoCal), a significant presence of the primary victim community. If my area or circle of friends had no Jews in it, it’s quite possible that I’d have gotten merely some eye-rolling and comments about it being a “sick idea”.
Just saw this, sorry mswas and SMC.
In retrospect (and I don’t do that a lot), I thought maybe you were going for a “kind dictator”, but when I tried to find a synonym, I couldn’t find one that fit.
Maybe depot:D:D?
Quasi
Nope. Freedom of the press(ed) lips.
My vote for the kid is one of three reasons
As a teacher, or any other administrator my reaction would depend upon the kid - teachers should have at least some knowledge of the kid, and how you know him from previous interactions should tell you which of 1-3 above is the most likely reason.
If its 3 - then certainly a trip to the principal, hate has no place in schools
If its 1, assign him a paper on the Holocaust
If its 2 - ignore it, don’t give him the satisfaction - OR assign him a paper on how people react to symbols or some such.
I dunno. If he’s a neo-Nazi, then the paper on the Holocaust (requiring the use of legitimate sources) or on Holocaust Denial would be appropriate. If he’s ignorant, then a quick, cheery word covering up a requirement to change the costume oughtta suffice. If he’s trying to get a rise, then a quick, cheery word covering up a requirement to change the costume oughtta suffice.
Kids certainly try to get rises out of teachers all the time. It’s hard not to let them succeed, especially once they get to know you. Let them know the parameters in which they’re operating and let them make their choices, I think.
In this case, the costume would create an exceptionally distracting school environment. It’s gotta go.
Nearly every Jewish person I know has at least a distant relative who was murdered in WWII. My father fought in WWII. It’s simply too soon to be dressing up as Hitler and wondering why people have a visceral reaction to it. I personally don’t fear Idi Amin, but I wouldn’t go to Uganda (or an American Ugandan neighborhood, if there is one), dress up as him, and chide the Ugandans for not appreciating the how clever my costume was and tell them to just lighten up and get over themselves. Whether or not offense has occurred is in the eyes of the receiver, not the observer.