Cinnaminson Mayor Thought Crying Jordan Meme Mocking Him Was 'Blackface'

CINNAMINSON, NJ — Cinnaminson Mayor Anthony Minniti thought a recent social media post mocking him and his running mate in the recent Republican Primary was an instance of superimposing 'blackface' over their images. He said he didn't know it was supposed to be a Crying Jordan Meme, and added he never heard of the meme until last week.

People creating the Crying Jordan Meme superimpose an image of NBA legend Michael Jordan crying during his 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech over someone else’s face. It is typically used to mock someone in a playful way.

However, many people have never heard of the phenomenon, and Minniti says he is one of them. Minniti and his running mate, June Neuman, were recently targeted by a third-grade teacher in the Beverly City School District.

The teacher posted an image of the campaign poster used by the candidates with images of the Crying Jordan Meme superimposed over Minniti and Neuman’s heads in the Cinnaminson Friends and Neighbors Facebook group the day after they lost to Ernest McGill and Ryan Horner in last week’s Republican Primary.

“I never saw the post live. It was posted, flagged as racist and removed by the FB page administrator,” Minniti said. “An individual who saw it live, took a screenshot and sent it to my running mate and me. Upon examination, it appeared as if we were caricatured in ‘blackface.’”

He said this led himself and Neuman to believe the post was racist. He said he showed the post to many other people, including people in law enforcement and counselors, who also believed the meme was racist. None of them identified it as a Crying Jordan Meme, or even knew what that was. Minniti then contacted Beverly City Superintendent Elizabeth C. Giacobbe.

“I was the target of a racist Facebook post by your third-grade teacher,” Minniti said in an email to the superintendent. “I find this behavior reprehensible in general, and dangerous in particular, when a woman of this character has supervisory contact over our children. I am asking that your district initiate a full investigation into this incident. I will be contacting the Burlington County Times next as I believe this sort of racism has no place in our society, much less our schools.”

Minniti then shared that email with the media. It was only after the reference to the Crying Jordan Meme appeared in a newspaper story that Minniti said he heard of this explanation, and the meme, for the first time.

“We consulted with professionals who advised that this deserved to be treated seriously, and we believe we acted responsibly,” Minniti said. “If you recall, some months ago, a resident contacted the town about a racist leaflet that was found in the street. The town's response was criticized as not having taken this incident seriously enough, and Cinnaminson's response became the subject of regional debate. We take any reported issue of racist behavior seriously, which is why my comments were as strong as they were.”

Minniti is referring to the appearance of KKK flyers around Cinnaminson earlier this year. But in reacting this way to the meme, Minniti became known as the “New Jersey Mayor Who Is Trying To Get A Third-Grade Teacher Fired Over The Use Of The Crying Jordan Meme” by both local and national outlets.

“To be clear, my opponents and their supporters posted several pictures and even videos of me that were altered and used to parody me,” Minniti said. “While I obviously don't enjoy that sort of treatment, I understand that it is part of the job when you're in politics. Our objection was not that we were being ridiculed, our objection was based on our belief that we were caricatured in a racially insensitive fashion. Again, since we never saw the post nor did we report the post as racist, clearly others who viewed it reported it as such and it was removed.”

He also said it wasn’t his intention to get the teacher fired; he simply wanted the district to investigate the matter. Giacobbe’s only comment on the matter has been that it is “being given its due attention,” but since it is a personnel matter, she couldn’t comment further.

After hearing the explanation behind the meme, Minniti sent a follow-up email to the school district, saying that while he still finds the teacher’s post to be in poor judgement, he doesn’t believe the post was meant to be racist. In the email, he went on to say he’s willing to retract his original objections.

“As an educator, she is in a unique position and that carries with it, a certain responsibility and she should be mindful of her social media use,” Minniti said in the email. “But given the explanations provided to me, and re-examining the post in that context, I am willing to extend the ‘benefit of the doubt’ that this was simply an attempt at a joke that went awry.”

Patch file photo of Anthony Minniti