My Two Cents on Michael Richards (Kramer)
(http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/20/kramers-racist-tirade-caught-on-tape/)
Michael Richards' outburst at a couple of alleged hecklers at a comedy club in Southern California has made the news now such that everyone should be familiar with the story.
If you're not familiar with it, click on the link above and take a gander.
Anyways, I'm sad to say that I'm not surprised at Richards' outburst nor his subsequent statement that he's not a racist. Just like I'm not a black woman!
Richards is only a pitiful reminder of the true beliefs and intentions that some people hold in their hearts. They're secreted away so snugly in their psyche that when they burst forth from the seeming abyss, the individual spewing the words is just as surprised as his/her audience. Michael has gone on to apologize on the David Letterman show, to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, but instead of empty salves and balms I wish someone would ask him directly, why it is he truly believes that he's superior to black people. Some of his statements included telling the two audience members that "Fifty years ago we'd have had you strung up with a fork in your ass" and "When it's all over, I'll still be rich and you'll still be a nigger." Excuse me Grand Wizard? (Richards is one of the reasons I laugh when people say that racism is solely a trait of the South. Guess he's blown that theory wide open like the Grand Canyon.)
Needless to say, Michael has a lot of soul searching to do, but in my mind he's only one of thousands and possibly millions who need to discard their attitude of superiority toward black people. If your self esteem and self worth is only valid when you can snub your nose at someone then you're a sad, sorry individual indeed. If in anger you can only lash out at someone's appearance or ethnicity then you haven't truly defined what you're angry about.
I've had enough racist comments hurled at me to know how these audience members probably felt. But the truth of the matter is that just because certain people disparage black people doesn't mean that black people define themselves in this manner. Just because you may define black people as low on the totem pole doesn't mean that's how we view ourselves. Because in the end how we view ourselves and define ourselves is up to us. And you Michael Richards will never possess enough largesse for that.
Michael Richards' outburst at a couple of alleged hecklers at a comedy club in Southern California has made the news now such that everyone should be familiar with the story.
If you're not familiar with it, click on the link above and take a gander.
Anyways, I'm sad to say that I'm not surprised at Richards' outburst nor his subsequent statement that he's not a racist. Just like I'm not a black woman!
Richards is only a pitiful reminder of the true beliefs and intentions that some people hold in their hearts. They're secreted away so snugly in their psyche that when they burst forth from the seeming abyss, the individual spewing the words is just as surprised as his/her audience. Michael has gone on to apologize on the David Letterman show, to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, but instead of empty salves and balms I wish someone would ask him directly, why it is he truly believes that he's superior to black people. Some of his statements included telling the two audience members that "Fifty years ago we'd have had you strung up with a fork in your ass" and "When it's all over, I'll still be rich and you'll still be a nigger." Excuse me Grand Wizard? (Richards is one of the reasons I laugh when people say that racism is solely a trait of the South. Guess he's blown that theory wide open like the Grand Canyon.)
Needless to say, Michael has a lot of soul searching to do, but in my mind he's only one of thousands and possibly millions who need to discard their attitude of superiority toward black people. If your self esteem and self worth is only valid when you can snub your nose at someone then you're a sad, sorry individual indeed. If in anger you can only lash out at someone's appearance or ethnicity then you haven't truly defined what you're angry about.
I've had enough racist comments hurled at me to know how these audience members probably felt. But the truth of the matter is that just because certain people disparage black people doesn't mean that black people define themselves in this manner. Just because you may define black people as low on the totem pole doesn't mean that's how we view ourselves. Because in the end how we view ourselves and define ourselves is up to us. And you Michael Richards will never possess enough largesse for that.
