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New Look for Purim in Obama Era: Black Face and Dreads
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 10, 2009
Modified Mar 10, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 10, 2009
Modified Mar 10, 2009
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Aw, here's a cute, bright-eyed kid in Borough Park who probably has no idea that his Purim black face costume might be considered just a tad offensive. Of course, in a post-Drunken Negro Face Cookie world, this kind of tone-deaf Obama homage is no longer so surprising.
The reader who emailed us the photo explained that the boy is donning black face to raise money for an unspecified charity, as part of Purim custom. Hence the "DOLLAR'S [sic] not CHANGE!!" sign. (The reader added that he admired the "poetic" nature of the sign and gave the lad an extra dollar.)
We once spent a Clinton-era Purim night driving around costumed tweens collecting money door-to-door, and were always under the impression the kids got to keep the loot, because every time they'd receive a sub par check they'd slam the car door and call the donor a "pig." Anyway, more on Purim for dummies here.
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obama
purim
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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