5.8: Case Study

Cultural Appropriation: High School Celebrates Graduating Seniors with “Senores/Senoritas” Dress-Up Day

In the United States, we have a cultural tradition of dressing up for Halloween. This tradition dates back to ancient Celtic beliefs. Basically, in order to protect themselves from evil spirits on New Year’s Even when the boundary between the living and the dead was most accessible, people hid behind animal skin costumes. Over the many hundreds of years, dressing up in costume has become less about hiding from spirits and more about the nonverbal expression of individuality. This case study looks at an extreme case of dress-up that went horribly wrong and showed cultural appropriation at its worst and most offensive. The importance of this case study shows that cultivating and improving cultural intelligence is a necessary communication skill in today’s global environment.

Back in 2012, an Orange County high school made headlines with a dress-up day titled “Senores and Senoritas Day,” which was supposed to be a play on the word seniors. Canyon High School is located in Anaheim, California, and this event was intended to be a spirit day celebrating graduating seniors and California’s Mexican heritage. This event dates to at least 2009. According to the US Census Bureau American Community Survey, Hispanics/Latinos made up 52.8% of this city’s population between 2008 and 2012. It made sense to celebrate Hispanic heritage by highlighting some of the nonverbal elements of culture such as clothing, food, communication, and body language. However, the school’s administration did not properly specify guidelines for this event and broadly announced for students to wear Hispanic-themed attire.

As a result, students showed up to school dressed as US Border Patrol agents, immigration agents, gardeners, a pregnant woman pushing a baby stroller, and gang members with bandanas and teardrop tattoos. While these may seem like extreme examples, could students have dressed up in anything that did not perpetuate stereotypes? Even with clear guidelines, how does one avoid reducing the Hispanic culture to stereotypes and caricatures? How did the administration not see that this event was the epitome of cultural appropriation?

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Canyon Students Cultural Appropriation http://instagram.com/p/LjJMsep9IR

A former student raised concerns during his senior year but was told by an unidentified administrator to “get a sense of humor” (Do & Rojas, 2012). Upon taking a Chicano Studies class in college, he was motivated to take his concerns to the district level and insist they investigate. After an internal investigation, which included interviews with students and staff, a review of emails, and social media postings, it was found that, “There was a lack of oversight/supervision and that the school administration should not have allowed this activity.” The report also stated: “Even if strict guidelines were provided the result would still lead to hurtful and demeaning messages about Mexican culture and to the students of Mexican, Hispanic, and Latino descent” (Orange Communication System, 2012a).

Arya (2021) points out that recognizing that there “is an asymmetry of power between two cultures that involves the majority/dominant culture taking from the marginalized culture”  vital to understanding cultural appropriation. She notes, “Cultural appropriation is important because it concerns the phenomenon of exploitation that has existed historically and continues to do so between cultures of unequal power” (Ayra, 2021). While Anaheim’s Hispanic population was near 53%, Canyon High School was in the more affluent area of Anaheim Hills. At that time, the Los Angeles Times California Schools Guide reported about 55% of the students at Canyon HS were White compared to 16% Latino. Additionally, only 8% of the faculty was Latino, while white faculty dominated at 87% (“Enough Is Enough, Student Said of Seniores, Senoritas Day,” 2012).

At the conclusion of the district’s investigative report, Leal and Langhorne (2012) reported in the Orange County Register that the district required:

• The high school’s administrators to complete sensitivity training
• The principal to address the inappropriateness of the dress up event in parent communication
• The school to sponsor an “International Week” to acknowledge and appreciate cultural diversity
• The school to enact a thorough review process for all proposed activities to consider what might go wrong and who it may offend

You may watch a YouTube video on the event here: High School Cancels Demeaning Costume Event.

While this problem may seem to have been resolved, upon further digging, it was discovered that Greg Bowden, the principal of this high school, had been involved in previous district controversies. Back in 1988, Bowden was the band director at another high school in the district when the Associated Student Body and members of the pep squad donned afros and blackface to perform as the Jackson Five (San Roman, 2012). In 2008, Bowden and Canyon High School were at the center of a shocking physical and verbal bullying incident where a student was being called “faggot” and received no support from the administration. The real question is, “How did this individual continue to move up in the district without any repercussions and continue to overlook blatant cultural insensitivities?” (Orange Communication System, 2012a)

Reflection Questions

1. Define cultural appropriation. How does this case exemplify cultural appropriation?
2. What role does nonverbal communication play in cultural appropriation?
3. Cultural appreciation and celebrations are common on school campuses. What can be learned from this case to set “appropriate” tones for future celebrations?
4. Examine the consequences levied upon the school as a result of the investigation. Are these meaningful consequences from which the school and community can learn?
5. What other examples of cultural appropriation can you think of that we, as a society, need to rectify?