michael richards?

Question

was Michael Richards being a racist for what he said or do you think he was trying to shock in the venue of a Richard Pryor or Lenny Bruce but is too inexperienced to pull it off?

I love all the comments and all of these answers are valid for and against, all of you make a point. I am really proud of the fact that we still have free speech in this country and even though it is silly I am glad the man that wants to kill all white people has the freedom to express it although I do not agree with him!!!. I do hope he does not try to harm anyone though. All the answers are so great I will leave this to the public to vote and pick the best answer.
thank you,
hardpool2

Answer 1

If those ******* hadn't started heckling, hadn't started the whole racism thing by calling Richards a "cracker" totally out of the blue, hadn't told him to "sit his cracker asss down", and if they hadn't disturbed the show for EVER SINGLE PERSON WHO PAID BIG MONEY TO BE THERE, then maybe Richards should offer an apology.

As it is, those pieces of sh*t deserved what they got. Those ****** did more to break down race relations than Richards ever did. And yet Richards is the one apologizing, he's the one trying to talk, he's the one trying to make amends.

Meanwhile, the black community (just look at this board) refuse to take any responsibility, refuse to offer up any apologies of their own, and totally refuse to accept Richard's apology. Oh yeah, they have lawyers and are going to try to sue for money. Great.

Frankly, this wouldn't happen with any other race. Anyone else would have shut up or left . No one else would play the poor poor victim while trying to make a buck after starting the whole thing. That's the real source of racism.

Richards is the effect, not the cause. But no one wants to believe that so it will never go away.

Answer 2

after watching the video, there's no way this was planned or even comic in any way. He was genuinely angry, and he was expressing serious rage without any form of comic spirit lying beneath. He sounded like he was at a KKK rally! No, I would DEFINITELY say he was just mad, and there's nothing like anger to bring out the racist in someone. It was only at the end that he tried to concoct something out of it, when he assumed that Britishy accent and said "you see, there's still those words, those words, those words..." He was grasping for straws or for some sort of out. There was none. He knew full well at that point he'd screwed himself over, and he was clearly shamed and embarassed and confused.

The comics you mentioned did edgy routines but never apologized and never had to. Richards is out there crying to anyone who'll listen and pathetically struggling to do damage control. This bears no resemblance to Kauffman-style humor. This was an angry racist and a horrible comedian bombing like no comedian has bombed before.

(black people do it too... if they're angry at a white person, many will start throwing epithets like cracka or white boy too. I must say, if this was Dave Chapelle screaming racist insults at a white guy, obviously the reaction would have been different, though I think it would warrant the same exact consequences Richards now has to face... but thems is the breaks)

ADDITIONAL COMMENT: I think what's more news-worthy are the responses I see on this board and on places like Youtube... I think THAT is the real proof that race relations are reaching an all-time low. I've always been a big Chapelle/Mencia fan, but at this moment I'm wondering if it hasn't done more harm than good by making racism seem ok. This wasn't a joke, this was hate. It's scary to see people defending him, and it's scary to see black people lashing out at whites in general. I hope internet forums like this are not representative of the population

Also, from what I've read, they just told him that he's not funny. WHere are people getting this thing that he was told to sit his cracka-*** down? And I'm sorry, but is "cracka" really offensive? I mean, if someone called me a cracka, I can't really imagine that stirring any insecurities up within me. (read between the lines)

But it's gonna kill his career. Might even kill the whole Seinfeld legacy, just like it's kind of hard to watch Naked Gun with OJ in it. Watching a murderer or a flaming racist do slapschtick takes a bit of the funny out.

Answer 3

Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce did NOT attack individuals as in specific people with racist remarks. Lenny Bruce was very politcial and Richard Pryor would jab at all races including his own - but did NOT ever point at one person in the audiance and throw racial slurs at them...they had hecklers too as all stand-up comedians do - and they knew how to handle them UNLIKE Michael Richards who is NOT a professional stand-up comedian - he is however, very clearly a racist.

