Assemblyman Defends Wearing Blackface to Party

[TomClash]

Source: NY Times

A prominent Brooklyn assemblyman defended himself on Monday after attracting attention for wearing blackface to a party he hosted this weekend to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim.

The assemblyman, Dov Hikind, a Democrat who has been a longtime power broker in the Orthodox Jewish community, wore an Afro wig, orange jersey, sunglasses and brown makeup or face paint as part of a costume that Mr. Hikind said represented a “black basketball player.”

“I was just, I think, I was trying to emulate, you know, maybe some of these basketball players,” Mr. Hikind told The New York Observer. “Someone gave me a uniform, someone gave me the hair of the actual, you know, sort of a black basketball player.”

He added, “The fun for me is when people come in and don’t recognize me.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/nyregion/hikind-defends-wearing-blackface-to-purim-party.html?hp

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[JustAnotherGen]

1. Oh FFS!

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Racist twit! Just feeds all kinds of hate, WTG!

[TomClash]

31. And if someone was mocking a gay jew . . .

. . . wouldn't that be just as wrong?

[Behind the Aegis]

33. What was said that would indicate I would feel any different?

[TomClash]

35. I read your post as sarcasm

My bad.

[Behind the Aegis]

36. It is indeed "your bad."

What he did was racist and to claim it was all part of a religious party made it more stinging. Maybe there was a reason you read my post as sarcasm.

[TomClash]

37. There is

I don't expect much from your posts.

[Behind the Aegis]

38. See there, we have something in common. I find myself in the same position with yours.

[midwest irish]

49. Wait a second

Last edited Tue Feb 26, 2013, 10:14 AM - Edit history (1)

So you accuse Aegis of defending Jim Crow racism, then you make a comment about him/her being gay. Then, when you find out there was no defense of racism, you call him/her worthless.

You are seriously being a very rude person.

[TomClash]

52. I made no comment about "them being gay"

This is just nonsense. I then posted that I misunderstood his prior post and wrote "my bad."

He routinely opposes anything I post, so I thought he was opposing this one too, thinking his post was sarcastic criticism of the article. I responded by asking whether his defense of Hikind's behavior would apply the target were jewish or gay.

You really have no basis for comment. You just decided to engage in an ad hominum attack for no reason. That's pretty rude.

[midwest irish]

53. Ok.

Thanks.

[Quantess]

50. I'm going to chime in and agree, that was rude of you.

That did not look like sarcasm at all, to me.

[Ken Burch]

40. He was rolling his eyes at Hikind, not at the idea that what Hikind did was offensive.

Aegis and I don't agree on a lot of things, but it's not fair to imply that he'd defend that asshole.

[Behind the Aegis]

42. Thank you. You are correct.

The had a double meaning, because I knew, well, guessed, what is his (Hikind's) response would be, sadly I was correct.

[TomClash]

48. Yes I admitted that

Only to get his wonderful response. Read his response to my admission and tell me what you think he meant.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=408368

[marmar]

3. This quote:

“I was just, I think, I was trying to emulate, you know, maybe some of these basketball players,” Mr. Hikind told The New York Observer. “Someone gave me a uniform, someone gave me the hair of the actual, you know, sort of a black basketball player.”

Makes him sound like a braindead horse's ass. (Apologies to legitimate horses' asses)

[Ken Burch]

45. So this means, if anybody give Hikind a costume, he'll put it on?

That presents some interesting possibilities.

[Andy Stanton]

4. What a moron

And his statement was even MORE moronic.

[valerief]

5. Someday, trying to look like a black man won't be such a terrible thing. nt

[Ken Burch]

46. This isn't as simple as "trying to look like a black man".

Imagine Jesse Jackson putting on pais, a fake beard, a dark overcoat and one of those big fur hats, while carrying around big sacks of money-THAT would be the equivalent of what Hikind did here.

[valerief]

56. What's a pais? Sorry, I don't get it. nt

[Ken Burch]

60. The long locks of hair worn in front of the ears by Hasidic men

like this.

[valerief]

61. Ahhhh! And I thought you were going for someone Russian with the fur hats. Ha! Thanks. nt

[MADem]

6. That's just a stupid thing for him to have done.

Like there have never been any racial tensions in Brooklyn.

What a tone deaf twit.

He could have chosen ANY costume...what made him think that shit was a good idea?

And this dude's a Democrat, too.

[JHB]

9. He's a Democrat who endorsed Bush, McCain, Romney,...

There are just three reasons why he's a Democrat: location, location, location.

[MADem]

12. He's a Democrat like a hog is a kitten! I think his ass needs to be challenged. ASAP. nt

[hrmjustin]

18. He has been there for decades. They love him in the district and will never loose.

He endorses gopers all the time. He was my grandmothers assemblyman and she refused to vote for him. Party loyalty means something to me.

[MADem]

19. You never know...I'd like to see someone try, anyway! nt

[truthisfreedom]

7. Looks a lot like Boehner's pallor.

[marble falls]

8. I used to cater seder services at a local synagogue and believe me, I tend to believe at Purim ....

there was no bad intent in that costume. Not wise, maybe but I think he really didn't understand the full impart of the disguise.

[JHB]

10. Then maybe he should make a real apology...

...not the "sorry if anyone was offended" non-apology he actually gave.

