It's not that he got mad and said unfortunate things. We all say unfortunate things when we're really angry. It's that he said bigoted things. Just because your angry does not make it excusable for you to act a bigot.
If you say it in anger, that means you think it. If his mind didn't work that way, at least a little bit, his tyrade wouldn't've gone that route.
So I'm glad he's sorry he made an ass out of himself, but he's a racist and he can just go right back to hasbeendome.
I don't condone the use of racial slurs on either of their parts. The entire video made me angry.Originally Posted by Bunny
No. The reason this made such a big stir is because he is famous, but I've been present when people fling racial slurs around and it explodes like this. It just never gets coverage like this because no one famous is involved.Oh. Right. Because Michael Richards is a face, not just a voice. People know who he is because of Seinfeld.
You kind of contradicted yourself there.
You've been present in situations like this one but they have never been blown up to national coverage because nobody famous was involved.
Racial slurs are meaningless words. People put far too much emphasis on them. When these words, specifically the word that everyone is making a fuss about, ceases to be commonplace among all types of people, then it can be made into a big and important matter.
Specific words should not belong to certain races simply because it pertains to them in a degrading or positive manner. If a black person does not want a white person using a word, they themselves should not use it in any manner.
1) It's a big issue because he's a public figure. A lot of people know who he is. A lot of people want to know what kind of people they're supporting--whether they're racist or otherwise.
2) The meaning of the words is based on the intent of the speaker. Richards' intent was to insult and belittle the men he was speaking to on the basis that they are inferior because of their skin color. That is horribly, horribly wrong.
3) This thread is not about words "belonging" to races. It has nothing to do with this issue.
He was a standup comic for years before starting on Seinfeld. This is not something he's new at. He's been at it for decades.
Not that it would be an excuse anyway.
Yeah, I think this too, I don't find it that bad in all honesty, he could have done a lot worse, he was probably going to explain it properly had the audience members not heckled him.
I agree with the guy, that was uncalled for. The constant racial slurs and the fact that he acted mightier than the heckler, because of his race were ridiculous. I mean you could have told him off, but you could have done it in a non-racist way and possibly even a funny way. He went too far, but I'm not surprised because he's a washed up, bitter comedian. Who, in my opinion, was never funny to begin with.
Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, looks like racism is the new Kabbalah.
True, I did. Once again ShlupQuack worded what I wanted to say better:You kind of contradicted yourself there.
Anyways, the moral of the story is that we should stick with good comedians like George Carlin and Trevor Boris.
Kramer is now only more awesome.
I don't blame the guy that much. He probably just got pushed over that edge. You hear everyone saying nigger so much today from black people calling each other nigger. Example
"What-up mah nigga"
To all that rap/R&B music nigger this and nigga that.
Due to how often it is used I don't really see the big deal. The first comment...maybe but not so much the rest.
Peace out mah niggas XD
I think you guys are jumping the gun a little. What he said was obviously racist, but that doesn’t mean he is. Occasionally you have to put an asshole in his place and those who are slow of wit will generally be forced to pick on someone’s physical characteristics in order to do so. I mean, just listen to the insult he came up with. “50 years ago we had you with a fork up your ass”? What does that even mean? If it’s a reference to slavery, it’s a crappy one.
So yeah, getting pissed off at a guy and coming up with the most hateful thing to say about them doesn’t necessarily make you racist: it just makes you a crappy stand up comedian. I mean seriously, way to lose your <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"> in the most hilarious way possible.
And its not like black people get in trouble for being racist against whites.
Ooh, this is a tough one.
Believe it or not, a lot of black people believe there to be a HUGE difference between 'Nigger' and 'Nigga', or the much more archaic and funny 'Nigra.'
Also, it really does depend on context. As a black person, I personally don't use the N-word, but whether or not I'm offended really does depend on how it's said. Would it bother me more if a white person said it? Again, it depends on context.
Richards' context could be found in the words preceding his calling them niggers.
That was racist, so you can assume that his calling them Niggers would be in a racist context and not in a shuck and jive kind of way.
Though, my mother used to say that you 'ain't gotta be black to be a nigger.' Think about it. White people back in the Civil War days believed a 'nigger' to be a slovenly, ignorant sub-human. Therefore, one could say that a 'nigger' could be any slovenly, ignorant sub-human. It's a state of being, an attitude, a way of carrying yourself.
So in using that reasoning, it was Michael Richards that was a nigger...or at least, acted like one.
Edit: Instead of Double-posting, I'll just add my second comment to this one.
Yeah, most black comedians do it in good fun. You don't see them seriously going on diatribes, railing against white people that may heckle their stand-up act.
Though I see where you were trying to go with that comment. Yes, there is a huge double-standard. It's socially taboo for white people to poke fun at Minorities, but acceptable for Minorities to do so against white. But it's hard for America to get over hundreds of years of racial tension. That's one of the Great American <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"> stains that in a way keeps us from being the best place to be.
Last edited by Cipher; 11-22-2006 at 01:06 AM. Reason: Addendum to respond to another comment.
| Beati Pauperes Spiritu; Quoniam Ipsorum est Regnum Caelorum |
Ooh, this is a tough one.
No it isn't
Believe it or not, a lot of black people believe there to be a HUGE difference between 'Nigger' and 'Nigga', or the much more archaic and funny 'Nigra.'
I would call bull<img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif">s on this one. If he had done the same thing but said nigga instead of nigger nothing would have changed. It is the context and not the word...and who says it. No white person in their head screwed on right goes around certain neighbor hoods calling each other a nigga or nigger.
Also, it really does depend on context. As a black person, I personally don't use the N-word, but whether or not I'm offended really does depend on how it's said. Would it bother me more if a white person said it? Again, it depends on context.
Richards' context could be found in the words preceding his calling them niggers.
That was racist, so you can assume that his calling them Niggers would be in a racist context and not in a shuck and jive kind of way.
To me it looked like he was going to try to go somewhere with the whole thing but lost his train of thought and just started doing whatever. I thought that comment you quoted was hilarious...as I have already said
Though, my mother used to say that you 'ain't gotta be black to be a nigger.' Think about it. White people back in the Civil War days believed a 'nigger' to be a slovenly, ignorant sub-human. Therefore, one could say that a 'nigger' could be any slovenly, ignorant sub-human. It's a state of being, an attitude, a way of carrying yourself.
The Boondocks has driven this point home big time. Example:
"Text Messagin? Thats Nigger Technology." They even went so far as to say that he doesn't mean it in a bad way just as a general term for ignorant people. It was awesome.
So in using that reasoning, it was Michael Richards that was a nigger.
The difference is that he was clearly using the word with hateful intent, not as a benign term of endearment.
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