ANNAPOLIS, MD — If the death of Freddie Gray wasn’t bad enough, now-former Baltimore cop is taking it a step further and doing the unthinkable.
Bobby Berger is planning to do a “blackface” show in order to raise money in defense of the cops who killed Freddie Gray.
If you don’t know what a blackface show is, here is how Wikipedia summarizes it:
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used by performers to represent a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the “happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation” or the “dandified coon.”
“Blackface” shows, according to most civilized societies and individuals, are inherently racist — and for that reason alone they were ended in the United States.
Yet, here we have a cop who is still going at it.
Bobby Berger’s past blackface performances caused racial tension back in the 1980’s.
He claims that 610 tickets have been sold in eight days for $45 each. One wonders if mostly cops, their families, and their supporters were the ones purchasing those.
We don’t like to race-bait, but it is our opinion that this is blatantly disrespectful to Freddie Gray’s legacy.
To put on a show of this nature, after a black man was slaughtered by police, is just unfathomable.
The venue where Berger attempted to display his show has posted a notice that it will not be hosted there.
We “do not condone blackface performances of any kind,” said the venue.
Berger is now circulating the remarkable claim that there’s “nothing racial” to his show.
But blackface performances are inherently racial, and doing one to specifically raise money for officers who killed a black man certainly seems racist to many observers.
“It’s very distasteful. This is showing no sensitivity to the family of Freddie Gray,” said Tessa Hill-Aston, president of the NAACP in Baltimore.
Watch the video below to see how Berger’s performances in the past caused severe racial tensions:
