Inappropriate child's Halloween costume question
-
Looking for input, mainly from persons of color.
Wife went out costume shopping with 5-year-old daughter yesterday and they came across a costume for Uma from the Disney Descendants movies. Our neighborhood is doing a pirate theme this year and daughter loves the Descendants movies. It was kind of perfect.
The Uma character is black. We are white.
Wife did not buy the costume for fear of offended black friends and neighbors. She was especially concerned about the hair, which is described by the fansite: Uma is a beautiful, average height, dark skinned girl with thick, long turquoise hair put into braided dreadlocks.
Wife is concerned that putting our white child in this costume is us as white people taking something that black people should kind of exclusively have grinchcostume. Especially since there are so few black superheroes and Disney characters. She's also concerned that the hair in the costume is akin to blackface.
Teeny bit of backstory is that wife was a punk growing up who grew out actual dreads. She was at a party in the 90's and got dressed down about her hair (she was appropriating) and that even the word dreadlocks was derogatory.
I felt she was overthinking this and, if anything, I was kind of proud that my kid wanted to go as a black character. I said it was the same as if a black kid wanted to be spiderman, a girl wanted to dress as batman, or a boy wanted to go as Storm or even Wonder Woman (though the wonder woman I grew up with in the 80s was softcore porn to a horny 15 year old boy, so that one is a little weird).
So anyhow, I'm looking for this sub's opinion, and mainly from persons of color.
Please PLEASE PLEASE feel free to call me out if I'm in the wrong. I'm genuinely curious and always looking to better inform myself.
Thanks in advance!