The Halloween Wars: Who Gets Candy and Who Doesn’t?
In some neighborhoods, this holiday is where race and class collide
The first time I told my friends that vans and cars line up 20 vehicles deep to drop off kids in front of my house on Halloween, they didn’t believe me. They didn’t believe that hundreds more children and teens who live in adjacent neighborhoods walk, bus, bike, or are driven by their parents over to my mostly white-collar, middle-class enclave in Chicago, where 62% of the neighborhood population is also White with a history of racism. Here, they experience a Norman Rockwell-esque, door-to-door sugar fest draped across manicured lawns lined with white picket fences where the only violent incident is usually someone face-planting on the sidewalk after tripping over a tree root or a cape.
Homeowners here are known for passing out beers to adults and hot chocolate to kids and sitting in front of their homes with firepits, welcoming chilled children to come and warm their tiny hands.
Last year I handed out 1,500 pieces of candy and still didn’t have enough for the kids who came by after sunset. The neighbors to the left of me pass out full-size Snickers. The neighbors to the right of me usually do some sort of lollipop. But then there are the folks who place restrictions on the candy giveaways, so…
