2020 just kicked off and some white people are already showing their black asses.
Oops, I mean wack asses.
Folks still think it’s OK to wear blackface—in the City of Brotherly Love, of all places.
Several marchers of Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade—an annual New Year’s Day tradition since 1901—were disqualified for wearing blackface while allegedly trying to emulate Philadelphia Flyers mascot “Gritty.”
Yeah, it would be hockey fans, right?
For the record, the mascot is a 7-foot-tall furry creature that is Cheeto orange (a la Donald Trump) with large, googly eyes, always decked out in Philadelphia Flyers gear.
He is not black, brown or bronze (a la Kim Kardashian in her latest blackface controversy).
“We’re celebrating Gritty. The theme is ‘Frogs Getting Gritty With It,’” Mummer Jim Martin told KYW-TV.
Mind you, the parade is not affiliated with the professional ice hockey team.
This guy is a real prize, isn’t he—and an esteemed member of South Philly’s Froggy Carr Club, which was established in memory of a beloved friend and football player who died of a head injury decades ago during a game.
Club member Kevin Kinkel tried to shoot down the fact that the gesture was racist.
“It has nothing to do with being racist to the black person or the white person or the yellow person,” he told KYW. “It’s our tradition.”
“All the blackface, it ain’t about that,” parade participant Mike Tomaszwski said.
“‘Cause I like it. Yeah, why not? I know it’s a shame to be white in Philly right now. It’s a shame,” he quipped.
He said that while his face was painted black, though.
“I talk to black people. They told me, ‘What are you talking about? You can wear whatever you want. That ain’t discriminating me. That ain’t racist to me,’” Kinkel told NBC10. “That’s what they tell me.”
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is one white man who isn’t having it.
“The use of blackface by someone affiliated with Froggy Carr today was abhorrent and unacceptable,” he tweeted. “This selfish, hateful behavior has no place in the Mummers, or the city itself. We must be better than this. The group was disqualified, and we will be exploring additional penalties.”
Local news site BillyPenn also called out the offense:
“Though its origins are mired in minstrelsy and misogyny—and though racist, homophobic and sexist memes still manage to find their way into the event—Philly leaders have been making a serious effort in recent years to reform the celebration from the inside out.”
Looks like Illadelphia’s first black female police commissioner Danielle Outlaw truly has her work cut out for her.