Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community

Kramer Screams Racial Epithets

by BooMan
Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 11:50:17 AM EST

Fortunately, I am not young and naive, otherwise I might be heartbroken to learn that one of my favorite actors is an out-and-out racist. Michael Richards, who played the beloved Kramer on Seinfeld, apparently lost it on stage.

Michael Richards exploded in anger as he performed at a famous L.A. comedy club last Friday, hurling racial epithets that left the crowd gasping, and TMZ has obtained exclusive video of the ugly incident.
Richards, who played the wacky Cosmo Kramer on the hit TV show "Seinfeld," appeared onstage at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood. It appears two guys, both African-American, were in the cheap seats playfully heckling Richards when suddenly, the comedian lost it.
The camera started rolling just as Richards began his attack, screaming at one of the men, "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f***ing fork up your ass."
Richards continued, "You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf**ker. Throw his ass out. He's a nigger! He's a nigger! He's a nigger! A nigger, look, there's a nigger!"
The crowd is visibly and audibly confused and upset. Richards responds by saying, "They're going to arrest me for calling a black man a nigger."
One of the men who was the object of Richard's tirade was outraged, shouting back "That's un-f***ing called for, ain't necessary."
After the three-minute tirade, it appears the majority of the audience members got up and left in disgust.

There are various versions of the event and you can read a sad thread on it from USA Today. Apparently a large segment of society thinks it is okay to call black people 'niggers' because Chris Rock and other black comedians do it.

According to Entertainment Tonight, Richards is sorry and has made amends. I don't think you can just 'make amends' for displaying racial hatred in the public square. It requires contrition, learning, and amends. It's a terrible shame that Michael Richards has stained the Seinfeld legacy and everyone that was associated with it. Not the best way to start out Thanksgiving week.

Kramer Screams Racial Epithets | 35 comments (35 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (4.00 / 2)

Not surprising in the least, racism is alive and well and flourishing in 2006 America, Macaca anyone?

How many times as a gay man do i have to hear the word Fag and Faggot on TV and in Films and out of the mouths of straight adults as well as their teenagers? Even the tamer 'that's so gay' sure ain't a compliment in any way shape or form. Even the Party of Inclusiveness has relegated us to the back of the bus.

And misogyny is on the rise over the past decade as well (the term 'post feminism' says alot, like we've finished with it). Have you ever heard a man use the term 'chick flick'in any other tone but derogatory?

The frat-rat assholes (W being the epitome) have taken over our culture and this is the result.

by wilfred on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 01:30:45 PM EST

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (4.00 / 3)

BT member ejmw belonged to a fraternity.

ejmw has written about his membership and what he gained. ( Lessons from a Frat Boy)

He also wrote one of the most poignant diaries I have read to date: A Simple Reminder.

ejmw is the total antithesis to "W" which has caused me to revise my notions about "frat boys" - the power of one can be quite astounding.

Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music. (George Carlin)

by tampopo on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 03:54:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 1)

Thanks tampopo :) It means a lot to me to know that I've at least helped to change a couple of minds.

I've been noticing a spike in the 'frat boy' terminology being thrown about. Not just here, and I'm not sure if it is a real increase or just perceived on my part.

I'm dabbling with another diary about my experiences and why I think it is important to catch this kind of language, but so far it is just a mish-mash of thoughts without direction.

Tengo un sueño.

by ejmw (ewitham (at) umich (dot) edu) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 06:53:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 1)

ummm BT member Wilfred was a member of a fraternity for a year, then got fed up with the relentless obnoxiousness of the fellow fratrats.

by wilfred on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 08:51:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 1)

Wilfred - "W" may be a confirmation of your fraternity experience, it is just the "all-ness" that I am finding myself questioning and not just in your comment, but in my own thinking as well.

If I believe each human is unique, then I wonder at my own use of words that clump people - words that are used as a kind of short hand or code, e.g., redneck, soccer-mom, etc. And I notice how these clumping words limit me in a way, as if I was looking through a pin hole, yet thinking I could describe the whole scene.

I learned from ejmw and thought I would pass it along.

Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music. (George Carlin)

by tampopo on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 10:03:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (4.00 / 2)

you're kidding, right?

