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Richards' racist blowout
may have doomed him
of TheColumnists.com
Well, it looks bad
for Michael Richards, the actor/comic who played that funny character
Kramer on the "Seinfeld" TV series.
If you're asking yourself “why,” I guess you’re
the only person on the planet who didn’t see that scratchy,
non-broadcast quality video of Richards ranting insults back
at two hecklers of his comedy act. The hecklers happened to be
black and Richards' rant included some rather racist words.
So, now we have Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, both black men of the gospel, taking up the side of the hecklers. And those hecklers are poised to sue Richards for all they can get, while their allies roast him over a slow fire.
The principal reason for Richards' mess is the fact that he used the infamous "N"-word when he shouted back at the hecklers. I feel a tiny bit sorry for Richards. Friends tell me he’s just a nice, peaceful Jewish guy. All I know about this incident is what I heard on the news: That Richards used racist remarks when he insulted hecklers who interrupted his performance at a public venue in Los Angeles.
Almost immediately, Gloria Allred, that famous lady lawyer, surfaced, representing the hecklers. She is seeking only justice, of course, and, I suppose, as many bucks as she can get from Richards to go along with that justice.
It’s all supposed to heal the verbal injury suffered by those two hecklers who disrupted Richards' performance with their own verbal insults directed at him, and in return, got back more than they could handle.
There are now enough people going after Richards to make sure he does not ever use those words again, so I can look at other aspects of this incident. This brings me to wonder about what justice the other audience members would get from this? The audience I speak of are those fun-seeking people who paid their way in to see Richards perform. The audience who came to hear the act on the stage, not the two heckling black guys in the audience.
Hecklers usually get the worse end of it all. Don’t we all know that comics will take the gloves off when we ask for trouble by heckling them? I do. I learned a long time ago that the comic on stage has both the microphone and spotlight, so he usually wins. But not this time. There is that grainy videotape of Richards' racist words.
The two hecklers now find they need some of Richards’ money before they can walk away from this thing like forgiving men.
I don’t feel very sorry for either the hecklers or Richards. I feel sorry for the poor slobs who paid their way in to see Richards and got these two hecklers instead. I mean what recourse do they have? Will that lady lawyer get them their money back for them, too? I don’t think so. I’m positive the audience did not get their money's worth of entertainment–unless you call the hecklers' rude barbs and Richards “N” word retorts a “show.” I don’t.
I’m no racist and in my heart of hearts I really don’t think Richards probably is either. The days of real racism being applauded by society are long gone. This is a new, fairer generation. The only performers I see today who use racist insult words on a daily basis are members of the many acts in the world of black hip-hop and rap groups. They use the “N” word so often that they've taught it to a generation of young people who probably never heard it before.
I'm not kidding about that. The first time my son ever heard the “N” word was from a black hip hop/rap guy on our TV. In a careless moment we had left the TV on with nobody but our son watching. A program came on with some hip-hop acts. Sure my wife and I ran fast to shut the damn thing off, but he had already heard the “N” word and later asked what it meant.
This is a question we non-racist parents
just do NOT want to deal with when talking with our children.
In my generation, that “N” word was used often. Growing
up in south Florida, I heard it a lot. I’ve seen real discrimination
first hand--like those humiliating “colored only” signs
at water fountains in a Florida department store. I was just
a kid, but I was shocked to see that sign!
I swore I’d never use the “N” word or teach it
to my kids–and I never did.
I’m sure Jesse, Al, and the others will teach Richards a lesson he will never forget. I suspect Richards will end up writing a big check to get everybody's forgiveness. I’m also sure that the goofy looking guy from "Seinfeld" never will be the same after this deal. He may never work again in his current occupation. Most of his "Seinfeld" pals will distance themselves from him like he had “stinky in his pants.”
Yes, Richards will pay dearly for his one poorly thought out shock comedy night in L.A. He'll be unlikely to ever utter the "N" word again. I wish I could say the same for black comedy acts and rap artists. We all know that they will use the “N” word as often as they like.
I’ve heard some black comics claim that it’s no insult if a brother calls another brother by the “n” word; it’s just that other races are not allowed to use it. You will surely hear the audiences laugh when a black comic refers to white people with an old racist bad word or two, but nobody will take him to task and surely not to court for it. They will even use the “mother” curse word when speaking about some white folks.
These audiences just seem to take for granted that the black comic using these bad words is not really a racist, that he’s simply using old shock words to make us laugh at what was then a very serious, bad situation.
The black comics who use these insulting descriptions for white people will be paid their comedy fees. There will be no threatened lawsuits. No white community up in arms holding bi-coastal meetings to decide what to do with their life savings for their “sins” of the tongue one night in a Los Angeles comedy club.
I heard on the news today that the two black heckler gents want a face to face apology from Richards AND money for his insulting remarks to them. I’m curious, can Richards demand some money from these two gents for their having disrupted his comedy show? Can he demand they apologize for interrupting his show? Can he demand some money from these gents who disrupted his show so that he can offer to return the price paid by the other audience members who got screwed out of both a show and their money?
I read awhile back that Bill Cosby had
chastised some factions in the black community for using the
“N” word, that it did not serve them well to call each
other by that disrespectful name. I wonder what Bill thinks of
this incident? Cosby is absolutely right on target with his class
remarks. I’m with Bill as I feel there is no place where
any of these words should live. Not in comedy clubs and not on
my TV and not in our movies either. Please, enough already!
©2006 by Andy Murcia. This column first posted Dec. 4, 2006.
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