Saturday, May 31, 2008

Father Michael Pfleger In Blackface: A Parody?

My friends at Infidel Blogger's Alliance likened Father Pfleger's racist rant at Trinity United to Al Jolsen. Al Jolsen was a performer of the 1940's who sang black minstrel songs while in "blackface."

Blackface was when white performers put burnt cork all over their faces to make them look black. However, they steered clear of their eyes and mouth, giving them a look that was an insulting caricature of real black people.

In those racist times, thanks to blackface singers, white audiences could enjoy black songs without having to be exposed to real black people. Perhaps the caricature look was reassuring to white audiences, as it made it obvious that the singer was not really black, but merely playing an obvious role.

Father Pfleger's vicious rant at Trinity United Church in Chicago seemed like a parody of radical black ministers like Jeremy Wright and Louis Farrakhan. Indeed, Pfleger's voice and inflection sound identical to those of Pastor Jeremy Wright. A white performer acting black through insulting stereotypes...Pfleger's "sermon" was indeed a Blackface moment.

Pfleger's racist diatribe was yet another "pastoral moment" for Barack Obama, who seems deeply in bed with hateful extremists, whether they be unapologetic former terrorists or radical priests and ministers.

The videos of Father Pfleger have been posted all over the web. If you haven't seen it, you can watch it below.



No comments: