Upside Down With A Fork In My...
Column Originally Published Thanksgiving Day 2006
Richards' rant reveals an ugly side
By Kelvin Wade
Michael Richards' meltdown on a Laugh Factory stage last weekend where he spewed the N word at black hecklers and made reference to lynching is but the latest in what I refer to as talking while under the influence of stupidity.
Richards' apology on the David Letterman show was painful to watch. It conveyed his embarrassment and shame regarding his coarse behavior. But then he uttered the dreaded words "I'm not a racist."
Mel Gibson belched up similar words when he proclaimed he wasn't an anti-Semite after making anti-Semitic remarks. It was reminiscent of when newly installed Republican Minority Whip Trent Lott informed us he wasn't a bigot after making bigoted remarks at a birthday party for Strom Thurmond. Virginia Senate loser George Allen swore he wasn't a bigot after using bigoted language during his campaign.
Please.
You know, I've heard some callers on talk radio programs say there's a double standard, that black comedians use the N word all the time or that a black comedian in Richards' position wouldn't receive the same condemnation.
First, if you don't understand context then you're probably a Bush voter and anything I might say will sail clean over your head into the next county.
Secondly, if a Dave Chappelle or Jamie Foxx angrily went off on hecklers in the audience by spewing anti-Semitic remarks and reminding them that they burned in ovens at one time, I'm positive you'd see the same condemnation.
By the way, if I were giving someone advice on how not to come across as a racist, probably tops on my list would be not to spew racial epithets. That's a little wisdom nugget that evidently not too many know.
Richards might be a dyed-in-the-wool racist, but we know for a fact that he's a lousy standup comedian incapable of handling hecklers.
If Richards isn't a racist, he certainly deftly wields the language of one. His repeated use of the N word, grotesque lynching comment and remark that this is what you get when you interrupt the white man, brings to mind the adage that if it walks and quacks like a duckÉ
However, not to defend Kramer's reprehensible behavior, but often when we're angry, we say horrible things we don't mean. For most of us, we're not standing on a stage holding a microphone while someone tapes us on a cell phone camera when we say these things.
On two occasions in my life I've been called the N word by white friends in the heat of an argument. On the second occasion, I ended up knocking the guy out. But on both occasions we remained friends.
A good friend told me of a time when she used truly unprintable homophobic language in the heat of anger. This is a woman who had a gay relative (by marriage) who died of AIDS, supports gay marriage and is one of the least homophobic people I know. It happens.
How many of us reach into the cesspool of prejudice in the heat of an argument?
When a Chinese person cuts you off while driving, do you think, "You jerk!" or "You Chinese jerk!"? How many of us have referred to Arabs in a derogatory manner since 9/11? O.J. is back in the news. Remember how that case fueled prejudice.
When a celebrity implodes in an embarrassing racial incident, maybe it's not the time to sit back and smugly wag our fingers. Perhaps we should use that time to look deep down in our own hearts and root out the weeds of prejudice.
Richards' apology on the David Letterman show was painful to watch. It conveyed his embarrassment and shame regarding his coarse behavior. But then he uttered the dreaded words "I'm not a racist."
Mel Gibson belched up similar words when he proclaimed he wasn't an anti-Semite after making anti-Semitic remarks. It was reminiscent of when newly installed Republican Minority Whip Trent Lott informed us he wasn't a bigot after making bigoted remarks at a birthday party for Strom Thurmond. Virginia Senate loser George Allen swore he wasn't a bigot after using bigoted language during his campaign.
Please.
You know, I've heard some callers on talk radio programs say there's a double standard, that black comedians use the N word all the time or that a black comedian in Richards' position wouldn't receive the same condemnation.
First, if you don't understand context then you're probably a Bush voter and anything I might say will sail clean over your head into the next county.
Secondly, if a Dave Chappelle or Jamie Foxx angrily went off on hecklers in the audience by spewing anti-Semitic remarks and reminding them that they burned in ovens at one time, I'm positive you'd see the same condemnation.
By the way, if I were giving someone advice on how not to come across as a racist, probably tops on my list would be not to spew racial epithets. That's a little wisdom nugget that evidently not too many know.
Richards might be a dyed-in-the-wool racist, but we know for a fact that he's a lousy standup comedian incapable of handling hecklers.
If Richards isn't a racist, he certainly deftly wields the language of one. His repeated use of the N word, grotesque lynching comment and remark that this is what you get when you interrupt the white man, brings to mind the adage that if it walks and quacks like a duckÉ
However, not to defend Kramer's reprehensible behavior, but often when we're angry, we say horrible things we don't mean. For most of us, we're not standing on a stage holding a microphone while someone tapes us on a cell phone camera when we say these things.
On two occasions in my life I've been called the N word by white friends in the heat of an argument. On the second occasion, I ended up knocking the guy out. But on both occasions we remained friends.
A good friend told me of a time when she used truly unprintable homophobic language in the heat of anger. This is a woman who had a gay relative (by marriage) who died of AIDS, supports gay marriage and is one of the least homophobic people I know. It happens.
How many of us reach into the cesspool of prejudice in the heat of an argument?
When a Chinese person cuts you off while driving, do you think, "You jerk!" or "You Chinese jerk!"? How many of us have referred to Arabs in a derogatory manner since 9/11? O.J. is back in the news. Remember how that case fueled prejudice.
When a celebrity implodes in an embarrassing racial incident, maybe it's not the time to sit back and smugly wag our fingers. Perhaps we should use that time to look deep down in our own hearts and root out the weeds of prejudice.
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