Dov Hikind Under Fire for Blackface Purim Costume
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Josh Nathan-Kazis February 25, 2013
Orthodox Brooklyn politician Dov Hikind is under fire after dressing as a “black basketball player” for Purim.
A New York State Assemblyman who is a leading figure in New York’s Othodox community, Hikind defended his costume.
“I can’t imagine anyone getting offended,” Hikind told the New York Observer. “Purim, you know, everything goes and it’s all done with respect.”
Hikind’s costume consisted of a basketball jersey, an Afro wig, and brown facepaint.
Some of Hikind’s Assembly colleagues in fact were offended, according to the Observer. New York State Assemblyman Karim Camara told the paper that he was “deeply shocked and outraged.”
Hikind, a conservative Democrat, was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 1982. In his youth Hikind was a follower of Rabbi Meir Kahane, the militant reactionary rabbi who founded the Jewish Defense League. After moving to Israel, Kahane formed an Israeli political party that was eventually banned by the Israeli government for inciting racism.
Hikind was most recently in the press as a leading critic of the Brooklyn College political science department’s co-sponsorship of a discussion of the movement to impose boycotts, divestment and sanctions on Israel.
“They are making this event kosher, that is the outrage,” Hikind said of the Brooklyn College event.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
