Michael Richards aka "Kramer" racist?
 

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http://us.video.aol.com/video.index....mmsid=1772645#


http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/20/kramer...tape/#comments

I have to laugh at the question mark behind racist. Are you asking if he is racist? Well he told the black dude that 50 years ago, he would have happily hung upside down with a fork in their ass and called then countless number of the n-word. I would say racist. I would alos say I'm disappointed but yet not surprised.

man, that's kind of f-ed up. Sounds like he was losing it on stage.

Yikes. I had to turn it off after the first few seconds. What a moron.

Has-been.

Has Been? The guy was in over 20 films and was making over 1,000,000$ an episode on Seinfeld.......the most succesful TV show in history. Obviously he is satisfied with taking it easy.

Pretty bad.....bud it wasn't any better for the guys to call him a "cracker ass mother fucking white boy."

What they said.

I think he made a poor choice in using racial slurs like that, but unless he makes it a habit of doing that...I wouldn't necessarily call him a racist.

WOW.Talk about out of control...I can't even find words to describe it. I'm still steaming. Clearly he has some deep-seated issues.

I question his mental health after seeing the clip... but then again, it seems sometimes that one of the qualifications for being a comedian is mental instability!

Yeah I think its pretty rough, total lack of control. But I agree, I think that simply because somebody uses racial slurs doesn't mean they have a racist personality. I'm pretty sure we've all been in a situation where we went for the jugular, and for the non-creative, maybe the N word is the best they could do.

No matter how drunk I was or if I was super pissed at someone I still wouldn't reference lynching or use the n-word. I think the fact that he found the choice of language to be even in the ballpark of what's acceptable makes him DEFINITELY racist....and a jackass. This is BEYOND a poor choice. It's not like he didn't know he was in front of hundreds of people.

Jerry Seinfeld's sick about it and George Lopez blames his lack of stand-up comedy experience

But anyway...

He apologizes for his remarks

wow....

Dropping the n-bomb doesn't make you a racist. What makes you a racist is believing that another race is inferior to you. I don't know if Richards, in his heart of hearts, believes this. I do know that he used the wrong words to flip out at his audience...
Take this as you will, I'm white so I have limited perspective on this incident.

Dropping the n-word doesn't make you a racist. I wouldn't call a black guy racist if he called me a cracker or something like that....

Despising another race with the upmost hatred and putting your own above everyone else is what makes you a racist. Was he racially insensitive?, absolutely. It was shocking and inexcusable...but I don't think you can call him a racist.

It's kind of creepy that you wrote almost the exact same thing as me...unless you meant to...

And I'm brown and yellow. :p


I definitely agree.

Which is what he did by referencing lynching.

He's a racist.

I'd call for a boycott of his work, but he hasn't got any.

Please don't go after me for this because I mean nothing by it, but I interpreted the comment differently...when he referenced lynching, I thought he was pointing out what that kind of behaviour would have resulted in 50 years ago. Of course, at the time he may have meant it the way you took it and I'm just objectifying the situation too much.
I already boycott his work, I hate seinfeld :D

No he meant if a black had talked to a white man the way he did 50 years ago he would have been lynched. :(

So you know for a fact that he hates the black race and thinks whites are above them? I doubt it. Why are you getting so sensitive over this? It is her opinion.....which I agree with.

He is on the Late Show with Dave Letterman TONIGHT!
With Jerry.

Why are you so sensitive about how I feel about this?

The great "what is racism"/"is that person racist" debate. When will folks get tired of it.

I think that he appeared flustered by the heckling and went for the jugular--either because he really feels the words he said or because he knew that would really get to his target. No point in debating what that man thinks in his heart of hearts or what he's said and done in his personal life regarding race. Maybe he has mental problems, maybe he was caught off guard, or maybe he's a Grand Wizard in the Klan. It doesn't really matter. The man went on a tangent--a looooonnnnnng, racialized one and unless he was mentally too far gone, he knew what he was saying and even mocked the audience for being in awe. The fact of the matter is that comedy shows attract some audience members who don't mind heckling and often the audience and/or comics have been drinking.

