Whitey Ford
01-05-2019, 08:14 PM
5744
As the Finnegan New Years Brigade Comic Club performed for the judges in front of City Hall Tuesday morning, part of a skit illustrated this year’s infamous back-and-forth between Mayor Jim Kenney and rapper Jay-Z over the future of the Made in America. In it, a man dressed in a suit labeled “Jay-Z” walked a Kenney character down the street on a leash.
People quickly criticized the performance on social media, saying that the performer playing Jay-Z was wearing blackface. According to reports, the performer was not in blackface — his face appeared dark because he himself is black.
In an interview with Philadelphia magazine on Wednesday, Mummer Michael Inemer jumped to defend the troupe.
“That was a black American!” said Inemer, a representative of the Goodtimers Comic Club (the umbrella organization that includes Finnegan). “We’re not allowed to use blackface!”
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2019/01/03/man-criticized-wearing-blackface-mummers-parade-african-american/2473726002/
As the Finnegan New Years Brigade Comic Club performed for the judges in front of City Hall Tuesday morning, part of a skit illustrated this year’s infamous back-and-forth between Mayor Jim Kenney and rapper Jay-Z over the future of the Made in America. In it, a man dressed in a suit labeled “Jay-Z” walked a Kenney character down the street on a leash.
People quickly criticized the performance on social media, saying that the performer playing Jay-Z was wearing blackface. According to reports, the performer was not in blackface — his face appeared dark because he himself is black.
In an interview with Philadelphia magazine on Wednesday, Mummer Michael Inemer jumped to defend the troupe.
“That was a black American!” said Inemer, a representative of the Goodtimers Comic Club (the umbrella organization that includes Finnegan). “We’re not allowed to use blackface!”
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2019/01/03/man-criticized-wearing-blackface-mummers-parade-african-american/2473726002/