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View Full Version : What do you all think of Kramer now?



Pam
11-21-2006, 05:58 AM
Well, let me start by saying that I was a very big fan of Seinfeld. I loved it when it ran and still try to catch some of the ones I missed when it went to reruns. My least favorite character was Kramer though. I always thought his character was ridiculous and that Jerry, Elaine and George really were the great talents on that show, not to mention occasional visits from Jerry's and George's "parents." It seems that Kramer (Michael Richards) is now not only not funny but a racist as well. How about you? Ever really care for Cosmo's character? I guess he will have to look to find another career now that no one is finding him funny any more.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/20/richards.epithets.ap/index.html

elizabethann
11-21-2006, 07:46 AM
I named my cat "Cosmo" after his character. I loved him in Seinfeld and thought the whole cast was very talented.

However, the video I've seen on t.v. was painful to watch. He really said some nasty things. I think his career (what was left of it) has gone kaput after this incedent.

Sara luvs her Tinky
11-21-2006, 07:50 AM
I almost feel sorry for him... He really has some issues to address with his anger.

I've been listening to different peoples comments all morning on the radio.. and I can't decide if those are feelings he keeps deep down inside or if he was just SO angry and he really wanted to lash out.

I don't believe the hecklers deserved such a reaction.. but in another light. You get what you give. If they didn't want to watch the show.. but wanted to say hurtful things to him... they should only expect the same thing in return.. NOT that i'm justifying Michael Richards actions... but they should have just left and let the other people in the audience enjoy they show. I think that was very IMMATURE on their part!

dukedogsmom
11-21-2006, 07:55 AM
Seinfeld will always be one of my favorite shows.

What in the world was he smoking? It's like he just lost it. He's lucky he hasn't been killed yet.

And one thing I don't understand. Why do other blacks use that word and they're not considered disrespectful, etc? I think it's kind of a double standard, you know?

Marigold2
11-21-2006, 09:08 AM
I think what happened was very sad. Here is a very talented man who for whatever reason has sunk down in the gutter. Perhaps drink or drugs are a problem for him. Lets home he gets back on track. His comments were mean and full of anger, he must be in some pain.

lvpets2002
11-21-2006, 09:13 AM
:) Oh I think due to His part he played on Seinfeld for so long soaked in so deep & then with his deep emotions set things into a explosion.. I do truely think he is very sorry for his action.. Now for his future only time can tell!!

king2005
11-21-2006, 09:55 AM
If the flag burning he did in that one episode didn't ruin him, I can't see this being any different... Sure people were mad for a couple days, but it blew off pretty quickly... as I feel this will.

Logan
11-21-2006, 10:45 AM
I am no fan of his, anymore. NEVER AGAIN!!!! I am so ashamed of him and I think Jerry Seinfeld is too!

Cataholic
11-21-2006, 10:53 AM
I think it was a bad moment for him, surely I have had my own. Can't he make mistakes? Exercise poor judgment? I say, get over it!

I still love Seinfeld, and this doesn't change my opinion of anyone.

shais_mom
11-21-2006, 11:01 AM
I never liked Seinfeld, I didn't like Michael Richards before so my opinion hasn't changed.

Edwina's Secretary
11-21-2006, 11:11 AM
I am one of the few Americans who never watched an entire episode of Seinfeld. I found all the characters to be people I would not want to spend time with in "real life" so I didn't want to spend time with them on tv. Consequently, I had no opinion of Michael Richards....until now.

Just like with Mel Gibson....they can apologize...and I am sure they are sorry they said the things they said.

But that doesn't change how they believe. It just took a weak moment for the hate to come out. (And Val...it was more than just the word he said....)

I will not support either man with any of my hard earned dollars. And I hope they will simply crawl away and not spend lots of the world's oxygen trying to regenerate their careers.

dukedogsmom
11-21-2006, 11:33 AM
(And Val...it was more than just the word he said....)
Oh, I know that. I was just curious about that.

