Dov Hikind Apologizes for Blackface Purim Costume
Purim Problem: Brooklyn lawmaker Dov Hikind has apologized for dressing in blackface as a basketball player for Purim.
Orthodox Brooklyn lawmaker Dov Hikind 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.
The Democratic assemblyman, 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.
Assemblyman Karim Camara, the chairman of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, said he hoped Hikind could recognize the painful history behind blackface.
Blackface was often used in minstrel shows in the 19th and early 20th centuries featuring white performers portraying African Americans, often in a degrading manner.
“A lot of black leaders and clergy – elected officials, everyday citizens – were very upset or offended, and had a lot of questions as to, from their point of view, how could someone be so insensitive,” Camara was quoted by the New York Times as saying.
Hikind had earlier defended the costume on his blog, saying the objections amounted to “political correctness to the absurd.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
