In case you have been under – as I have been – you may not be aware of the case of Michael Richards, aka “Kramer” from the hit TV show Seinfeld. Last Friday, Richards was performing a stand up comedy routine and some folks were heckling him. Richards seems to have lost it, and hurled some pretty bad language at the hecklers, including the n-word. The video of the event can be seen here. It looks like he offended quite a few people; the video shows folks leaving the show. Richards appeared via satellite on The Late Show with David Letterman and apologized.
As I was driving to and from a fundraiser for Lionell Spruill tonight (more on that later), the talk radio programs were all abuzz about this. A couple of points that I heard:
- Richards’ use of the n-word wouldn’t have been offensive if he had been black
- Left-wing elitists such as Richards are all racists underneath
On the first point, let me reiterate what I’ve said before: the n-word is offensive to me regardless of whether the speaker is black or white. On the second point, I don’t believe that everyone – left or right – is racist.
I do find it troublesome that Richards struck back at his hecklers by using a racial slur. Surely he could have come up with something else. For that matter, as a stand up comedian, I would think he was used to hecklers.
Your thoughts?
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
He clearly lost it and took refuge in the “I’m repurposing a word” excuse. He used the word as it was meant to be used, as a demeaning epithet, and only later claimed to have been playing with the Zeitgeist.
The consensus in Hollywood is that his career is over, unless Mel Gibson will give him a job.
“Richards’ use of the n-word wouldn’t have been offensive if he had been black
Left-wing elitists such as Richards are all racists underneath”
Both of these are garbage. That word is offensive, and shouldn’t be used, same goes for “cracker” which was fired back from the people who instigated this. Personally though, I’m *TIRED* of hearing about this already, between this and the NON STOP talk about OJ on the news. We have far more important things going on the world to concern ourselves with.
I’m not about to tell black Americans how to identify themselves.
But I “know” that no blacks would have used the “n” word like Michael Richards used the “n” word.
Richards unleashed the hateful racism that resides in his soul.
Mr. Richards, I hope you do some soul searching and some consciousness raising to cleanse yourself sir.
In the meantime I will NOT support any of your current shows…Until I see real redemption (which will take time) “real” repentence and serious soul searching on your part I will refuse to support anything you participate in.
Buzz…Buzz…
Why are some racial slurs more offensive than other racial slurs?
It was offensive, period.
I agree it was offensive, but some racial slurs are edited out of media coverage and some are not. I was wondering why.
Vivian:
You may (or may not) find this amusing. A long time ago, I worked at Brooks Transfer and Storage in Virginia Beach. We were the “J Team,” because our names were Jim, Jack, and J.R. My teammates were both Black, and we regularly went to a black bar after work. (I was generally the only white person there.) Well, they actually voted me in as an “Honorary White Nigger.”
Jack, don’t. Just don’t.
I think Richards is sorry for what he did. I think his apology was sincere last night. But there is obviously something there underneath the surface that bubbled up on Friday and exploded. He should be scorned and shunned for what he did but he should also be allowed to try to work and atone for what he did. But I’m not speaking from a perspective that the hate was directed towards; just from one that has seen no other instances of this racist behavior. Does the severity of the attack outweigh his entire life of work? And please don’t take this as an apology for him. I just want to know other people’s perspectives.
But the cynic in me thinks that the apology could have to do with the release of the Seinfeld DVD today. It’s still going to make money over time when this subsides. Maybe Richard’s take can go to humanitarian efforts?
Vivian, a question for you. Would you want the n-word stricken from classic lit? It’s in a couple of stories that I read at the tenth grade level and I just don’t say the word…
I think that he used the word in a derogatory manner, no doubt. I don’t dare try to get inside his head to try to figure out what made him react that way. I don’t even know if he is sorry for what he said – as opposed to sorry that he got caught on tape saying it.
Kevin – no, I don’t think the word should be stricken from the literature. I’m not a fan of any changes to classic literature. I think that is imposing today’s values inappropriately.
Vivian, I agree with your comments. I wondered that, too, if it was a “sorry I was filmed.”
I’ll tell you one thing though, not totally unrelated, but I watched Comic Relief on TBS this weekend, and just about every joke was bleeped for language. Made it kind of pointless to watch. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised when comedians who thrive on saying offensive things say offensive things.
My favorite, all-time, is Bill Cosby. No vileness, no meanness, no bleeps, just absolutely hilarious.
Kramer is only the tip of the iceberg. There are millions of white Americans and whites across the world that feel that way. We as Black people need to stop this silly MLK dream BS and end this living nightmare. Whites only respect violence and we will continue to suffer unless we do what it takes to end this BS. We can kill for crack but not freedom!! WTF The reason the word ‘cracker’ and ‘nigger’ are not the same is because whites were not enslaved by the most brutal and evil slavery known to man. The word nigger was used to magnify psychological operations early in American history for free labor and some sick idea of superiority. The only superiority I see is a much higher degree of evil. Second, when you speak of rap music… A little history for you stupid David Duke repeating idiots. Rap music started out as uplifting the Black condition in the world. As soon as white children started buying rap, the so-called ‘gangsta rap’ became the dominate rap format. There were many more positive rap groups back when rap was really Black music. Non-blacks buy 80%+ of rap music for the last 13 years or so. Your children drive the market by dollars, rap is commercial (white washed) so to reference it is silly. By reading the comments posted it again proves whites are not that intelligent, whites relied on evil and technology to gain the upper hand on other races. But do not think your azz can’t be dealt with, the game is never over…. As a matter of fact it just began. Keep spewing your BS all across the world. We are listening and tired of your BS. Black people worldwide lets get our stuff together and don’t whine when they only be what they are. Let us pool our resources and starve the racist where ever they are. Never allow one Black dollar get into the hands of a white racist; no matter how much you need or want an item they produce. We will never forget slavery and we will honor our ancestors for their resilience, strength, bravery, and endurance; properly one day. Let us never forget, less we find ourselves in the same position. Let us crush their ideology out of existence; this is the only thing we should be working towards the revenge of our ancestors and the awakening of our children.
Just read some of the sick rhetoric these so-called humans produce:
http://homepage.mac.com/garyligi/iblog/C1344787019/E20061121175908/
Well, that was refreshing. I’ve got a couple of questions, though:
(1) What freedoms do you not have?
(2) If whites are so stupid, how did they get the technology “to gain the upper hand on other races”?
(3) Considering the corruption of rap that occurred with the white money, shouldn’t you also consider not taking any “white dollars”?
All this sounds very reminiscent of Malcolm X. He was, unquestionable, very intelligent. Perhaps he had a better grasp on reality than Dr. King, and Dr. King was only dreaming.