Luvin Labs
11-21-2006, 01:23 PM
I've never found him funny. The few times I've seen Seinfeld I hated his character.

A long time ago I heard that he was eating lunch and someone had looked at him and he SNAPPED and basically ripped the person a new butthole because the person just looked at him.

Paranoid and anger management issues.

Sorry to all the Kramer lovers, but no way.

And this instance, I think he just commited career suicide.

No matter what the hecklers were saying he should have been good enough to maintain his composure and give a few good snappy comebacks like I've seen other GOOD comedians do.

caseysmom
11-21-2006, 01:27 PM
I find the comment about "50 years ago we'd have a fork up your *ss" and the "don't interrupt a white man" to be extremely offensive and even worse than the n word. That is just disgusting. Before I watched the video and just heard about it I was ready to share cataholic's opinion but after watching it I just can't.

Husky_mom
11-21-2006, 01:29 PM
I really loved Kramer, he is my fave out of Seinfeld cast, they are all talented but Kramer just made me laugh all the time.......such a goof

I didnīt know he had a show and whatever he said, so I have no opinions on that,...........sorry.............

sasvermont
11-21-2006, 06:25 PM
My first quess, after hearing about this, was that he, Kraemer, was hopped up on drugs. I don't think he can come up with any excuse to account for his behavior. What a jerk. He, along with Mel, need to rethink who they are and how they need to behave. Who do they think they are? Such a waste. I could care less about both of them, along with 1/2 of Hollywood's crew. :rolleyes:

lizbud
11-21-2006, 07:09 PM
I am one of the few Americans who never watched an entire episode of Seinfeld.


Here's another person who has never watched Seinfeld. never had an
interest in watching it.I know who this guy was, a character in the cast,
but that's it. Seems like he just ruined his career, if he ever had one after
the Seinfeld series.

Logan
11-21-2006, 09:03 PM
I am one of the few Americans who never watched an entire episode of Seinfeld. I found all the characters to be people I would not want to spend time with in "real life" so I didn't want to spend time with them on tv. Consequently, I had no opinion of Michael Richards....until now.

Just like with Mel Gibson....they can apologize...and I am sure they are sorry they said the things they said.

But that doesn't change how they believe. It just took a weak moment for the hate to come out. (And Val...it was more than just the word he said....)

I will not support either man with any of my hard earned dollars. And I hope they will simply crawl away and not spend lots of the world's oxygen trying to regenerate their careers.


Amen, Sara. I know we don't usually agree, but on this subject, we do. I cannot believe that anyone could spout out that kind of garbage in this day and age. Makes me sad. I was never a Seinfeld fan. Could never get comfortable with their kind of comedy.

There is nothing that Michael Richards can say or do to make me believe that he didn't mean every word he said.

Sophist
11-22-2006, 05:17 AM
I've always been a Seinfeld fan, ever since I was 8 or 9.

I don't think he is really much worse than the black people walking out screaming about him being a cracker-a$$ and threatening the F-ing white boy... it showed terrible judgement and something really ugly in him, but those 'poor hecklers' were being racist pigs every bit as much as Michael Richards was.

Pam
11-22-2006, 06:02 AM
But that doesn't change how they believe. It just took a weak moment for the hate to come out.


The moon and the stars must be lined up strangely or something because I, along with Logan, agree with you Sara. :p If the thoughts weren't in his head they wouldn't have come out. He was a nothing before Seinfeld and will go back to being a nothing.

Marigold2
11-22-2006, 07:47 AM
I agree with Sophist. What Richards did was not cool, not cool at all. However have you ever had the misfortune of having to listen to that crap they call rap. It is not music, it's *&^&^%%^%!!!!!!!!
Black people call themselves the n- word all the time. Perhaps in their mind it's ok to do it to themselves but no white person should other wise he is ...
(Obscene lyrics removed)

Grace
11-22-2006, 10:35 AM
Another one signing in who has never watched Seinfeld. I'm watching this with interest. Will 'they' accept his apology, when 'they' didn't accept Mel's?

