Is wearing a native american costume in the carnival racism?

[DavidB.]

No, but it might be in poor taste.

This. If you're wearing it to make fun of Native American identity, then it might be inappropriate to do so. But it isn't racist in and of itself, I guess.

[DavidB.]

If a person of African descent dressed up as a Viking, which is closest to my heritage, would that bother me? Hell no.

That's just no comparison. Africans didn't oppress Vikings.

[DavidB.]

I believe in the free market when it comes to things which aren't required to stay alive, culture being one of them. If a culture fails in the free market, clearly it sucked.

As to subjugation, well, it depends on what you mean by that. Some would call people wearing Native American clothing because it looks cool is a form of subjugation. I would say just that opposite, that proves its merit. It actually makes it more prominent in the global community.

Using that line of reasoning, "blackface" would prove the "merit" of being black by making it more prominent in the global community. Uhm... I don't think so.

Regardless of the question if this is racist, it might be an insensitive thing to do, especially if people still derive cultural and/or religious meaning from the costume. And no, I don't think there is a true "market" with a level playing field when minority cultures are used just for mockery, nor do I think that it's appropriate.

[DavidB.]

I believe in the free market when it comes to things which aren't required to stay alive, culture being one of them. If a culture fails in the free market, clearly it sucked.

As to subjugation, well, it depends on what you mean by that. Some would call people wearing Native American clothing because it looks cool is a form of subjugation. I would say just that opposite, that proves its merit. It actually makes it more prominent in the global community.

Using that line of reasoning, "blackface" would prove the "merit" of being black by making it more prominent in the global community. Uhm... I don't think so.

Regardless of the question if this is racist, it might be an insensitive thing to do, especially if people still derive cultural and/or religious meaning from the costume. And no, I don't think there is a true "market" with a level playing field when minority cultures are used just for mockery, nor do I think that it's appropriate.

It's wrong to equate all appropriation with mockery. I don't think, for the most part, White kids who listen to hip hop are mocking Black people, I think they probably legitimately enjoy it.

I wouldn't call listening to hip hop appropriation in the first place, but indeed, not all appropriation is mockery. However, I can't think of a way people would dress up in Native American costumes on Carnival without mocking it. This might be because I have never been at a Carnival celebration, but still...