The "cracker" response to him was also uncalled for--whether it came before or after Kramer's comments--not quite the same "umph" or social relevance as what Kramer said but uncalled for nonetheless. I'm glad that many in the audience left or expressed disgust, after they realized that it wasn't part of the act.

LOL. Nice try, Michael Richards but this one will have to die down on its own. An apology is an expected formality but people aren't going to just laugh and forget about it. Why's Jerry there? Is he some kind of race ambassador now? Will he testify that Michael isn't racist and that "some of his best friends are black?" :D

Even Mel Gibson could say he was drunk when he talked about Jews. What he said actually wasn't that inflammatory but people still attacked him because they said drunk minds speak sober hearts.

Nah, he meant what Reds6 said. He's a comic. He should keep the unfunny history lessons out of his acts.

Maybe that was supposed to be shock-humor that some other comics have gotten away with to lesser extremes.

I mean I think those guys calling him a cracker is racially insensitive i guess, but its not like i'm outraged or offended. I just think you can go for something that would be the most hurtful in an out of control situation (n-word) without being a racist. I think most people wouldn't do such things, but some people have better control than others. I have been around people who you could say were racially insensitive, but I don't know that they were really racist. They didn't think they were better than people because of their race, but they were against certain parts of black culture, and used generic racial slurs to describe them. I don't know what i'd call it, but I don't really know that I can say they're racist. Also, note that i'm not apologizing for anyone, its still pretty bad no matter what you're motives are. However, I think a lot of people who would use those terms (not just racial, any type of slurs) often will use them because terms like "motherf*****" really don't have the hurtful affect people may be looking for when they're enraged.

Actually, he would be a racist.

In this case, Kramer was racist.

You shouldnt use these racist terms if you don't want to be thought of as a racist. end of story.

No actually, he wouldn't be a racist...he was racially insensitive. Whether or not you think he is racist because he used the term is besides the point. Just because a person thinks something about you doesn't necessarily make it true. You don't know him well enought to deem him a racist.......if he went on a spiel about how he thinks whites are superior to blacks, then I would call him a racist.

haha, you don't have to turn it around on me.....it is quite obvious that you got somewhat flustered over us saying that we didn't think he was a racist.

I'm sorry but if someone said nigger or "nigguh" to me I would think he/she would be racist. I wouldn't dwell on their why they would say something, but as long as it was "unwelcome" and "unnecessary", I would deem them to be racist. Otherwise, WHY would that person say something racist if they didn't want to be seen that way???

So saying a black person should be basically lynched for going at a white man isn't racist?

Well, nowadays, even if you said the n-word, you may not be seen as a racist due to the fact that the entertainment/music world has been overusing this word that people have been become insensative about it.

However, on the other hand, saying that a certain race 50 years should be hung upside down and have a f- fork stuck in their a--? If you don't call that racist, seriously, then what would you call it?

There are lots of ways to call a heckler an asshole (starting with, well, asshole) without commenting on their race. If he's definitely guilty of anything, he's guilty of being a lame-o who can't think quickly under pressure.

His career is done. The End.

I figured that much. Many if not most white people aren't that offended by racial epithets directed at them. They may raise an eyebrow but white people know that words used against them haven't historically been used to oppress them. So they can in a sense go in one ear and right out the other.

Racism is a system of differential opportunity and treatment that goes beyond hurt feelings or being offended. It isn't contingent upon being prejudiced toward a group of people to the point of disliking them. You can never ever use or even think the N word and still be a racist white person.

Incorrect.

Even with the derivatives of the word, the N word will always have a place in history and in the hearts of many Americans. The entertainment world hasn't made it appropriate for white people to say the N word. The only white people I can tolerate saying that word in any form are white sociolinguists and even these professionals try not to overuse that contextual privilege.

Did anyone see David Letterman last night? How did it go? :D

The guy actually apologized. Didn't blame alchohol/drugs/bad parenting. Just that he messed up and he was wrong. I give him credit for that. But it seemed the wrong forum for an apology.