Both of these guys have problems deep down inside that need addressing.

Edwina's Secretary
11-22-2006, 11:19 AM
Sorry....but that dog won't hunt...

First....I can bash my family....they are my family after all ....but you (and my husband ;) )are not welcome to do so.

So saying members of a group use offensive language within the group...does not give me permission to do so.

And if the whole world operated on the principle some of you are suggesting....some members of a group sing really offensive songs that I don't like hearing. Therefore, I am justified in saying REALLY offensive things to OTHER members of that same group conflict and war would be never ending....oh...wait...that is what happens....

I am not responsible for other people's behavior...only my own...and that goes for Michael Richards, Mel Gibson and those hecklers...

Pembroke_Corgi
11-22-2006, 11:44 AM
Well, I think that the "n" word or any other racist comment is offensive, so people shouldn't say it. I don't think it matters whether or not some African Americans may use it or not. The point is, it is respectful not to say things that hurt others.

I also don't think his comments were in any way justified because the audience was being obnoxious. If they were being racist as well, that doesn't make his behavior any better.

About Seinfeld's character, I agree with Edwina's Secretary- I dislike the characters and have never been very interested in the show.

shais_mom
11-22-2006, 11:54 AM
Well, I think that the "n" word or any other racist comment is offensive, so people shouldn't say it. I don't think it matters whether or not some African Americans may use it or not. The point is, it is respectful not to say things that hurt others.

I also don't think his comments were in any way justified because the audience was being obnoxious. If they were being racist as well, that doesn't make his behavior any better.

About Seinfeld's character, I agree with Edwina's Secretary- I dislike the characters and have never been very interested in the show.
I agree wholeheartedly.
I don't care for Seinfeld, nor any of the characters on the show, so I didn't watch them. I never thought they were as funny as they thought they were!

sparks19
11-22-2006, 01:13 PM
HMMMM this is very interesting. He was completely out of control and there is NO excuse for his actions. But even though they pale in comparison I find it funny that no one pointed out the "cracker" comment. Afterall that is their word for us. That is the N word for White People basically. it was all said with hatred and disrespect. Racism is Racism is Racism. it doens't matter who it comes from (white black brown etc etc) or who it is directed at. It doesn't matter if ones words were more hateful than the others words. It is all racism. Seems almost like a double standard.

However, I am absolutely disgusted with his behaviour. He really needs to seek some sort of help.

As for them calling themselves the N word..... the only thing I have to add to that is..... How can you ever expect people to respect you when you can't even respect yourselves. When they call each other that I think it is just as disparaging and disrespectful as it would be if it came from someone else.

cyber-sibes
11-22-2006, 01:30 PM
:( I am a Seinfeld fan, and I liked Cosmo Kramer, the character. but after the show ended, I saw Michael Richards in a movie and I didn't care for it at all. He was crass and gross. I also saw Jerry Seinfeld on David Letterman, and the Richards apology. He seemed bewildered by his own behavior and said repeatedly that he has anger issues to work on, that he has to go do some internal work. He did not try to justify saying what he did.
I've heard people of all races say horrible things about other races, just not on a public stage. Unfortunately, this will probably ruin his career. It was just too "politically incorrect".

Sophist
11-22-2006, 01:58 PM
I agree with Sophist. What Richards did was not cool, not cool at all. However have you ever had the misfortune of having to listen to that crap they call rap. It is not music, it's *&^&^%%^%!!!!!!!!
(Obscene lyrics removed)

Always nice to be agreed with, but the rest of your post is not what I said at all. I can very clearly see the distinction between a black person saying n****, and a white person saying it. And in this case, there is a major difference in intent. Michael Richards is clearly saying it in anger, to provoke and degrade. My post simply mentioned that those two particular individuals (and not every rapper and black person who has ever used a racial epithet casually) sank to just as low a level when they were screaming racial slurs and threats as well, out of anger, to degrade and provoke.

