No. Hell. No.
No. Not a joke. A very real, very wrong fundraiser hosted by a former Baltimore cop whose passion is impersonating Al Jolson. From at
Jamilah Lemieux at Ebony Magazine:
That members of the Baltimore Police Department and/or their supporters would have a fundraiser for these cops is unsurprising and would not have warranted much of a reaction from me. The "Blue Lives Matter" phrasing, which appears twice on the invite, also fails to be shocking; we've heard that appropriation of protest language since August of last year.
However, one of the planned performances for the evening tells a more interesting story. A number of "entertainers" are also advertised, including a few lounge singers and instrumentalists, and at the end of that list is "Bobby "Al Jolson" Berger-out of retirement."
Who's Bobby "Al Jolson" Berger? He's a former Baltimore cop whose real passion was performing in blackface at a Baltimore club. He
engaged in several lawsuits against the Baltimore P.D. for 10 years when they tried to stop him:
Berger was once known as the city's "singing cop" for his performances in musical reviews, including renditions of Al Jolson routines done in blackface, according to an article in The Sun. The concerts got him into trouble with the department in 1982, which eventually led to police brass asking him to stop. Berger sued on First Amendment grounds, backed by the ACLU. He lost and was fired in 1984, but a federal appeals court later ruled in his favor.
Berger rejoined BPD in 1986, without a gun or badge, and was told to "relax and accept being paid for nothing." He again filed suit and won a $200,000 decision that also granted him full retirement benefits.
Berger says he's only trying to help the police officers and he told Jamilah Lemieux there is
no racial motive:
“There’s not a prejudiced bone in my body, I would never do anything to insult anybody. I wouldn’t do that show if I thought it was insulting…It feels like the right time to put some money in these family's pockets,” he says, noting that all of the performers involved are donating 100% of the evening’s profits to the 6 accused officers.
For what it's worth, the police and at least one of the officers charged are saying
hell no:
Ivan Bates, an attorney who represents one of the officers, Sgt. Alicia White, said he does not believe any of the officers charged in the case are behind the event, and finds it "racist and in poor taste" as a black attorney representing a black client.
"My client will not participate. We will not accept a single solitary dime from this sort of action," Bates said. "This is the type of racist behavior that we do not need and do not want."
Michael Davey, an attorney who works with the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police, also condemned the event.
"We were completely unaware of it. We don't endorse it. We do not support it, and we will accept no funds from anything involving this event," Davey said.
Berger claims a lot of tickets have already been sold. Perhaps he and the ticket holders should simply make a straight donation and skip the offensive show.
Below is an early 1980s local news report on Bobby "Al Jolson" Berger and his love of "Mammy":