Prejudice is always unacceptable. But it’s especially disturbing when victims of prejudice display prejudice themselves. The Irish were confined to the bottom of Europe’s heap but were only too happy to keep African-Americans at their new country’s lowest rung when the Irish arrived here in the 19th Century. Jesse Jackson adamantly demanded respectful treatment of his own brothers and sisters but in 1984 he was rightly criticized for referring to New York City as “Hymie Town”. Civil-rights leader Stokely Carmichael was never called a feminist after he said this in 1964: “The only position for women in the movement is prone.” And what you find when you Google “gay racists” embarrasses the LGBT community.
And all that leads me to Disturbing Item #1. A leading member of the Orthodox Jewish community in New York and a member of the legislature, Dov Hikind, darkened his face with makeup and donned a curly-haired wig to attend a celebration of Purim in costume as an NBA player. Assemblyman Hikind has gained a reputation as a staunch defender of his Jewish faith, calling out anyone who failed to meet his exacting standards for fair and respectful treatment. But he was clueless about how blackface has been historically been used to ridicule and degrade people of color, and about how it ignites painful memories of not-so-long-ago discrimination. Jon Stewart showed no mercy:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-february-26-2013/crazy-stupid-dov
Disturbing Item #2. He failed to realize that–at least to an outsider–his choice of costume seemed outrageously at variance with the holiday he was supposed to be celebrating. “It was Purim!”, Hikind pleaded, as if that gave him license–a one-day dispensation–to degrade or disrespect anyone he chose. Purim celebrates how God used Queen Esther to save the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of her husband, the King of Persia, who was urged on by the evil Haman. It’s a story about how God was carefully and quietly working behind the scenes to rescue His people when the forces of evil seemed unbeatably arrayed against them. One reason that celebrants wear costumes for Purim is to remember that God disguised his presence during the events leading up to the Purim miracle and continues to work–often unobtrusively–in our world today. Assemblyman Hikind’s blackfaced basketball player hardly seems the appropriate way for a leader to symbolize the divine presence.
Disturbing Item #3. Hikind failed to accept responsibility for his poor choice. He offered up the classic, and dreadfully inadequate, if-I-offended-anyone apology. As fans of this blog already know, when one says “If I offended anyone, I’m sorry”, it sounds like an apology but really isn’t. The “apologizer” admits to no poor choice. He displays no understanding of what he did wrong. He fails to acknowledge how his choice hurt others. The focus is not on his bad decision; it’s on the oh-so-sensitive soul who was unexpectedly–and unreasonably–offended by his conduct. Assemblyman Hikind could have issued this statement instead, preferably in front of a large gathering of African-American residents of New York City:
I did something stupid and thoughtless, and I’m sorry. Those who share my faith have for millenia been disrespected, ridiculed, persecuted, tortured–and worse. For that reason I should have been especially sensitive to ways that African-Americans have been belittled over the years too. But I wasn’t. I was just one more white guy reminding you of a painful past. And I’m an elected public official–one more reason that I should have acted with greater wisdom and understanding. So, I apologize to you for my insensitive and hurtful behavior. I apologize as well to my constituents. I let you all down; you deserved better from me. I will do my best to not only demand respectful treatment for those who share my Jewish faith and identity but also demand equally respectful treatment from myself for all people regardless of their faith, race, gender or sexual orientation.
For more information:
New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/nyregion/hikind-defends-wearing-blackface-to-purim-party.html?_r=0
Assemblyman Hikind’s blog: http://dovhikind.blogspot.com/2013/02/its-purim-people-dress-up.html
Accepting Responsibility 