Michael Richards flips in standup stunner, apologizes on 'Letterman'

[Guest danax]

EDIT: Its funny how the forum software censors the word ______, but not the word honky, gook, cracker, spic, chink, wop, kike, zipperhead... Got love politically-incorrect political correctness. Aren't they all equally offensive when used to describe the race/ethnicity they're intended to insult?

Zipperhead?

That's the "z-word" to you, buddy.

Hard to insult someone with that and keep a straight face.

[TJones]

You CAN buy them. Well, close anyway.

This one will be on sale tomorrow !

[KimberlySayWhat]

MidtownCoog:

I heard it means plain and boring...

So not true!

I don't get this one? Honkys are crazy because they like to BBQ?

[TJones]

"Cracker" IS in reference to Saltine crackers, plain, white, bland. While white people seldom find this offensive to them, it is somewhat laughable to most white people, because we don't take ourselves as seriously as the rest of the races on Earth. It may be because we own most everything, and RULE THE WORLD ! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !

Anywho, in Kramer's words, "The cat...........REEEEOWOWOWOWWWWWWARGH !........ is out of the bag !" Everyone will deal with it, and move on, and as long as he doesn't run for political office, this will probably all blow over in about 2 years, and it will become a Jeopardy question.

[westguy]

I thought it was because white people (well, certain white people) like eating at Cracker Barrel.

[Jeebus]

... this will probably all blow over in about 2 years, and it will become a Jeopardy question.

Alex: He lashed out at hecklers by using derogitory racial slurs, during a 2006 stand-up comdian performance.

Jeebus: Who is Mel Gibson?

Alex: Sorry...

Jeebus: DOH!

[Gary]

No. If I could buy a "I'm A Craker" tee-shirt I would.

Maybe Oprah could do a show about how offensive the word Cracker is to overly sensitive Honkys.

Now that's funny.

[musicman]

speaking of oversensitive....did you see how rosie odonell called kelly ripa a homophobe because kelly's guest host clay aiken felt he wasn't getting to ask enough questions so he put his hand over kelly's mouth.

kelly ended it with the comment "i don't know where that hand's been"

then on today's the view rosie called kelly a homophobe because of the hand comment.

what was even better was that kelly called into the view to explain her views. I personally have never seen rosie so quiet as a result.

[Gary]

Either way, I've always laughed when being called a cracker, whitebread, or honky. It's a laughably funny offense to be verbally called either one. Sinking to the level of the racist name caller does nothing to resolve the situation, and is most likely the response they are hoping to illicit from you, by them first calling you a name.

I agree Jeebus, I guess I was venting. I just get sick of the double standard that our media portrays, while expecting us white folk to laugh at ourselves. It seems that almost every commercial, sitcom or movie portrays white people as idiots, while other's are portrayed as cool and hip. While that in and of itself is somewhat tolerable, the idea of one race being able to constantly make snide racial remarks without any repercusshion is hypocritical.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just tired of it.

[TJones]

I agree Jeebus, I guess I was venting. I just get sick of the double standard that our media portrays, while expecting us white folk to laugh at ourselves. It seems that almost every commercial, sitcom or movie portrays white people as idiots, while other's are portrayed as cool and hip. While that in and of itself is somewhat tolerable, the idea of one race being able to constantly make snide racial remarks without any repercusshion is hypocritical.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just tired of it.

Gary, you will have to reread post #34 please. It explains it all.

musicman, you should have started a Kelly Ripa thread, I agree with Kelly 100%, Clay showed no respect for the host whose actual NAME is on the show. He probably thought it was a sleep over and "girls will be girls" you know. Kelly blasted Clay, he barely knows the woman, and you just don't go doin' that sort of thing, he was just a little too familiar with her. She showed poise and didn't huff off the set, which is probably what Rosie would have done if she had been treated the same way by say, Steve O, or Johnny Knoxville.

Besides, how can Rosie call Kelly a homophobe, when did Clay come out of the closet ? How did I miss that ?

[MidtownCoog]

With white guys like this, who needs enemies?

[musicman]

musicman, you should have started a Kelly Ripa thread ?

just did.

[nmainguy]

I mean Michael Richards doesn't go and heckle them at their job when they are trying to pick up those garbage cans at 5:30 in the morning.

Because only blacks pick up the garbage?

What is a cracker anyway?

