Teiman
1662
Sorry; I am unfocused today :P
Bobby Berger, a former Baltimore police officer, plans to do a charming blackface Al Jolsen singing act to raise money for the six officers indicted in Freddie Gray’s death. This is not a joke.
Berger said in an interview he doesn’t believe there is anything racist about his routine.
“It’s coincidence,” Berger said about the fact that the entertainer he impersonates wore blackface. “There’s no racial overtones to this show. There’s nothing racial to the show.”
Michael Davey, an attorney for the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police, said officers do not support the fundraiser. Gray was black. He died of injuries received in police custody. Davey said no money would be accepted from the fundraiser.
Berger, who is 67, has performed the blackface signing act for decades. He was fired from the police force in the 1980s for performing the act in his spare time. He was reinstated to his job following an appeal, but later retired. His performance at a retirement dinner for a white Baltimore County officer in 1996 prompted a black officers group to protest outside the dinner.
Timex
1665
Wait… is he actually wearing blackface?
I mean, doing a routine from the Jazz Singer is probably racist on its own, even without the blackface at this point… but if he’s actually wearing blackface, then I can’t see how he could possibly even imagine that it doesn’t have any racial overtones.
Yup. Check the video. Actual blackface.
Well, it’s just a looney. Yes, he was police, but now it’s just a deranged individual.
Still… saying there’s nothing racial about a blackface show…
Oh, he’s a straight up nut. The police union has completely disassociated themselves from him and his act.
Still, it’s amazing to me that this guy used to do the show back when he was a cop.
“It’s coincidence,” Berger said
No, it’s not. It’s really really not. At all.
Teiman
1671
I don’t know why “blackface” is so taboo in USA.
(image: Eddy Murphy in “Hollywood Detective”)
(Unintended Whataboutism. Sorry! :D)
Because it’s the American equivalent of throwing bananas at someone.
It’s complicated, Teiman.
Also, isn’t that image from Coming to America?
Teiman
1674
No, I think is one of the characters in the barber shop. The movie have a few scenes where a bunch of characters discuss racial stereotypes, I think. All the characters are played by Eddy Murphy. I could be wrong here, maybe I am remembering it wrong.
As CLWheeljack said, it’s complicated. To explain a bit more you have to understand a bit of the history of it and how it relates to the evolution of racism in the nation. Characters in blackface would often perform very unpleasant racist stereotypes and charicatures, reinforcing the status quo and acting as an ongoing piece of social propaganda. It was one more mechanism of oppression. For that and some other more complicated reasons, the use of blackface is now associated with racism. That doesn’t mean that an actor should not nor cannot portray another ethnicity, but rather that a production should be very careful when doing so. Murphy using it as satire and social commentary is an appropriate use. If he was using it to provide performances of stereotypes that were intended to reinforce racism and oppression, it would not be.
Eddie Murphy’s barbershop scene was in Coming to America, by the way.
Houngan
1676
Or Arsenio Hall, that was the start of Eddie Murphy’s multi character schtick.
Hey, the cop didn’t blow a hole through the driver’s head! It’s a win!
KevinC
1679
Sounds like a class act.
Just to clarify, if I’m ever in the Boston environs, if a man in a big truck dressed in a wifebeater is chasing me down and screaming that he’s going blow my brains out, do I assume it’s a police officer or do I run for my life? Thanks!
Didn’t see this mentioned elsewhere, and it’s not really all that controversial, but I thought I would mention it in this thread since it’s relevant:
A campus cop in Cincinnati pulled over a (black) guy for not having a front license plate. The motorist seemed reluctant to hand over his license and may have tried to start his car… possibly preparatory to driving away. The cop tried to open the car door and drew his sidearm. There was some scuffling and the motorist was shot once in the head, dying quickly.
This kind of belongs in this thread as it’s a great example of how body cameras can shed light on police shootings, and why - in my opinion at least - they should be mandatory gear for any police officer interacting with the public. In this case, the officer claimed in his official report that he was “being dragged” by the car and that the victim was presenting an immediate threat to his life. The camera footage appears to show that to be false. Based on the footage, the officer was quickly indicted and jailed. Today he pleaded “not guilty” and the judge set bail at $1M.