People CHOOSE to join frats. They CHOOSE to embrace a system that indocrinates the corrosive effects of picking "in" people and "out" people.

Gays don't have a choice.

Women don't have a choice.

The poor often don't have a choice.

The greek system helps to perpetuate the class systems and problems in this system. I'm glad from ejmw that it helped him, but it's not the same, and on most campuses the system serves to perpetuate unequal opportunities.

There is a difference in being what you are and CHOOSING what to join.

"Whenever a Voice of Moderation addresses liberals, its sole purpose is to stomp out any real sign of life." - James Wolcott

by Madman in the Marketplace on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 10:34:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 1)

I agree there certainly is a difference in being what you are and choosing what group you wish to belong to.

There is also choice in how we are what we are.

Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music. (George Carlin)

by tampopo on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 11:02:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 1)

There are a lot of problems with the fraternity system. I have never, ever claimed that there are not.

While I had a choice to join a fraternity, I did NOT have a choice in how that would be perceived. No matter what the reality of the situation is, there are people who judge me based solely on that piece of my life.

Before I go farther, I need you to understand that I am absolutely NOT equating this with being repressed / oppressed or anything like that. That would be absolutely ridiculous.

What I am saying is that everytime someone refers to an ignorant asshole as a frat boy, it means that one more person that reads those words will give me shit when I go to a women's or LGBT rights rally wearing my letters.

Maybe it means that one more good kid who is just a bit shy won't take a step in his life that would help him grow.

Maybe it means that some ignorant asshole will find an outlet for being an ignorant asshole and do what he can to keep the stereotype alive.

The stereotype is there for a reason, but that doesn't mean it HAS to be that way.

Tengo un sueño.

by ejmw (ewitham (at) umich (dot) edu) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 11:06:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

Yea, I don't think when you call someone a "girly man" its meant as a compliment.

Doesn't information itself have a liberal bias? Steven Colbert

by NLinStPaul on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 03:37:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (4.00 / 2)

I`m just wondering how long it will be before he joins Mel Gibson & Foley in rehab, like the alcohol made him do it.

The difference between theists and atheists is that the atheists don't set the theists on fire for refusing to agree with them.

by KNUCKLEHEAD on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 03:22:14 PM EST

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

Strange minds think alike. (See my comment down thread.)

by Teach313 (teachSKIP313ATmacDOTcom) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 09:04:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Strange minds (none / 0)

I think you`re absolutely right.

The difference between theists and atheists is that the atheists don't set the theists on fire for refusing to agree with them.

by KNUCKLEHEAD on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 09:45:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Strange minds (none / 0)

If Kidspeak and I get to Malibu to visit her brother, Mel, we've got to get together.

by Teach313 (teachSKIP313ATmacDOTcom) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 10:07:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Strange minds (none / 0)

Forget I said, "Mel." I'm not supposed to mention that on-line.

by Teach313 (teachSKIP313ATmacDOTcom) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 10:08:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Strange minds (none / 0)

That would be fine & will look forward to it. Give me a "head"s up of a few days & I`ll make a few arrangements to show you some nice spots. As for the Gibson, she`s fine with it if I say so, & vice versa.

The difference between theists and atheists is that the atheists don't set the theists on fire for refusing to agree with them.

by KNUCKLEHEAD on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 11:12:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Strange minds (none / 0)

Of course, we'll let you know in advance. We don't get out there often, but Kidspeak may be going more often while her brother is ill.

by Teach313 (teachSKIP313ATmacDOTcom) on Tue Nov 21st, 2006 at 08:29:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

Very strange.

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward. Franklin D. Roosevelt

by Steven D on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 12:02:50 PM EST

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

He has clearly lost his mind. Although the video is of poor quality, one can still sense profound mental distrubance. But why were audience members laughing? And why is this so common?

Learn more about Bobby Jindal.

by louisianagirl (fantastic [dot] reality -at- hotmail [dot] com) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 12:05:21 PM EST

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 1)

But why were audience members laughing?

Possibly nervousness at something so untoward...out of that bunch, I don't think half supported him.

I was glad to see people walking out, though. That was the end.