Husky15
11-22-2006, 02:30 PM
So Kramer was the man spewing racial comments after he got dissed. I remember seeing my mother watching a video of this on the CNN website, I just wasn't really paying attention to who it was. I never really watched Seinfeld a lot, but when I did I got a good laugh, and I loved Kramer. But he was way too out of control. Any racist in my book is a low-life, and any racial jokes are in poor taste and can be very offending, even if they don't mean them. I knew someone who liked to crack the occasional racist joke and I did not find them funny at all.

But I have to agree with you on one thing, Valerie, I just do not get it that when white people use the "n" word, it's terrible, but when black people say it, it's not that bad. Okay, I do get it, but I don't think that it should be used by anyone. It's very disrespectful. And I think that when black people call themself by the "n" word or their friends, they are disrespecting themself.

We are all people, it doesn't matter our skin color or our nationality. We all bleed, we all see, hear, feel, hurt, think. We all breathe. Racism is one of the stupidest things.

Lady's Human
11-22-2006, 02:38 PM
Racism is ugly, period. It's one of if not the most assinine forms of ignorance on earth.


That having been said, while this is the dog house, I don't think some of the language in this thread, either typed or implied, is needed. Dog house or not, this is a family oriented site.

finn's mom
11-22-2006, 05:50 PM
I just want to say something in regards to the couple comments about why it's ok for a black person to say the "n" word, but, not a white person. I think it's not even that separated. I think it's among friends, if that makes sense. I think if a black man said it to another black man that he doesn't know or if he said it in a negative way, it would be offensive. I also think that if a white man who is friends with a black man says it to their black friend, it's usually ok, too. I know that's the experiences I've had when I've heard that word. But, I also will say this...it's ok if I give my brothers and friends crap, but, I'll be damned if I'm going to sit back and watch anyone else give them crap, even if it's the same type of crap. I hope that makes sense. I think it's more of a comradery thing. I dunno if I'm getting my point across at all.

moosmom
11-22-2006, 06:40 PM
I never watched Seinfeld so my opinion really doesn't matter. Although I have to say this guy needs therapy. Holding in all that anger isn't good. :rolleyes:

RICHARD
11-23-2006, 01:09 PM
Who are the people who don't like Seinfeld?

I don't either.

I don't condone what Richards saod.
What I question is the reason that drove him to do it.

--------------------------

A heckler is a fact of life in comedy.

Just like the cop vs. suspect beating videos-we didn't see what happened before the tape started.

I have been many places where people do not know how to act.

If it's a cell phone in a banking line, someone complaing about service in a eatery or some drunk AH at a party...

People do not know how to act in public and when they are confronted about their behavior they scream "CIVIL RIGHTS"..Listen jerk,.....IF YOU WERE CIVIL in the frist place, this would not have happened.

Now that didn't give MR the right to yell what he did, but he didn't wake up in the morning expecting to insult anyone.

Someone pushed a button. and the button pushed back.

Everyone has some kind of bias towards their fellow man. We all hide it better than others.


These to AH's were embarrased, and rightly so, about being called the 'n' word. Why? Because they they were in public and not adhereing to the basic
unwritten code of being in an audience.

Pay your money, sit down and shut up.
If you don't like ehat you are seeing, leave and stop by the tix office for a refund.

Don't disrupt the show for everyone else by making your self an obvious troublemaker.

--------------

By the way...Gloria Allred is a stupid jerk.

If the Laugh Factory has the standard ticket format you can just flip it over and see the FINE PRINT..


It absolves the venue for almost everything. Pucks, bats, balls and maybe insults? :rolleyes:

So why is she harping about these idiots getting hurt?

mugsy
11-24-2006, 07:16 AM
I'm with Johanna. He apologized. What he said was dead wrong, but, what else is he supposed to do? Climb on the cross? And I'm sure that Sinbad was angry and rightfully so, what he said was horribly offensive and in the poorest of taste, however, I know that there have been African Americans who have spewed their hate to whites as well and nothing was said. I honestly don't care if you are white, black, or pink with green stripes, if you say something wrong, apologize and move on. You can't take it back, so what can you do? Never do it again...only time will tell if he was sincere in the apology. As the old saying goes....Actions speak louder than words.

