By JENNIFER KUFA
Several elected officials and members of the clergy called for Assemblyman Dov Hikind’s resignation on Tuesday after he appeared in blackface at a Purim celebration.
His lukewarm apology for the gaffe incensed his critics even more.
“There has to be more sensitivity, and as officials, we are paid to recognize these sensitivities,” said City Councilman Jumaane Williams who represents part of the same Midwood neighborhood as Hikind where, Williams stressed, “the black and the Jewish community meet.”
“He should resign. But he’s not going to do that, because he is arrogant,” said City Councilman Charles Barron on the steps of City Hall. “He’s sorry for getting caught, not for what he did.”
“The main objective that I have is not to be recognizable,” Mr. Hikind said in a halfhearted apology. “Of course the intention was not to offend anyone. That’s the last thing that I ever imagined that would happen, to be very honest. It never crossed my mind.”
Failing a resignation, Barron demanded that Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver remove Hikind from his leadership position of Assistant Majority Leader.
“This will show that we will not tolerate this behavior,” said Barron.
The controversy erupted after Hikind’s son over the weekend posted photos on Facebook of the costume which included an Afro wig and basketball jersey.
Rev. Melvin Faulkner of Rehoboth Cathedral in Brooklyn invited Hikind to meet with African-Americans in Bedford-Stuyvesant to hear first-hand why they might be offended.
“This half-apology is not sufficient,” said Faulkner.
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