Look, what was clearly on his mind came out through his mouth. He knew exactly what he was saying. It's going to take a long time for him to recover from this one, much like Elvis Costello for saying some stupid things about black musicians back in the Eighties.

Lenny Bruce he is not. Bruce said it to shock the 50s sensibilities of the bedroom community audience, who only whispered the word behind their gloved hands. Richards said it to hit back at some heckler.

But no. Just because Chris Rock or the great Richard Pryor says it, doesn't mean white guys can say it with impunity.

An untypical Negro

http://thisblksistaspage.wordpress.com

by blksista (gab1954@gmail.com) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 12:22:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

Yes, he clearly said what he believed. He obviously released his frustrations with his moribund career on a few audience members. What frightens me, however, is his assumption that many would find his words funny. Why do people hold this assumption?

Learn more about Bobby Jindal.

by louisianagirl (fantastic [dot] reality -at- hotmail [dot] com) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 12:31:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

Possibly because people like Ann Coulter have made millions with remarks about hispanics that are no less offensive and hateful.

---Cthulhu for President: Why vote for the lesser evil?

by eodell (eodell at naqada dot org) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 01:09:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

OK, I'm just this whitebread guy from Whitebread City, USA, but it seems to me that when Richard Pryor titled one of his albums "That Nigger's Crazy" he was trying to defang the word. He had the standing (and the talent) to do so.

This is 180° turned around from that. This is just vile.

It's too bad too. Richards is incredibly funny. I've thought so since he played a janitor who rescued Weird Al Yankovic's TV station in UHF. But just because someone is funny on stage doesn't excuse their offstage actions or beliefs.

I for one welcome our new Twitter overlords. @Omir55

by Omir the Storyteller (omir.the.storyteller -CAT- gmail -DOG- com) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 12:52:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

Well, that's exactly it. Some black people, mostly in the younger generation, have appropriated "nigger" in the same way that homosexuals appropriated "gay" and "queer", or the early American revolutionaries took the song "Yankee Doodle" -- to turn an insult around and make it a badge of pride.

Some white people don't -- or refuse to -- understand the difference between a black guy affectionately referring to his friends as "my niggas" and a white guy insulting black people by calling them niggers.

Richards plainly wasn't being affectionate. He was being a fucking asshole. He's perfectly free to say "nigger" all he wants, but people with a sense of decency will cease to associate with him.

What disturbs me, and I'm plainly not alone in this, thankfully, is how acceptable open racism has become. The stuff that (mostly right-wing) media figures have said about hispanics lately, is beyond appalling. I used to think that it was a bad idea to force racism underground on the theory that it was easier to fight open racism, but now I'm coming to think that if you don't force it underground, it will spread like kudzu.

---Cthulhu for President: Why vote for the lesser evil?

by eodell (eodell at naqada dot org) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 01:07:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 1)

It's not just racism. If I can paint it with a broad brush, it's "anybody-but-me-and-people-like-me-ism." They aren't just demonizing blacks, gays, Hispanics or Arabs, they're demonizing Democrats, liberals, and non-fundie Christians.

I don't think you can force it underground, unfortunately, without just having it rear its ugly little head someplace else down the line. I think back to an article I read about Yugoslavia in the days before the breakup. Everything was calm on the surface, according to the article, and Serbs and Albanians and Croats and the other groups making up the country seemed to get along pretty well. But there were the folk sayings, the lullabies, and other ways of keeping the old hatreds alive and allowed them to come to the surface when things started coming apart. And how do you eradicate a belief that's been carefully nurtured from infancy? That's the real problem; the dyed-in-the-wool racists believe in their bones that they are superior to $WHOEVER, just as strongly as you and I believe anything we believe. Any change has to come from within.

I don't know the answers. I don't even know most of the questions. I just find it very troubling that here in the United States, a country where we should value diversity if we don't value anything else about our heritage, we find it so easy to be exclusionary and divisive.

I for one welcome our new Twitter overlords. @Omir55

by Omir the Storyteller (omir.the.storyteller -CAT- gmail -DOG- com) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 02:40:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Maybe you think so... (none / 0)

but after his return from Africa, he said he was not using that word again.

If he was trying to 'defang' the word, he wasn't necessarily doing it for white people to feel free about using it themselves.

