#dovhikind

[backroombuzz]

Protesters Demand Ilhan Omar's Ouster From House Foreign Affairs Committee

Protesters gathered outside Democrat Rep. Max Rose's Brooklyn office urging him to demand Nancy Pelosi remove anti-Semite Ilhan Omar from the House's Foreign Affairs Committee.

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[twentyminutesaday]

This Story Combines 'Purim' and 'Blackface': Do I Have Your Attention?

Have you seen the story about the Democratic Brooklyn assemblyman (and Orthodox Jew) who hosted a Purim party on Sunday and went dressed as a 1970s basketball player - and wore blackface?

If not, check it out here: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/brooklyn_pol_dov_hikind_wears_blackface_SA7xtS8mV5ejlCYLeWJv0K

I found this story noteworthy on several levels. Let us count the ways:

1. Any story with the words "blackface" and "Purim" in same headline is grounds for automatic induction into the pantheon of remarkable stories.

2. This guy - Assemblyman Dov Hikinds - is an elected official. Not to say that there's an "American Cultural Awareness Test" for people running for office in this country (if there were, we would probably have a much smaller government), but come on, man. Blackface? His ignorance is stunning.

3. He used the old "I'm sorry if anyone was offended" non-apology apology. Anyone that still uses that must really have balls.

4. Not only did he go "I'm sorry if I offended anyone" on us, but he also said, "In hindsight, I should have picked something else. It never crossed my mind for a split second that I was doing something wrong." I love the juxtaposition of those two sentences, because, despite what he says about "hindsight," he would have put on that costume 100 out of 100 times. He had no misgivings about it - he apparently didn't know any better! - so he didn't need hindsight, he needed someone to tell him that he was being a complete idiot. (Good job by his equally ignorant wife and son there.)

5. He maintained afterwards that nobody at the party was the least bit offended. "No one walked in today and said, 'Oh my God,'" he said. With all due respect, Assemblyman...people were offended when Roger Sterling (below) performed in blackface at his Kentucky Derby party, and that was 50 years ago! (They were also fictional characters on a TV show, but still...you're going to tell me no one at the Purim party raised an eyebrow? And keep in mind that the party reportedly lasted 14 hours!)

6. The main thing that Assemblyman Hikind seemed to emphasize afterwards was that everyone had a really, really good time at his party. "It was just a lot of fun," he said. "Everybody just had a very, very good time and every year I do something else...The fun for me is when people come in and don't recognize me." Blackface, whiteface...what's the difference? The important thing is that everyone had fun, no matter how racist his costume was, amirite?

7. Before he realized he had to apologize, he tried to stick to his guns. “This is political correctness to the absurd," he said. "There is not a prejudiced bone in my body.” I guess that's plausible enough since according to some people (mainly Dov Hikind himself), he has a mainly positive record on race relations (though he certainly has a negative record on race costumes). So, what, he has a lot of ignorant bones in his body? Exactly what kind of bones does he have?

8. Nobody would have known anything about any of this if not for his idiot son putting the photo on Facebook. Damn you, Zuckerberg! Why did you have to ruin Purim like that?

9. I love how the other politicians from the area who are running for mayor - and who depend on support from Orthodox Jews - would not call him a racist. Hooray for politics!

10. Again, this all took place at a Purim party. A Purim party! He thought he was being an Esther, and it turned out...he was a Haman. Oy!

What did we learn from this story? Not much. Nobody got hurt. They're not going to throw him out of the state assembly. He didn't commit any crimes (though the fashion police is still investigating). Yes, he exposed himself as ignorant about the social implications of wearing blackface. Yes, he reminded us that people can do racist things, apparently without thinking of themselves as racist. And thanks to his comments earlier this month about fashion designer John Galliano's Hasidic-inspired outfit, he also joined one of the world's longest and least distinguished lists - of hypocrite politicians.

But man, if you can only go to one Purim party next year (in 5774), you'd better make it to the Hikinds'. They really know how to do it up right.