Hey, you with the racist Halloween costume!

Jenée Desmond-Harris is tired of your defensive, I-am-not-a-racist routine.

[M]any seem to forget that one needn't be a card-carrying white supremacist to make a choice that imagines racialized communities as "other"; that plays upon a history of inequalities and stereotypes; that instigates, mocks and offends.

"There's this sense of 'I don't know why people have to make it a big deal,' " says Leslie Picca, associate professor of sociology at the University of Dayton in Ohio....

But [David J. Leonard, associate professor in and chair of the department of critical culture, gender and race studies at Washington State University, Pullam] hopes those who have problematic attire brought to their attention will, at the very least, reconsider using their relative privilege to dismiss criticism, and choose to listen rather than "hiding behind a mask of ignorance about racism in America."

And by the way, this means you don't get to wear a Barack Obama mask even if you love Barack Obama. If you think you do, you need to reconsider your relative privilege and listen.

AND: Wearing any mask might get you arrested in New York.

The ban on masks in New York State dates to 1845, when it was adopted in response to events in the Hudson Valley, where local tenant farmers disguised as American Indians had attacked and killed landlords. The law includes exceptions for masquerade parties and similar events.

The police have periodically used the law during political demonstrations....

The law has been litigated several times over the past decade or so, with state courts, federal courts and appeals panels seesawing back and forth over whether it can be fairly applied.

Perhaps the most vigorous challenge came in 1999, after police officials said Ku Klux Klan members could not wear masks during a rally in Lower Manhattan....