A cracker is a delightful, crispy venue for a tasteful topping such as caviar or spam.

did you see how rosie odonell called kelly ripa a homophobe

I suggest we make as big deal out of that as we've made out of an un-funny actor who clearly has issues with black people...Oh wait! I see music has already made a new thread...let me go post there! Not!

[west20th]

Either way, I've always laughed when being called a cracker, whitebread, or honky.

I've always prefered "casper" myself.

[musicman]

Oh wait! I see music has already made a new thread...let me go post there! Not!

you know you want to!

[KinkaidAlum]

Gary,

Do you really think that THIS is an example of a double standard? Do you really think that someone yelling out "cracker" from the crowd has the same power as a well known comedian standing on stage using a microphone to tell black people to shut up because he can remember the good ole days when he would have been able to hang n____s without worrying about getting in trouble?

If so, you have a very different definition of double standard.

Cracker is just silly. I cannot recall I time when we had state sanctioned "cracker fountains" or a time when crackers could be refused service or a time when cracker votes were only equal to a fraction of the African-American vote.

People need to get a sense of historical perspective or maybe even take a look at the Southern Poverty Law Center's yearly studies on hate crimes and hate groups in America to see why white folks mouthing off about n_____s is a helluva lot more offensive than calling someone a cracker.

[KimberlySayWhat]

I've always liked the conventional "whitey". Just like the Beave's friend, huh, musicman?

Once Damon Wayne did a funny skit on the TV Land awards where they spliced him into an old "Leave it to Beaver" scene. He played Beaver and he was telling Ward about how Whitey was getting him into trouble and Ward told him to never trust Whitey.

I'll admit I can't stand to watch stand-up comedy, because if it's a non-honky comedian, they'll merciless rip cracker to shreads, from the way snowy dresses to what "the man" eats to the tired honky can't dance bit. You know it's coming and sure enough it's pretty much the entire content of their act.

[MidtownCoog]

Kindkaid, my man

I own plenty of rap CDs. Ghetto Boys are some of my old school faves.

Judging by "my minds playing tricks on me" I'd have to say black people hate black people.

There is a long way to go on both sides.

[TJones]

Gary,

Do you really think that THIS is an example of a double standard? Do you really think that someone yelling out "cracker" from the crowd has the same power as a well known comedian standing on stage using a microphone to tell black people to shut up because he can remember the good ole days when he would have been able to hang n____s without worrying about getting in trouble?

If so, you have a very different definition of double standard.

Cracker is just silly. I cannot recall I time when we had state sanctioned "cracker fountains" or a time when crackers could be refused service or a time when cracker votes were only equal to a fraction of the African-American vote.

People need to get a sense of historical perspective or maybe even take a look at the Southern Poverty Law Center's yearly studies on hate crimes and hate groups in America to see why white folks mouthing off about n_____s is a helluva lot more offensive than calling someone a cracker.

Kink, why can't you give the same respect to the offensive "cr____r" as you do the word "n____r". After all a racial slur IS a racial slur. If the latter is said after the previous, and there is a incident that occurs because of the latter slur being made, there is no recourse for the the offended to take. Would you agree ?

I have a perfect situation that just happened here at work today. This is NOT a hypothetical, this is not a drill, this really happened. A discussion started about the comedy club incident and the person telling it obviously had a terrible segway intot he story. He said that another male employee's hair looked like Kramer's today, and di the whole, "OH, BTW, did you here what happened with Kramer ?"

Anyways, he went on to tell the tale, but left out the offending slur, and said "the N-word", this man who is telling the story is from Nigeria, and has a English school upbringing, so he has an accent that is not too bad, but some of his words are mushed together and undecipherable sometimes. He keeps saying "the N-word", well a female that was in the circle listening to his tale asked very politely "what are you saying ? N-wah, N-mah ?" just like that and she wasn't trying to be funny at all, she really didn't know what he was saying, and he kept telling her "the N-word", and she blurted out "you mean N____a ?" He went ballistic on her. "YOU SHOULD NEVER SAY THAT WORD ! WHERE DO YOU GET OFF ?" and just made a spectacle of himself.

This woman is a full-blooded Mexican, and grew up in the 610 T.C.Jester 'hood back in the 80's. She is NO stranger to blacks and it is my belief that blacks and browns just get along using the "slurs" and they know they are just "down" like that. I know I am sounding very caucasian right now. I just believe that the black and brown minorities just know it's cool like that here in the American culture. If there are any African-American or Mexican-Americans here that want to correct me, please tell me, so I can gain some knowledge.

