Kramer Unleashes Racist Tirade

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I understand why he did it. That guy was heckling him and Richards got so mad he just hit him where it hurt. If the heckler guy is going to be disrespectful he should at least be prepared to take it himself.
 
BrownEyedBoy said:
I understand why he did it. That guy was heckling him and Richards got so mad he just hit him where it hurt. If the heckler guy is going to be disrespectful he should at least be prepared to take it himself.

No. Bringing race into it is unacceptable. Call the guy an asshole, whatever, but bringing race into it is not right.
 
How can you understand? We don't even know he was heckled, the video just says he's been talking all night.

Regardless, you don't hit him where it hurts by disrespecting a whole race.:huh:
 
BrownEyedBoy said:
No. It's in YOUR Constitution. He can say - or call someone, in this case - whatever he feels like.

If I don't want to get punched I simply don't throw a punch.

I didn't say he wasn't allowed to say it, I said it was unacceptable. If you think it's appropriate to respond to something like that with a racist tirade, then that says something about you, doesn't it?
 
I never said "appropriate". But if you're going to dish it out you should be able to take it as well. It's really that simple. That guy just got one upped for being a smartass.
 
BrownEyedBoy said:
I never said "appropriate". But if you're going to dish it out you should be able to take it as well. It's really that simple. That guy just got one upped for being a smartass.

Um, no. A whole race got insulted because one person was talking.

HUGE difference.
 
BrownEyedBoy said:
I never said "appropriate". But if you're going to dish it out you should be able to take it as well. It's really that simple. That guy just got one upped for being a smartass.

I really don't think you understand what happened. The heckler was a smartass, sure, but Richards' response was some very nasty racial shit. He didn't respond in a way that kept it comic to heckler. He started talking about lynchings and calling him a n****r, at least five times.
 
BrownEyedBoy said:
I never said "appropriate". But if you're going to dish it out you should be able to take it as well. It's really that simple. That guy just got one upped for being a smartass.

Do you not see the difference between "you're an idiot" and "50 years ago we would kill you for this because you're black"?

:huh:
 
DaveC said:
He's either on something or he's blindingly drunk.

Probably both.

Still, though... :huh:


I've been thinking about this...because he did seem a bit unnerved. But I don't think there is enough booze and drugs in the world that could get me to say such racist things...unless I actually believed racist things.
 
I just watched this, and I think there might be another explanation. Is it possible that he was trying to be cool in an extremely post-modern, ultra-ironic way, and that he just wasn't clever enought to pull it off? We know that really brilliant comics can get away with using the "N" word, and pushing all of the boundaries of bad taste to get a laugh (just think of all of the most recent and not so recent examples - Borat and Pryor to name only a couple). Is it just that Richards, trying to jump on a comedy bandwagon, completely lacked the subtlety, finess and intellect to pull it off? And so came off being merely (or rather extremely) offensive. :shrug:
 
I've been to a few stand up clubs were comedians have been quite racist/sexist/homophobic/diss the disabled/whatever, and it generally falls under the rule of: If you give shit to someone, it's okay as long as you are giving shit to everyone equally. There is a very fine line though.
 
Earnie Shavers said:
I've been to a few stand up clubs were comedians have been quite racist/sexist/homophobic/diss the disabled/whatever, and it generally falls under the rule of: If you give shit to someone, it's okay as long as you are giving shit to everyone equally. There is a very fine line though.

The outburst wasn't part of a comedy routine - it just happened to take place in a comedy club.
 
According to a comment on youtube from someone who was there it was the heckler who first started the racist stuff told Richards "you suck, your an idiot, a dumb ass white mother #$%#er." He also called him at least ten different names.

If this is true than I think its a bit more understandable
 
ntalwar said:

The outburst wasn't part of a comedy routine - it just happened to take place in a comedy club.


Exactly, it's directed at a paying customer and not part of his routine. And even if someone in the audience called him a dumbass white mfer first (I never heard that on the tape) it still doesn't justify saying what he said on that tape-nothing does. Who knows what order all of his occurred in, when something like this happens there are usually differing accounts.

