On Halloween, kids and adults have an excuse to dress up as whatever their heart desires. Be warned: just because you have the freedom to dress up as something offensive, doesn't mean you get freedom from criticism. For example, one 'racist' train passenger in London got caught dressing in blackface, and seemed not to understand the problem. (Psst, mate, it's that blackface was used for hundreds of years to viciously mock African-Americans by reinforcing the ugliest stereotypes. Not bloody cracking, innit?)
Now a Kentucky father has made headlines for wearing a Nazi costume, and dressing his five-year-old son up as Adolf Hitler. While other kids dressed up as Spider-Man, Super Mario and Minions, he dressed as the Nazi leader responsible for killing six million Jews. (Great job, Dad! What was the second choice, Joseph Stalin?) The father uploaded photos of their matching Nazi costumes to Facebook, which immediately sparked a backlash. (Wow, who knew Hitler was so controversial?)
The father, identified as Bryant Goldbach, wore the costumes last Thursday at Owensboro, Kentucky's Trail of Treats event. At first, he tried to defend their costume choices, writing, "We love history, and often dress the part of historical figures. Tonight as we walked we saw people dressed as as murderers, devils, serial killers, blood and gore of all sorts. Nobody batted an eye." (Goldbach did not point the distinction between fictional characters and a real-life dictator.)
The dad went to complain that his son's costume got "snide remarks" and "threats" from strangers. (Shocking! People normally respond so positively to Adolf Hitler.) Then, he concluded with this totally reasonable and not-batshit-crazy-at-all remark: "Yes, liberalism is alive and well. And we had the dis-pleasure of dealing with with the fruits of the so called Tolerant Left." Yeah, liberals! Dads and Sons Who Dress Up Like Nazis' Lives Matter.
The photo was posted to Reddit, on the subreddit for "trashy," and received 36,000 upvotes. Many Redditors mocked the costumes, and thought it was offensive to dress a 5-year-old boy up as Hitler at a children's trick or treat event. After the uproar, the father finally apologized, telling The Owensboro Times, "I wasn’t trying to make a statement or put my son in any position. It was bad judgment. I want people to know I am sorry." He added that last year, he dressed up as a Confederate soldier for Halloween, but said he was not a racist, calling white supremacy "disgusting."
However, prior to Goldbach's apology, people discovered some disturbing comments from he and his wife on social media. As reported by the Evansville Courier & Press, his Facebook page contained the totally rational statements, "White pride doesn't mean hate" and "Being liberal means being a hypocrite." He also reportedly took strong stances against "white privilege" and "other social justice issues."
In addition, his wife, Mary Ann Goldbach, posted several horrific, fact-free, anti-Semitic comments. (Wow, the whole family really gets into these Nazi characters for Halloween!) Facebook users screenshotted the comments for posterity before she could delete them or hide her account. Mrs. Goldbach wrote, "This is what the mass media refers to as the Holohoax. The truth is the media is controlled by the Zionists. The so-called 'gas chambers' were delousing showers... He [Hitler?] created work camps, not death camps. It was nothing compared to the gulags."
Congratulations, Goldbachs! Your social media posts are the scariest thing I've seen this Halloween.