And, he was being accosted verbally as well by being called a "cracker", so why are the morons that were doing the heckling not being raked over the coals as well (they certainly deserve to be).

And I agree...racism is racism...no matter the color. It's not just a white on black thing. Trust me...I know this...my principal is about as racist as they come. Even the students notice it. If the teachers don't have enough posters up touting African Americans, then she makes a big deal about it. However, she has never once said anything to me about the poster I have up with kids from all races and cultures holding hands in a long line. OY!

If people would just shut up about it and treat every living thing with equal respect, this world would be a much happier place.

Catty1
11-24-2006, 08:38 AM
Found this on CBC today....couldn't resist...

http://zone.artizans.com/images/previews/DEA1923.300.jpg

signorelli21
11-25-2006, 05:36 PM
awesome, i always liked kramer the best.

basically what i gathered from watching the video, he was pointing out that if you say something bad to a person of minority, its a grand offense. whereas if a person of minority insults a white person, thats fine.

like if i was in the audience and arrived with 20 friends and intterupt his show, then he says something about stupid white people or mexicans are always late or something, i would have just called him a stupid cracker and to shut the **** up and laughed, lol. and i would have expected a battery of insults from him in return.

you can't judge someone by a film like that, mainly because all you see is him just screeming at the people, you have no idea what was said prior to him going off, and noone mentions anything about the other people calling him names as well. sure he over reacted but maybe its about time to get rid of the racial double standard.

Lady's Human
11-25-2006, 06:33 PM
What he said was stupid. Regardless of what was said prior to his tirade, there is no excuse for it. When you're up on stage, and under the microscope that is the modern press, you HAVE to know when it's time to just walk off the stage, collect yourself, and either call it a night or go back out after asking club security to remove the people who upset you.

lizbud
11-27-2006, 12:12 PM
Is there anyone in the civilized world that Richards hasn't apologized
to? :rolleyes: Geeze. Shut up allready. :rolleyes:

mugsy
11-27-2006, 04:43 PM
Yep, he apologized on Jesse Jackson's radio show (OMG that frightens me) and now the morons that were heckling are demanding an apology in person and financial restituion. Yep, just as I figured, all they wanted was the almighty dollar. This world is screwed up.

I think it's time we let him down from the cross and move on already.

cali
11-28-2006, 08:48 PM
when I first heard about this I figered epople were just overreacting, though after watching the video, that is definatly REALLY bad! HOWEVER the belive the hecklers are just as bad.

Catsnclay
11-29-2006, 03:54 PM
Yep, he apologized on Jesse Jackson's radio show (OMG that frightens me) and now the morons that were heckling are demanding an apology in person and financial restituion. Yep, just as I figured, all they wanted was the almighty dollar. This world is screwed up.

I think it's time we let him down from the cross and move on already.



The Hecklers are demanding an apology and $$$$$. ??????? Huh?! What's wrong with this picture?!


Hmmmm..........me thinks they did this in the first place to get the $$$$$. (just like the muslims that were not allowed on the flight to Phoenix - pretty much the same thing. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame :rolleyes: )


We are NBA fans, and one thing I always notice: the person who starts the "fight" never gets caught, it is always the one who retaliates that gets caught.

Michael Richards reactaced and got caught. He apoligized for it, no harm - no foul. Lets move on. Please!

And to those of you out there looking for a quick buck: Jeez, go to work and earn your money the way we all do!!! :)

lizbud
11-29-2006, 05:06 PM
I saw an interesting news article on the subject of apologies.


Hurt feelings won't be soothed
Apologies not enough for wronged parties

Published November 29, 2006


The republic would seem to be in good health, if not sound mind, when hurt feelings and public embarrassment are the picadors of public passion.

