Breitbart’ s tech editor and die-hard Donald Trump fan Milo Yiannopoulos is cranking up the cultural appropriation debate by threatening to appear at Yale University in full Native American garb during a planned speech on Oct. 28.
I’m thinking I should show up to Yale in full Native American costume. Yeah?
— Milo Yiannopoulos ? (@Nero) March 26, 2016
Milo is stopping off at Yale as part of his “Dangerous F**got” tour, where the writer seeks to spread his message of anti-political correctness around the country. Yiannopoulos closely covered last year’s debate about culturally appropriative Halloween costumes at the university, and it appears he’s using a Native American costume to show that he still hasn’t changed his mind.
Last Halloween, outfits that could be deemed offensive — such as the Native American headdress Milo plans to wear — became the center of an intense disagreement between some Yale students and faculty. That altercation spilled over into the national sphere, partially because of a video that was released. It showed a Yale student telling Professor Nicholas Christakis that he was failing students by neglecting to create a safe environment for them.
In a letter to the student body, Christakis’ wife Erika, also a Yale professor, questioned whether or not placing a ban on such attire was truly the most progressive option. No doubt mirroring the argument that allowed Yiannopoulos to speak on campus, she said it was important to open up communication about issues like cultural appropriation , instead of creating clear boundaries to cut them off. She later resigned from the university.
“I don’t, actually, trust myself to foist my Halloween-ish standards and motives on others… Even if we could agree on how to avoid offense – and I’ll note that no one around campus seems overly concerned about the offense taken by religiously conservative folks to skin-revealing costumes – I wonder, and I am not trying to be provocative: Is there no room anymore for a child or young person to be a little bit obnoxious… a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?”
Some students who spoke with campus publication Yale Daily News seemed less than convinced that Milo’s appearance was justifiable . Native American Cultural Center house manager Kyle Ranieri called the Breitbart reporter’s actions “blatant cultural appropriation” and argued that he should not be able to speak on campus at all.
“When you have [Yiannopoulos] coming to campus saying he’s wearing a Native American costume, I want to ask him what he thinks that is, because a generic Native American costume doesn’t exist when you have these many [Native] groups. It’s insulting; people are upset; and it’s disappointing and surprising that someone who is so unqualified to debate something which should not be debated anyway can profit off their own ignorance and arrogance and spread those misconceptions.”
In response, Milo has defended his appearance at Yale University with similar language to the rest of his coverage on Breitbart . Yiannopoulos believes that forcing the left to be offended by issues like cultural appropriation is the best means to combat it, he told Yale Daily .
“It appears to me [that] that the free lunacy of progressives is taking even America’s best universities, and it seems to me the best way to deal with this culture of outrage is to be outrageous. These are ridiculous people who deserve to be provoked.”
Normally I’d get an intern to light it, of course. pic.twitter.com/BjhPxPbMnG
— Milo Yiannopoulos ? (@Nero) April 1, 2016
What do you think of Breitbart reporter Milo Yiannopoulos’ choice to wear Native American attire to Yale University following their cultural appropriation debate?
[Image via Getty Images]
