New York Times Wonders ‘Can White Kids Dress As Black Panther?’

“Black Panther” is set to hit movie screens Thursday, but given that it’s a Marvel superhero flick, “Black Panther” merchandise will also be released — merchandise that includes “Black Panther” costumes and costume elements like masks and gloves. This lead the New York Times to wonder, apparently, whether it’s appropriate for white parents to buy these products for their kids, and if white kids should dress like “Black Panther” at all.

“As parents, or even as the people creating costumes, we need to be very aware of what that says,” one professor of Early Childhood Education told the NYT. “There’s not a whole lot of black superheroes, so this is a really important thing for black kids growing up.”