I just saw the Letterman segment. man, that was awkward. Richards seemed very scattered, incoherent, depressed and (I think) ashamed. He talked about the need to “confront myself” and “work on myself,” and I don’t know what to think about it. He did at least admit that he head gone into a rage and “flipped out and said this crap,” rather than trying to contrive some arcane story about comedic intent.
I hereby nominate this for Most Incoherent Attempt At An Apology Or Explanation Since Nixon In The Rose Garden. 
Do non-bigoted people say such horribly violent and racist things off the top of their heads like that while they are in a rage?
I’ve never seen anything like Richards’ flipout [what ever happened to responding to hecklers with a dry “Ah yes, I remember my first beer?”], but I’ve seen people who I thought were non-racist saying racist things when they get mad at minorities.
In my opinion, he’s not racist. He was calling that one particular black guy a nigger. He didn’t say all black people are niggers, just that one person. That isn’t racism to me, that’s hatred toward one man.
If you’ve got a problem with a particular black guy you can call him idiot or jerk or asshole or motherfucker. Calling him n----r means your problem isn’t with him in particular, it’s with black people.
Many may not agree with me but in my opinion just because you call someone a nigger, kike, fag, etc. I think it is impossible to conclude that a person just from those comments is a racist/bigot. Those words are just the easiest way to get straight to the heart of a person and truly cut through all they’re defenses and hurt them on a deep level. Now take the Gibson incident on the other hand spouting off about the jews are the source of all the world’s problems, that to me is a lot more evident of real anti-semetism rather than if he had just called a Jewish cop a kike.
semitism*
He didn’t just call him a nigger, though, he made some comments about lynching. If there’s any ambiguity in calling a guy a nigger, there’s even less when you start talking about torturing and lynching him. Richards was probably speaking more out of anger than racism, but that’s not much of a defense. If he lacks the common sense or the ability to get mad at a black guy without calling him a nigger, the best thing that can be said about Richards is that he’s a total moron with anger problems. It’s not like people are overreacting here.
I absolutely agree with you Richards was being a fucking dumbass of the highest caliber and totally lost it. The lynching comment was pretty bad but I still see that as he was more trying to just hurt the guy and get under his skin. Well it definitely worked. I like to give people of the doubt most of the time and I’m not willing to conclude just based on this that he is a racist, just as I’m not ready to conclude the audience member calling him a cracker ass motherfucker is racist.
“benefit of the doubt” Damnit :smack:
And you shouldn’t: the audience member had much, much clearer provocation for his mild insult than Richards did for his harsh insult.
In the end they are all just words it is up to you how to react to them. I’ve seen black people not fly off the handle after being called a nigger by a white person. And the audience member clearly stayed pretty calm t
-though he was clearly upset- dangit hit submit too soon.
Granted. Still, not all insults are of equal severity, and by any measure, what Richards said to the heckler was worse than what the heckler said back.
Has he? The Wikipedia entry on Richards relating to this episode includes the following:
The source includes this direct quote:
[QUOTE=pool]
From Wiki:
Hmmm… I just read that the club permanently banned him. I guess they only banned him after the public outcry, which I can’t help thinking is kinda slimy: either his conduct itself was ban-worthy or it wasn’t. Politics.
Horseshit! For this post, I’m not talking about Richards or his comments or meltdown, which I do not defend in the least. I’m talking about Green Bean’s assertions that if the word “nigger” enters your head – even if you’re just temporarily angry – you’re a racist.
Let me tell you how I learned about racism: I was about 8 and jazzed as hell about riding with one of my Chicago cop uncles (I had three of them) in his squad car, when, spying an aged black man with a cane crossing the street ahead, he gunned the engine, raced across the intersection, headed right for him, and – stopping at the last possible moment – blared his siren, scaring the living shit out of the guy and causing him to fall on the pavement.
That event permanently seared my mind and my memory and my consciousness. Not a lynching, perhaps, but it made the same impact on me. No lesson on the mindless evil of racism could have shocked and repelled me more. I immediately hated my uncle (fortunately my family soon moved far away), and every time I see a racist action or remark, I’m reminded of its horror. To consider me an anti-racist is a gross understatement.
However, I grew up in America. Racist epithets exist and one or another of them will come to mind at one time or another, unbidden, no matter how anti-racist we are. You are dead wrong in your assertions! No one has iron control over their mind. All you can ask is that we repress our thoughts to the extent that we don’t voice those words or act on them. Nothing more.
There’s no way to know if Richards is a racist based solely on what he said. All we can say is that he uttered racial slurs. Isn’t that enough to criticize him for without condemning him for his thoughts, too?
I couldn’t possibly disagree more with your interpretation of it, but I highly recommend that you apply for a job as Michael Richards’s publicist. He could use your creative talents.
It’s well to remember that it is only levdrakon’s strange opinion that the audience was laughing at what Richards was saying. Everyone else seems to think it was the nervous laughter of people watching someone commit career suicide.