Posted on 11/28/2006 3:53:47 PM PST by Luis Gonzalez
I’ve never been a fan of Seinfeld, and I’m not very familiar with the characters. When the show went into syndication a few years ago, I began to come across it whenever I did any channel surfing. I don’t know anything about Michael Richards, the guy who played Kramer on the show.
When I read about his onstage rant at a comedy club in Hollywood last week, I figured the guy has some serious anger management problems. Anyone who has performed in front of a live audience knows of the danger posed by hecklers; it comes with the territory.
Hence, when Mr. Richards was interrupted by a small group at a nearby table, he should have been competent enough to deal with it without engaging in racist invective. Having said that, let’s look at what it means to lose your temper and make a few stupid remarks in the ultra-sensitive country that we’ve become. Since the guy imploded onstage, the video quickly made its way onto the international airwaves, resulting in the type of condemnation that should be reserved for, say, a man who butchered 2 people and got away with it.
When OJ Simpson was acquitted by a predominantly black jury, there were scenes of black people celebrating the gross injustice all across the country. The pain on the faces of the Brown and Goldman families, as they sat in the courtroom watching the murderer being congratulated for beating the system, was heart-wrenching to all decent people. Yet, we didn’t hear from Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, or any other so-called black leaders.
Anyone with an IQ higher than a fire hydrant knew the man was the killer. Imagine if a white man had just slaughtered 2 black people and left that much evidence behind. If a white jury acquitted him, there’d be rioting from coast to coast. Recently, when the obnoxious monster tried to thumb his nose at the public again with his “If I did it” obscenity, where was the denunciation from the black community?
Why didn’t we see Mr. Sharpton on the David Letterman Show castigating those responsible for foisting that pathological display of arrogance on our nation? Are a few forbidden words by a disgruntled, has-been comic worse than a tantalizing tongue-in-cheek “confession” from a murderer who cheated justice? To say our priorities are distorted is a gross understatement.
When someone like Mr. Richards makes a bunch of stupid comments he’s immediately crucified and no one seems to have the courage to point out that it was merely some angry words from an emotionally disturbed man, it wasn’t homicide.
How many people know that the blacks at that table were referring to Richards as a “white cracker”?
Evidently, it’s okay to be pejorative toward whites if you’re black. In fact, it’s acceptable for blacks to use scurrilous language toward other blacks, as is often heard in the lyrics of rap music. Moreover, blacks can use similarly disparaging words toward other ethnic groups and refer to women in the vilest type of street language imaginable.
The question is: do blacks have some special privileges granted to them by the Constitutional description of freedom of speech?
Whites and blacks have fought, and often died, in the struggle for equality. However, it appears that what we have arrived at is a disproportionate equality that gives blacks the exclusive right to be offended by non-blacks. When Eddie Murphy or Chris Rock make racist comments about whites during their standup routines, there’s no hue and cry from the white community. But, let a white comic take similar jabs at blacks and you’d have an earthquake that would shatter the Richter Scale.
Undoubtedly, there are those reading this who will accuse me of racism, but that too, comes with the territory. Someone must point out these things to a public that has become robotically trained to go into knee-jerk mode every time some white fool blows his cool. This marvelous, melting-pot experiment in democracy will never work until we rid ourselves of this one-sided view of race relations. If certain words and phrases are to be prohibited from use by one segment of society, they must be prohibited from use by all. Otherwise, the countless number of lives lost, both black and white, to obtain “equality for all,” has resulted in a most bizarre and incongruous definition of the phrase.
Is there anyone here that thinks Mr. Richards meant his rant, and that he is a bona-fide racist? I do.
Not following these threads closely enough to know, and honestly not trolling.
Don't compare this Rat to Jesus. If he's getting beaten up, it's his own damn fault.
Not the point. The point is the hypocricy in the current "race-debate" going on in the US.
Hell, Richards is getting off easy compared to Mel Gibson, now he was crucified.
I can't begin to imagine it is, but I have to ask: Is this *the* Bob Weir?
There is no such thing as bad publicity.
Nevermind, clicked the link and found it isn't. Sorry.
Well, the writer has a point.
What he said was pretty disastrous, but having forced myself to sit through youtube video, I couldn't help but wonder why the heckling that preceeded the rant was somehow lost. Two sides to this story, both ugly.
Whether he is or not is not the point. I think that we've created a bizarre situation where whites are held to a higher standard than non-whites when it comes to this word.
Anyone who watches Def Comedy Jam knows that it's thrown around like nothing by blacks, so why are black entertainers not held accountable for using it?
Could it be because they are held to a lower standard of personal behavior because they are black?
Isn't that racist?
I'm sure it is, I'm just not sure if it is that Bob Weir.
Excellent article.
Nothing new here. It is one standard for blacks and their race pimping leaders and another for whites.
Now for the next question: how many people here care if he's a racist or not? I don't.
THANKS FOR MAINTAINING RATIONALITY ON THIS THREAD.
Cool it everyone. I agree that the issue here is that blacks get to use "nigger" CONSTANTLY in comedians stand up acts, rap lyrics etc. they also get to use the most vile remarks for women. but that is ok.
I am so sick of the holier than thou attitude of blacks, especially when they support what would be called bigoted remarks by anyone!
BTW..to use the N word is not racist...it is bigoted and there IS a difference.
Shouldn't use the word "crucifixion" then.
As for being a racist, try "calypso" Lois Farrakhan. When's the last time he shot off his mouth and wound up with Jesse the Gerbil and Fast Al Sharpton jumping up HIS @ss?
If you are a comedian, you are going to get heckled. If you can't handle heckling, you are in the wrong business. If you are funny AND intelligent you would think of a snap that causes the hecklers to shut the hell up. But Richards went to the lowest common denominator. If the hecklers had been white, what would he have thought up to respond to them? He deserves all the mess he is in. BUT, he is probably not a racist, more like a bigot I would guess.
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