The past few weeks have provided a surfeit of sensitivity challenges:

- A group of "lactivists" staged a nurse-in to protest an airline's insensitivity to a breast-feeding mom.

- Two African-American men hired a lawyer to sweeten an apology they're demanding from a racial-epithet hurling comedian.

- Six Muslim imams, in an impressive demonstration of cultural assimilation, cried racism when airline officials removed them from a flight for mimicking the behavior of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists.

The common thread throughout these events is hurt feelings and humiliation. Kill somebody in America and you might get a stint in the brig. But make a person feel bad, and watch your head as the gates of purgatory fly open.

The offended African-American men were in a Hollywood comedy club when "Seinfeld" co-star Michael Richards suffered a nuclear meltdown and launched into a racist rant. He later said the men and others in their group interrupted his monologue.

Meanwhile, attorney Gloria Allred has entered the fray. She is seeking an in-person apology from Richards before a mediator who, she and her clients hope, might order some monetary compensation for their suffering. Not that this is about money, of course.

Nevertheless, if we start attaching monetary reparations to insults, the country will soon be bankrupt.

On the other hand, columnists will become billionaires. My feelings are hurt not just daily, but by the minute, so perhaps I speak too soon.

The imams, likewise, are demanding an apology from US Airways, and staged a protest Monday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The Muslims claim they were merely praying in advance of their flight, though we can bet they weren't praying as much as their fellow travelers were.

While we can all feel their embarrassment upon being escorted from the plane in handcuffs, can't they also appreciate others' discomfort under the circumstances? Once on the plane, the imams reportedly took seats to which they were not assigned, pairing off to sit near the exits. The two seated in first class requested seat-belt extensions, which they placed on the cabin floor. One needn't be Islamophobic to go, "Hmmmmmm."

Finally, the erstwhile gentler sex of the lactating variety suffered grievous insult when another airline asked a nursing mother to exit a plane for "indiscreet nursing."

Emily Gillette was sitting by a window in the next-to-last row, with her husband planted between her and the aisle, when the attendant proffered a blanket. When Gillette declined to cover herself--and her 22-month-old child--a gate agent asked the family to deplane.

Gillette has filed a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission against both Delta Air Lines and Freedom Airlines, which was operating the Delta flight from Burlington to New York City.

Insult one lactating mom and you insult all breast-feeders, apparently. Some 30 parents and their children demonstrated their solidarity with Gillette by staging a "nurse-in" at the Burlington airport.

To all, of course, apologies are due--and have been delivered. But shouldn't they also be accepted without our having to clutter courtrooms with weeping couches?

----------

Pam
11-29-2006, 05:15 PM
Liz that is a mouthful and I couldn't agree more. In fact I am sure we could fill volumes with stories of how people have been insulted and just have had to take it and move on. When did society decide that insults need to wind up in a courtroom? Personally I blame the attorneys (sorry Johanna :) ) who take on every case that comes down the pike. Also people need to grow up and just deal with things. :rolleyes:

lizbud
11-29-2006, 06:06 PM
Liz that is a mouthful and I couldn't agree more. In fact I am sure we could fill volumes with stories of how people have been insulted and just have had to take it and move on. When did society decide that insults need to wind up in a courtroom? Personally I blame the attorneys (sorry Johanna :) ) who take on every case that comes down the pike. Also people need to grow up and just deal with things. :rolleyes:


Isn't it nice to see some common sense every once in awhile :D

I did have to snicker a bit at this part of the story.......


"The imams, likewise, are demanding an apology from US Airways, and staged a protest Monday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The Muslims claim they were merely praying in advance of their flight, though we can bet they weren't praying as much as their fellow travelers were." :D :D

lizbud
12-05-2006, 01:18 PM
Some posters in this thread wondered why blacks can & do use the
dreaded N word but object to it's use by whites. I saw this article by a
black columnist on this very subject. It's interesting to see his opinion.
You just might be surprised.


