Michael Richards and Racial Double Standards

[eahaddix]

Comic Paul Rodriguez, who was at the club, said he thought Richards' remarks crossed the line.

"Once the word comes out of your mouth and you don't happen to be African-American, then you have a whole lot of explaining," he said. "Freedom of speech has its limitations and I think Michael Richards found those limitations."
Source: 'Kramer' Apologizes for Racist Tirade," by The Associated Press, November 21, 2006 @ CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/20/richards.epithets.ap/index.html)

If you turned on the TV last night, you know that Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld) exploded in a night club in a fit of racial slurs and derogatory language. There was no excuse for his behavior and he deserves any and all the bad press he has coming his way. As a professional, you should be able to handle an audience and it was apparent the other night that Richards was lacking that skill.

That being said, many of the reactions to this are TOTALLY off base.

Fellow Comedian Paul Rodriguez was in the night club during the overreaction and had this to say.

“Once the word comes out of your mouth and you don’t happen to be African-American, then you have a whole lot of explaining. Freedom of speech has its limitations and I think Michael Richards found those limitations.”

Bull, Paul… and you KNOW IT. Comedians that happen to be of a “minority” can stand on a stage and go on a 40 minute racial tirade about those ’stupid cracker, honkey, milktoast white folk’… and not reaction is to be had over something like that. Yet let some honkey cracker stand up and say the N-word JUST ONCE. Oh HELL no… his career is OVER!
Source: "Michael Richards and the Double Standard," by James, November 21, 2006 @ RightOnBlog.net (http://www.rightonblog.net/?p=744)

Further reading: "The 'N-Word' Double Standard," by Warner Todd Huston, August 5, 2006 @ RenewAmerica.us (http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/huston/060805)

Comments?

[eahaddix]

In examining this issue, one notices that this issue transcends this incident.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and longtime liberal activist, told the Chicago Defender Wednesday that Richards’ “racist rant” was not the big issue raised by the controversy.

“The bigger issue here,” Jackson told the black newspaper, “is that we must challenge all media to stop saying in the records [we play] and in the videos the word nigger. We must move our young people from using the word nigger.”

Jackson said African Americans “can’t go from protesting derogation to getting rich off of self-derogation.”

Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of the conservative Brother Organization of a New Destiny (BOND) and harsh critic of Jackson, also criticized what he called a “racial double-standard” that resulted in the backlash aimed at Richards.

“If the word ‘nigger’ is so offensive and shocking to blacks, then why do black people themselves continue to use this word?” he asked in a release Wednesday.

“Black people cannot continue using this word, yet label others as ‘racists’ when they do the same in a fit of anger, as Michael Richards did,” Peterson said. “By not allowing whites to express themselves, it only drives the problem underground and forces people to keep these emotions bottled-up.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, another frequent target of Peterson’s criticism, also criticized blacks for using the word themselves. In a radio interview Tuesday with WVON-AM, Sharpton called the word “a bullet” and asked how blacks could criticize Richards when many of them use the word themselves, according to the Defender.
Source: "Comedian's Tirade Should Open Blacks' Eyes, Leaders Say" by Nathan Burchfiel, November 22, 2006 @ CNSNews.com (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200611/CUL20061122c.html)

Turing back to our culture, we have to stop using the word ‘nigga’ so much. I don’t believe in the opinion that there is a difference between ‘nigga’ and ‘nigger.’ After all, it seemed that Kramer put emphasis on the ‘a’ in ‘nigga.” It didn’t make it less offensive to me. Let us set the example of how we want to be treated. Then, they won’t have petty excuses to fall back on.
Source: "Michael Richards 'Kramer' is a Racist!" by YoungBlackMan, November 21, 2006 @ YoungBlackMan.wordpress.com (http://youngblackman.wordpress.com/2006/11/21/michael-richards-kramer-is-a-racist/)

"Let me tell you something, your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day, it's cursing and calling each other 'nigger' as they're walking up and down the street," the comedian said. "They think they're hip ... they can't read, they can't write, they're laughing and giggling, and they're going nowhere."

Mr. Cosby made headlines in May for speaking out about how some blacks are "not holding up their end of the civil rights deal." He criticized young people dropping out of school and black men and women who are having children but not raising them.
Source: "Black Leaders Back Cosby's Straight Talk," by Brian DeBose, July 4, 2004 @ WashingtonTimes.com (http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040704-121543-2465r.htm)

Comments?

[CTZonEdit]

Mr. Richards stopped telling jokes and took it personally.

He failed to deal with the heckler properly, because of perhaps his lack of standup experience recently and anger that someone was interrupting his act. So he lashed out, only it became personal and not about the jokes anymore.

Poor choice of words in an ugly situation, leads to an even uglier sitution.

[Chrystalwuzhere]

I was talking to a close friend who is black, and she said she does not believe Michael Richards is racist. She just believes that when you get that angry, you try to hit a person where it will hurt the most, and since these men are black, that's where he decided to hit them. It makes sense to me. And, it worked too. It got the rise out of them that he was looking for, and then some.

It was one of the stupidest things he ever could have done... STUPID!!! But this isn't enough to confirm to me that this man is racist. Calling someone a racist name doesn't necessarily mean that he is a racist. Poor judgment, yes. Racist? I'm not thinking so.

[CoreIssue]

If it is okay for blacks to call blacks nigga and nigger then it is okay for other races to call them the same thing.

It is either ok or not. Not selectively okay.

To me, it is not appropriate ever. But, at the same time, it does not make one racist every time.