As Halloween approaches, universities across the country are gearing up to combat potentially “offensive” costumes that “appropriate” the cultures of others. This year, one Missouri university is going so far as to tell students that “cultural appropriation” is “cultural genocide.” The slideshow for the “Cultural Appropriation & Cultural Appreciation” workshop, given as part of Maryville University’s “Peer Educators” program, prompts students to consider the implications of things like wearing nose rings and children’s costumes that represent characters from cultures other than their own. The presentation offers several explanations to the question “why does cultural appropriation happen?,” one reason being “capitalism,” and that “culture [is] treated as a ‘natural resource’ to extract from people of color.” Examples of cultural appropriation given by Maryville University include nose rings and bangle style bracelets, both of which are parts of Indian wedding and marriage traditions. One slide is simply titled “Cinco De Mayo,” and otherwise in...