Blackface

In Jazz Singer Jack Robin, a Jewish actor from New York City uses blackface while performing on Broadway.  According to Rogin, many of the critics focused on this use of blackface - a fixation which ultimately threatened its legacy.  In fact Rogin draws analogy between the use of blackface in Jazz Singer and Birth of a Nation saying: 

"Birth and the Jazz Singer ostensibly exploit blacks in opposite ways. Birth makes war on blacks in the name of the fathers; the Jazz Singer's protagonist adopts a black mask and kills his father. The Birth of a Nation, climaxing the worst period of violence against blacks in southern history, lynches the black; the jazz singer, ventriloquizing the black, sings through his mouth."

The black-white dichotomy is made to represent and mirror the jew-gentil dichotomy in Jazz Singer - Rogin argues that this is especially apparent in the manner in which the film facilitates interracial marriage between jew and gentil.  The interesting interplay between Robin's jewish identity and his use of blackface is the most interesting to Rogin.  This exact same question is the basis of article which details how Dov Hikind, a jewish democratic assemblyman from Brooklyn, wore blackface, an afro-wig, and a basketball jersey to a party he hosted this weekend to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim.  (the whole story can be found here) 

As one could expect there has been a good deal of outrage - Hikind has attempted to defend himself saying, “I am intrigued that anyone who understands Purim — or, for that matter, understands me — would have a problem with this ... This is political correctness to the absurd. There is not a prejudiced bone in my body."  While mentioning Purim, the Times article stops short of analyzing the connection between Hikind's judaism and the act of wearing blackface - it would be interesting to get Rogin's take.