Our American identity has now become one of ignorance. The person shown in the photo dons a traditional Mexican sombrero, a traditional Mexican serape, wearing a fake hombre mustache while holding a maraca, a traditional Mexican shaker meant for music and a bottle of Tapatio hot sauce. The costume came from Party City, called "Mexican Bandito #947". Cultures are not costumes. The serape may seem like a cool colorful thing, but it meant a great deal to the Aztecs who first wore it in an attempt to curry favor from the Aztec deities and ward off evil spirits. The sombrero isn't just a "cool hat" either(3) - it was made to provide shade as generations back they were always in the sun. And while the person posing for this is completely against cultural appropriation, and would never have even considered buying this costume outside of a school project, there are still people who wear this as their Halloween costume. There are people who think it's okay to ululate at a street party dressed in their unauthentic Mexican garb, pounding shots of tequila and putting on their dumbest, most racist accent imaginable. This is who we are - there's no turning our backs on what we've done so far. But we need to pause, and ask ourselves - is this whom we want to be moving forward? Why do we think this is socially appropriate? Why do we think this is "cool" or "trendy" or "festive"? Why do people think this is okay? Why do people think entire cultures are costumes, and most importantly, what can we do to educate ourselves on why they aren't?