HOWEVER...now it's getting out all over the place that this whole entire thing was one big lampoon..NOT like Richard Pryor or Lenny Bruce...BUT like Andy Kaufmann...a Lampoon that the two hecklers, the club, Seinfeld and Letterman ...AND the retired judge (like Judge Judy or someone) that the two hecklers are supposedly trying to get Richards to appear in front of ...are all in on..it's a big joke apparently on the American public...and will be announced in a televised court hearing, etc, etc....well that's the rumor anyway. If this is all true...?...it's NOT funny in my book.
If it's not true?...he's just a racist.

Answer 4

Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor are royalty. Brilliant and talented, their wit and insights are remarkable, as well as outrageous. Michael Richards is a one note creation, kramer, and someone else wrote it. He is unfunny as are his movies. With all the riches he has piled up vis a vis seinfeld, one would think he has no reason to be bitter and angry. Guess the money didn't buy happiness. In any case, if he had a brain or any comedic talent, his n word retort to, sit your cracker *** down, is hardly worth the price of admission.

Answer 5

His tirade sounded a bit uncontrolled, so I am leaning towards the former, but I do agree with Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor, we all let words have too much power in our lives.
As a member of a minority group, I was picked on by bullies and fear prejudice to this day.
My solution is not taking my identity so serious that someone I do not respect can hurt me through their ignorance.

Answer 6

Stop trying to rationalize the fact that Michael Richards is a moron and a bigot. Just as I would be were I to jump on stage and call a bunch of white people "crackers", or Jews "kikes". For all you Michael Richards apologists i challenge you all to look up Richard Pryor's entire catalog and find ONE time that he ever slurred a race because he was heckled. Race was always approached in the context of comedy with the greats like Carlin, Pryor,Bruce, hell even Eddie Murphy. Michael Richards dropping the "n" bomb was the end product of a comedy set that was sadly enough, just not funny. To stop the show and start screaming about pitchforks and yelling out "there's a ****** " several times was no attempt to shock...it was just a bigot expressing how he felt inside. Too bad too...i thought Kramer was a comedic genius on the show. It's shows even more now in retrospect that Larry David and Seinfeld are way ahead of their time...

Answer 7

I think it's just as he's been saying: He got angry and went on a rant when being heckled.

I severely doubt he's a racist. To get to his position of popularity as a comedian in the U.S. it's impossible to imagine that he has no black friends.

I don't think he was doing a Richard Pryor, as he ended the show as opposed to somehow going on.

The guy was just angry and there was no point in continuing. He was bombing, he was being heckled, then he got angry. Stuff like that happens.

This guy seems a lot more human than some other comedians who aren't even aware of the effects of their racist routines. He's being very constructive. He's talking about healing. He's going to a shrink, he wants to meet the hecklers, he's apologized on a very popular worldwide TV show, etc.

Best of everything to Richards. Thanks for bringing the zany character Kramer to TV for us.

Answer 8

it seemed, from out of context the snipet that I saw, that he was doing a lenny bruce harangue that pissed off the politically correct, but.. he did seem to be pissed off too. Maybe he and Lenny have, an in common, coke habit. I dont know, I think the man is funny and I really doubt he was out to rally the KKK - who knows, what does he have to say? also knowing the context would have been a reasonable thing... but one thing for sure everybody loves to jump up and down and beat their tamborines when they find somebody who isnt walking the walk and talking the talk.

Answer 9

It would have been a fascinating plan a la Andy Kaufman except for a few things. He doesn't need the money, he knows how to get work in a legitimate way, and it just wasn't funny.

Answer 10

I think the double standard lies in the fact that rappers say the "N" word (No I don't use it!!) every other word!! And you hear all these little hip hop clowns refer to themselves as it again every other word...I have no problem with the fact that he snapped and called them something they probably refered to themselves as all day long anyway....It was the comment that precipitated it

"If it was 50 years ago you'd be hanging upside down with a fork in your a*s" That blew my mind...

Something like that just doesn't roll off your tongue unless you've thought about it before..That was unbelievably offensive and crossed every there was to cross in my mind!! The dudes career has been dead for years. So I can't even say he buried himself with that comment...But he sure let people know where his mind lies..He's racist no if's ands or buts about it.