He keeps ranting, and she says that she "will say the word anytime she feels like", and that "HE cannot tell her what and when to say anything !" She was not using the word toward him AT ALL. She was simply asking if that was the word he was reffering to, and out of nowhere yells, "You are a STUPID delicate flower !" to which she replied, "F-You, you stupid F-in' N___er!" It was not pretty, and now BOTH are in danger of losing their jobs. Who was MORE at fault ? The storyteller for calling her the B-word to set her off. Or her, for using a racially charged slur toward a black man who is still African, and NOT African-American ?

[Guest danax]

I'll admit I can't stand to watch stand-up comedy, because if it's a non-honky comedian, they'll merciless rip cracker to shreads, from the way snowy dresses to what "the man" eats to the tired honky can't dance bit. You know it's coming and sure enough it's pretty much the entire content of their act.

It's clear to see he was just angry over being a heckled has-been back doing standup, was not getting any laughs so added the two together and tried a desperate attempt at the bad comedian's backup; shock effect.

Not a nice thing to say but insults never are. The guy will end up being black-balled from his profession and his popularity will be down around the OJ mark. He will never be able to step on a stage again without being heckled to death.

Or, this might even boost his stand up career. People might turn out in hordes just to watch the heckling, sort of like going to a hockey game.

[Jeebus]

People need to get a sense of historical perspective...

Perhaps, but the more power people give the word, the more damage it will ultimately do. Its just like the F-word or the middle finger. They are only offensive as you allow them to be.

The most powerful response the black people in the crowd could have done was to call Richard's weak-minded, and then quietly leave as the classier individuals.

[VelvetJ]

Heckling is a common part of being a standup comedian and if he can't deal with heckling, he is in the wrong profession. Is heckling rude, of course it is, but all comedians expect it and all of them have gotten it and deal with it whether it is ignoring them or appropriately jabbing back. Heckling is uncommon in certain situations but doing standup at a comedy club is NOT one of them.

Michael Richards went over the line and deserves every bit of flack he is receiving.

[skwatra]

speaking of comedians not being able to handle heckling, there's an episode of seinfeld that deals with that. kramer's girlfriend heckles jerry, and he puts on a bad show because of it. so he gets back at her by going to her workplace and heckling her.

recap

sorry, a little off topic, but it's a funny episode.

[rippedoff]

Richards was way out of line and basically lost his mind from what I saw.

Now the two guys have a renouned lawyer representing them and they are all over the tv saying they want compensation from him. The news said Richards is reaching out to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

I remember back in the 80's Jesse Jackson loosing his mind by making what was an anti-semetic remark about Jews in New York. There was an outcry, he apologized, all seemed to have forgiven him and life moved on. Wonder if he paid anyone for that remark?

[TJones]

...........and NOOOOOOOOWWWWWW, the REST of the story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061124/ap_on_...ichael_richards

THey want an apology, and some money, hmmmmm, imagine that.

[west20th]

Why is Micheal Richards still even flapping his gums about this. He apologized, end of story, go crawl back under your rock. It's not like he is someone important. A washed up sitcom actor. They say all publicity is good publicity, even bad. He wasn't on anyone's radar until he opened his big mouth, now he is a "celebrity" again. What more can he possibly say about this incident?

[MidtownCoog]

news said Richards is reaching out to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

I'd like to reach out - and punch these two in the face.

Jesse has a love child, and Al dashes-and-dines at Pappa's Steak House in Big-D. Am I supposed to take these two seriously?

If it weren't for racim they'd be totally out of the picture.

If that's not motivation for us to all get along I don't know what is.

[dalparadise]

...........and NOOOOOOOOWWWWWW, the REST of the story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061124/ap_on_...ichael_richards

THey want an apology, and some money, hmmmmm, imagine that.

What in the world are their damages? This is stupid. They were held captive?

I was a crappy performance interrupted by the comedian making some stupid asinine remarks. They should get some money -- the exact price of their tickets -- returned to them. Not a penny more.

[Heights2Bastrop]

Does anyone else find it a tad ironic that Richards apologized to the Black community for his racist remarks by going on the radio show of Jesse Jackson, himself a renowned racist?

[TJones]

Does anyone else find it a tad ironic that Richards apologized to the Black community for his racist remarks by going on the radio show of Jesse Jackson, himself a renowned racist?

No, but the media has programmed everyone that if you say the "N-word" you must immediately check in with the Rev. AL and J.J. to see what your penance will be.