Richards' rant might merit a thank-you
--------------------

Leonard Pitts, a syndicated columnist based in Washington:
McClatchy/Tribune Newspapers

December 5, 2006

The N-word has had few friends better than comedian Paul Mooney.

Put aside that the word was long a staple of his act. Put aside the
promotional pamphlet he once sent out that screamed the word in big, fat
type. Consider instead what he told anyone who argued that blacks should
stop using the word. He replied that he said it a hundred times every
morning: "It keeps my teeth white."

The selfsame Paul Mooney joined Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Maxine
Waters (D-Calif.) in a recent news conference asking black folks to stop
using the N-Word. In other news, there are unconfirmed reports of pigs
flying above Times Square.

Mooney says he was "cured" of his N-word addiction by Michael Richards'
infamous meltdown last month at the Laugh Factory. I tend to think he's
not the only one. From strangers online to my neighbor down the street,
everywhere I turn lately, I find black folks debating the stubborn
insistence some of us have on using this word.

Which leaves me as much vexed as pleased. More power to them for
belatedly getting religion. Still, are you telling me that nearly 20 years
after hip-hop made that word unavoidable, it takes some white TV actor
losing his mind to make black folks see what should have been obvious all
along?

I mean, what do we learn from Richards' rant that we should not have
already known from Snoop Dogg or Ice Cube? That the word is ugly? That is
it hateful? That it demeans, denigrates, diminishes and denies? So
where was black outrage when black rappers began putting that word into the
minds and mouths of black children? When we--African-Americans--began
hating ourselves to a beat?

And if I hear one more Negro offer one more pseudo-intellectual
justification for that self-loathing, I will not be responsible for my actions
afterward. Don't give me the it-means-something-different-because-we-
spell-it-with-an-"a"-on-the-end speech.And for mercy sake, don't subject
me to the addled argument proffered by John Ridley in December's
Esquire. He says that, as whites feel no particular solidarity with their
impoverished racial brethren in Appalachia, it is time for "ascended
blacks" to bid farewell to, as he puts it, "niggers."

Don't tell me any of that because it quails in the face of historical
fact. We are talking about the word that was used as Gus Clarke's back
was split open with a whip and salt was rubbed into the wounds. The word
that was used when Mary Turner's baby was cut from her womb with a
knife and stomped to death in its birth cries. The word that was used when
James Byrd was tied to the back of a pickup truck and dragged until his
body was torn to pieces.

To the people who did these things, it did not matter how it was
spelled. They knew precisely what race they were referring to. And they saw
no difference between "ascended blacks" and any other kind.

Nor should that last surprise us. In the calculus of race, I am not my
brother's keeper. I am my brother. Individuality is the first casualty
of bigotry.

Black people, like other Americans, tend to flee from the burdens and
demands of history. History, ours especially, hurts too much.

But what Michael Richards taught and what blacks may belatedly be
learning is that history doesn't care. Not about your feelings, not about
your rationalizations, not about your subtleties of spelling.

Because they don't realize that some blacks, Paul Mooney prominent
among them, seem surprised to learn that this word still hates us. That it
always has and always will.

And if Richards is the catalyst that finally forces them to understand
this, there's only one thing I can say to him:

Thank you.

RICHARD
12-05-2006, 02:00 PM
Maxine Waters is nothing but a racist biatch herself.

And Mooney is a moron. Like it took a "white person" to cure him of the N word?

Please!

I agree to the self loathing aspect of the article.


The slavery issue should be put to bed....

If not...

The Irish should be outraged, Mexicans should be outraged. Japanese should be outraged, Arabs should be outraged.

These are people who have, and still as recently as yesterday, have had the
evil racist tide to swim against.

I am not saying blacks do not have the right to be offended.
But hey, carrying a grudge for 150 years ain't easy-and the "leaders" just keep propagating the hate-for the 'white' man

Every race in the U.S. has some kinda beef with the man....best solution?
shrug it off and FIDO!

But first let GLoria Allred make a buck on someone else pain.