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KKKramer
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11/21/2006
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So the latest in racism is Kramer's anti-black rage-a-thon as heard originally in a West Hollywood comedy club. The story is that some Negro men were heckling him and he got a case of the Jew Rage and went off like a drunk Puerto-Rican with a fist full of Jap fur.
No, as a matter of fact I don't know what any of that means, but thanks for asking.
Seriously. Let me try and explain my feelings on this. I get sort of tired of hearing everybody tell me how it "Sickens them" or how "horrified" they are about it. Michael Richards's actions may have been insanely out of line, but as horrified and collectively sickened as all of the outspoken offendeds are, no amount of self-righteous outrage can possibly eclipse the sheer stupidity of the act. The beauty of stupidity is that even though it's not generally punishable by jail time, it is one of the few things left that can still be entirely the fault and responsibility of the offender.
Let's can the drama of overstating how shocked we are by his comments, okay? He called them a name. Unfortunately he chose a name that is universally associated with a kind of hatred that most people can't imagine (and that will get a guy killed), and he used it about 400 times. So I'm not trying to minimize that. The stupidity is the important part, because he overcame astounding statistical odds to get to where he is in his career, and then promptly pissed it away when the mean black men wouldn't stop making fun of him. If he never gets another job as long as he lives, then that's what he gets. That is why we are told to think before we act.
Now is the part where we collectively sigh and thank God for personal responsibility as the last line of defense against more of this kind of thing.
I happen to be able to admit that I differentiate between people who squirt out a slur in the heat of the moment and those who actively preach it. In my heart of hearts I know that everybody differentiates between the two- but very few have the stones to admit it. I know this because I have called people motherfuckers, whores, and retarded midgets when I was angry. That doesn't make it right, but it doesn't mean I think they are actual prostitutes or people who sleep with their mothers, either. Except the retarded midget - he really was a retarded midget.
That being said, I have to say that Mr. Richards (at least in my eyes) falls in the former category even after seeing the unedited full three minutes of his short bus adventure in crazytown. I'm not apologizing for him or saying that what he did was a good idea by any means. Hear me out- he's a professional comedian- he's supposed to be able to shred any heckler he comes across with his superior wit. It really is a beautiful thing when it is done well. This was the opposite of being done well.
Even if (and I'm taking a big chance by saying this to those of you who live in a world of pure ideals, righteousness, and magical flying monkeys with rainbows shooting out of their asses) he had slung a slur at them in a blind reaction to their heckling I might have been able to say "well, it had its roots in startling humor, so I guess he just lost his mud for a minute and made a bad move." I think most people could have called it a part of the act and let it go, as evidenced by the fact that people actually laughed when he first started the tirade. I'm not lying - it's on the video. Of course, it is human nature to laugh when uncomfortable situations arise, so I'm probably wrong in assuming they thought it was funny, but to a comedian on stage, sometimes a laugh is a laugh.
Instead, he screamed something about "He's a fucking nigger", and "Get the nigger out of here," over and over until half of the audience walked out. Even seeing those words typed out on the screen elicits a weird anxiety in me, and I'm about the least sensitive person you'll ever meet. His actions catapulted him into a swamp of dumb so deep that the most insincere groveling won't get him out. Even when he was apologizing he used the term "Afro-American", which I don't think is patently offensive, but is almost as outdated as "colored."
So while I don't personally think that Mr. Richards actually believes deep down that black people are genetically inferior to other races, he did show a level of judgment that puts him squarely in competition with people who do think that way for the biggest idiot award. When you pare it all down, stupidity is the common element.
Now let's get out there and try to act like white people, okay?
I'm KIDDING. Jesus.
 Dusty
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posted by Dusty at 6:40 PM |
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12 Comments:
That one even got some press down here in Australia. Beauty maybe skin deep but stupidity just goes straight down to the bone I guess. He and Mel Gibson (sadly one whom Australian's used to think of as their own) should do a movie together. Unfortunately "Dumb and Dumber" has already been taken for a title.
I am currently battling with skanky transvestite prositutes who throw trash over my back alley fence. Sometimes I'm worried that the Incandescent Rage part of my dark inner soul will lose it, turn Tourette's-Syndrome on me, and let out a "nigger." Which of course would invalidate every complaint I had originally with the elderly-white-Jaguar-drivin'-bobo-honkin' skank bags in the first place.
Happy Thanksgiving...
dunderfunk.
Kanye West and Louis Farakahn have been made a big deal of because of their comments - have you been living under a rock?
And, yes, people DO get hurt by words. Again, living under a rock? That is why there are laws against hate speech.
Lastly - just in general, I disagree that this Kramer issue is JUST one of stupidity (though it surely was grandly stupid). People do not say racist/sexist/homophobic/etc. things unless there is some underlying belief there already.
Mel Gibson may have blamed alcohol for his tirade, but alcohol doesn't turn people into biggots. It simply makes the biggots more apparent. Same with stupidity.
'Nathan (no, not that Nathan, the other Nathan)
Face it folks, what Richard's did is just below the surface for a lot of us. I think our indignation belies the fact that all races/religions have their prejudices. Until we as a group change from races to earthlings, this kind of thing is not going away.
Have we come so far, only to realize that we still have the minds of children?
Since when is it normal for people to get so worked up over words? I've not gotten worked up over being called things in a VERY long time, simply because I learned very young that whether people believe that ignorant BS that they tout or not, it doesn't change who I am.
The only reason this ignorant trend is allowed to continue is specifically BECAUSE people get worked up over it.
We need to learn to let go of the hate, and just not give a flying shit what anyone else thinks about us. Honestly now, I couldn't care any less if someone called me any number of names, since that's their free, constitutionally-given right. However, they had better be prepared for a volley back, and they'd better not be offended when they get it. It's one thing to dish out a tongue-lashing; it's quite another to take one.
If people are so weak-minded that they can't take a little name-calling now and then, then they need to wake up. The world is not a nice place, and there are people out there that don't like you, and that's a fact. No matter who you are, there's someone that hates your guts somewhere. Get used to it; I have. I don't like it anymore than anyone else, but that doesn't make it any less true. It's time we stop hiding from the truth, and just step out there to face it head on.
I'll close this empty monologue with one final word:
BULLSHIT!!
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