No matter how angry someone makes you, there is no excuse for racist attacks and retaliation. He's a grown man, and when you're a grown man or women you should learn how to control your anger and how to express it in an appropriate manner. I would think that if a person expresses anger in a racist manner, he/she has those feelings, thoughts, and attitudes- even if he/she hides them/doesn't express them during the normal course of everyday life.



Former "Seinfeld" star Michael Richards says he is sorry for his racial epithet-laden diatribe at a Los Angeles comedy club and insists he is not a racist.

"I got heckled and took it badly and went into a rage," he said in an interview Monday night via satellite on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman."

The interview was arranged by his former co-star Jerry Seinfeld who had already been scheduled to appear on the program.

Appearing distraught and on the verge of tears at times, Richards said, "I am not a racist! That's what's so insane about this. For me to be on stage, and flip out and say this stuff, I'm deeply, deeply sorry."

What set the three-time Emmy winner off? A comment yelled by Kyle Doss, who had just entered the club with friends a few minutes before.

"I had said my friend doesn't think you're funny," Doss said.


The Laugh Factory invited Richards back the next night, saying he had promised to apologize on stage.

However, he did not, and on Monday, the club owner — facing outrage from civil rights groups — banned Richards from performing there.

"He's not welcome to this club," Jaime Masada said at a news conference to the applause of a handful of community activists in attendance.

On "The Late Show," Richards said he had some "personal work to do."

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=2669578&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
 
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"you suck, your an idiot, a dumb ass white mother #$%#er."

If this was said, there should be just as much blame laid upon the black man who made these comments as towards Michael Richards. If he was called a 'dumb ass white mother fucker,' this should be tantamount to '******' reitterated several times by Michael. But still, they're just as bad as eachother and Michael shouldn't have retaliated etc.
 
AussieU2fanman said:
"you suck, your an idiot, a dumb ass white mother #$%#er."

If this was said, there should be just as much blame laid upon the black man who made these comments as towards Michael Richards. If he was called a 'dumb ass white mother fucker,' this should be tantamount to '******' reitterated several times by Michael. But still, they're just as bad as eachother and Michael shouldn't have retaliated etc.

Anyone can write anything on youtube, so I'm not sure why people are starting to believe that. He probably would've been thrown out if he had said that.
 
Meh it's not like he has a solo career to ruin really. Besides Seinfeld everything's been a flop.
 
the problem with video is that it doesn't show what happened before and/or after the video occured. we don't know what was said to set richards off. not that it's an excuse... there is no excuse. but we should be holding everyone responsible for their actions, not just the celebrity.

as far as him being a racist, on how the things wouldn't have come out if he wasn't a racist, etc. etc. i'm not sure i neccesarily believe that. we all have our inner demons, and different situations in our lifes bring out things that we would normally never think possible.

a personal situation... i was coaching a summer league basketball game a few years back. the team i was coaching at the time was 100% white, the team we were playing, a huge rival of ours, was 100% black. nearing the end of the game a fight broke out... one of the players on the team i was coaching started spewing out the N word towards the other team. unexcusable, inappropriate, all those good things... now you'd see this kid say these things and think he was a horrible racist. but knowing the kid personally, i knew that his best friend is black, he listens to nothing but rap music and his idol is michael jordan. all these things seem to contradict themselves.

rage can make human beings do some pretty fucked up things, that their normal psyche would never even think of doing. :shrug:

i'm not trying to excuse what richards did... it's quite possible he is a racist and just managed to keep it hidden for the 20+ years of his public career. or maybe he let rage and built up personal issues explode in a fit or rage that even he didn't think he was capable of. who knows... i don't know him on a personal level. i can't make that judgement.
 
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It's very hard to judge these days where and when the N word is publicly acceptable. I give kudos to the hip hop community for taking a really bad racial slur and turning it into a term of recognition.

Still, watching the guy on stage, when you say it and aim it at someone like that, and you're white, it doesn't fly.
 
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