An untypical Negro

http://thisblksistaspage.wordpress.com

by blksista (gab1954@gmail.com) on Tue Nov 21st, 2006 at 09:51:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 1)

Point well made. At least Bonnie Bramlett punched Elvis Costello for his stupid remark about Ray Charles. I heard she really clocked him, too. Too bad she wasn't around for Richards' "performance"...

by dabobbo on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 03:08:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

I am glad people walked out. I would have.

BlueSunbelt.Com Netroots for the Sunbelt states robwire.com My personal blog

by robliberal on Tue Nov 21st, 2006 at 01:16:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 1)

In case you're wondering, I deleted the duplicate of this comment.

I for one welcome our new Twitter overlords. @Omir55

by Omir the Storyteller (omir.the.storyteller -CAT- gmail -DOG- com) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 12:41:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

He ended with "those words" (none / 0)

I guess he's crowned himself the new Lenny Bruce.

PMS Purchase More Shoes

by Militarytracy on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 12:26:10 PM EST

Re: He ended with "those words" (4.00 / 2)

Good luck, man.

Lenny's humor dealt with language & how it informs perception.
This asshole dealt out language that I can't, for the life of me, perceive as funny.

by wilderness wench on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 01:58:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

It's a terrible shame that Michael Richards has stained the Seinfeld legacy...

Years out of production and now having several years of syndication reruns, it is unlikely to have any effect on the legacy of Seinfeld. Richards has done considerable damage to himself alone.

Oh, there you are, Perry. -Phineas -SLB-

by boran2 (blogistan@yahoo.com) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 12:50:48 PM EST

Cool Cats (none / 0)

What Richards did was wrong. But...........
do any of you "cool cats" have children in their teens?
My 2 sons (oh yeah ,im a cracker) and their friends black ,P.R. all call eachother nigga and they groove to rap, hip hop, their "way out man" ,its the lingo of the generation man ,its here to stay,and im sure will be accepted by people of African desent someday............. Booman you my caucasian? don't sound right.

"Activism is my rent for living on this planet." Alice Walker

by Dean (monahanatmaildotsaabnet.com) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 01:23:10 PM EST

He was mad at the guy though (none / 0)

and used it as a weapon, not slang friendshipy teen stuff. My daughter does that now too but there are different boundaries for teenagers than adults who are dealing with serious social issues (or supposed to be dealing with them) shaping our culture and society. I do understand where you are coming from but I must be sensitive to the needs of others too. It pisses me off that the KKK uses burning crosses. At Thanksgiving one year I said that burning a cross should be freedom of speech, because I would like to take away the power their symbol has. My Hispanic Aunt immediately disagreed. "No!" she said, "It is a symbol of horror and hate." I have never been a Hispanic person trying to make it here in the United States. I'm just some white girl ticked off about these losers running around in the bedsheets. I don't know how much therapy my Aunt would need before burning crosses would just be crosses some jackass set on fire. It just seems better to do without them. Perhaps the next generation will get it more right and be able to reclaim burning crosses as nothing more than fire hazards.

PMS Purchase More Shoes

by Militarytracy on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 02:18:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Kramer Screams Racial Epithets (none / 0)

I just hope to God that the rest of cast does an intervention soon. I anticipate an apologetic Richards appearing on a special 2-hour Oprah, shortly after he concludes drying out at the Betty Ford Clinic. Until then, I will not be at peace.

by Teach313 (teachSKIP313ATmacDOTcom) on Mon Nov 20th, 2006 at 09:02:25 PM EST

Not an N-word debate (none / 0)

I hate to see a person's reputation and livelihood ruined for a stupid remark or an off-the cuff slur or a moment of insanity that is genuinely regretted afterward.

In Richards' case, I make an exception.

This isn't an N-word debate, he went way lower than that. He said that the hecklers were lucky they weren't lynched, killed and hung upside down, for the offense of interrupting "the white man." And there was no irony in his presentation, he was bellowing, arm-extended, like Adolf Hitler.

by acquittal on Tue Nov 21st, 2006 at 02:35:17 AM EST

Kramer Screams Racial Epithets | 35 comments (35 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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