[HangOnKids]

13. ^^^^^THIS^^^^^ n/t

[Ken Burch]

41. The man's been in New York and Democratic politics for decades.

how could he NOT get it that this was a bad thing?

[enlightenment]

54. The last quote

from the article gives the lie to this being a simple error in judgement. It is a passive-aggressive statement that indicates the assemblyman is fully aware of how offensive his costume might prove to be - and a nasty unwillingness to take responsibility for his actions.




edited to correct spelling

[dsc]

11. Oh it gets better

trust me.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/brooklyn_pol_dov_hikind_wears_blackface_SA7xtS8mV5ejlCYLeWJv0K

“This is political correctness to the absurd. There is not a prejudiced bone in my body.”

Hikind played the PC card for his own benefit, less than two weeks after calling out oddball fashion designer John Galliano and his Hasid-like attire.

“Who is he mocking?” Hikind fumed at Galliano earlier this month. “If it was just anyone else, I wouldn’t know what to say. But considering who this guy is, considering his background and what he’s said in the past, let him explain it to all of us: Are you mocking us?”

end quote

Yep that's right just a few weeks ago he publicly shamed a person for pretty much doing the same thing, only the guy actually didn't he was wearing a fellow designers clothes.

[RILib]

29. what ticks me off

about the Galliano situation is that apparently he was being harassed for being gay, and he retaliated with anti-Semitic remarks, but the original harassers got off completely.

[Scootaloo]

14. Dov Hikind is a former member of Meir Kahane's stormtroopers, the Jewish Defense League

And called for police profiling of Muslims in New York

Anyone who's surprised by him staggering around in blackface must be unfamiliar with the guy.

[hrmjustin]

17. I have met him because his district is not far from mine and i can tell you he has always been a

creep. He always endorses Republicans for national office. He makes me sick because he crosses party lines too much.

[TomClash]

30. Well said

Simple, eloquent and true.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

59. agreed

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

15. I don't know if he's truly a racist in his daily life

but he is truly dumb.

[hrmjustin]

16. I have met Dov on many occasions, and I can tell you he is a jerk.

Last week he called a designer a schmuck for dressing up as a hasidic Jew and said he was mocking their community and then he pulls this crap. Dov has always been a creep.

[sharp_stick]

20. So I'm sure he won't mind

when I go to his Purim party next year dressed up in an SS officers uniform will he.

Fucking fundie nutjob.

[The Wizard]

21. The Orthodox

are predominantly Republican. They believe in no separation of Church and State and a male dominated culture where women are second class subservient house keepers.

[hrmjustin]

23. Here in Brooklyn they are dems on the local level, but nationally they are gop.

[bullwinkle428]

58. His "apology" was purely Republican in its delivery.

[Caeser67]

22. Since He's Jewish

He's excused right? <sarcasm>

[Andy Stanton]

28. Not by us, obviously

[msanthrope]

44. Your concern is noted. Please feel free to share more of your concerns, and enjoy your stay. nt

[crim son]

24. I don't recognize him as a Dem, that's for sure.

Having said that it seems he is genuinely ignorant of what it means to wear blackface. How is that possible?

[JHB]

32. Skillful delivery of bullshit.

He knows.

[jsr]

25. What a tone-deaf dumbass.

[stillcool]

26. what a dense, ignorant, fool

It isn't that hard to be respectful to your fellow man, especially if you're getting paid to represent them.

[muntrv]

27. What era does this dingbat live in?

[PABigDaddyDemocrat]

34. Aside from the obvious...

...is it impossible to do this anymore...for any reason?

Is there any circumstance where a non-black person may don costume and make-up to look like an African-American without subscribing to negative racist themes and creating this kind of furor?

I am not advocating for any particular side of any potential argument. I am just wondering where the line is...or if there is even a line.

edit=spelling

[MrScorpio]

39. Of course, he did nt

[Beartracks]

43. Face. Palm. nm

[blkmusclmachine]

47. Time to rethink The Big Tent ??

[Eugene]

51. New York assemblyman apologizes for blackface party costume

Source: Reuters

New York assemblyman apologizes for blackface party costume

Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:28am EST

(Reuters) - A state assemblyman apologized on Monday for donning blackface and wearing an Afro wig at a party celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, a costume that drew criticism from fellow lawmakers and the Anti-Defamation League bias monitoring group.

Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind of New York City, who had earlier defended the costume on his blog, said he did not mean to offend anyone with the outfit, which also included black sunglasses and an orange jersey.

"It was not meant to offend anybody, it was not meant to hurt anybody. I'm sorry that anyone was," Hikind said in an impromptu news conference, a video of which was posted on the New York Post website.

The costume, which he wore at a party at his home on Sunday, had drawn criticism from the Anti Defamation League, which said that he had "showed terrible judgment," according to the New York Times.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/26/us-usa-newyork-assymblyman-idUSBRE91P04Q20130226

[ForgoTheConsequence]

55. Have people just not paid attention the last few hundred years?

What on Earth could compel someone to think that this was a good idea? Literally every time someone does this they get shit for it, for good reason.

[adigal]

57. What a dumbass! Maybe next year someone should come dressed

As a Hasidic Jew, when they are not. Fun! No one would recognize me if i did it and wore a long black coat, hair with side curls and a hat! And I am a woman, to make it even more fun! (Snark)

Dope.