Remember when they said Pac “changed” and started taking on some of the characteristics of his character Bishop after the filming of Juice?
Can we say that Michael Richards pulled some spastic shit like his beloved character Cosmo Kramer the other night? (“Kramer’s Racist Tirade Caught On Tape“)
I wasn’t a big fan of Seinfield’s dry humor but I understood it. And even if I didn’t like the rest of the show, I, like everyone else, thought Kramer was a funny motherfucker. So now should I be a little tenative while watchin the syndicated reruns? How should I feel? Do I now hate Kramer?
Nope. I hate the ways of Black folk.
Not Black folk, but their ways mind you.
We continously try to take the negative stereotypes and connotations put upon us & spin them into something positive. Look @ hip-hop, and me as well in some cases. We glorify drug selling. Hell BET is doing a series an American Gangsters series featuring Nicky Barnes and “Freeway Ricky” Ross (you thought the rapper was original, eh?). We took the once sexualized image of Black women &….enhanced it into a more sexualized image. We took the idea that Blacks were shiftless & lazy…and created songs like “Chicken Noodle Soup“.
And we’ve always done that with the n-word. Always. And we haven’t stopped. As well we haven’t stopped feigned total outrage when a non-aggin uses it. Richards knew he’d catch hell for using…but shouldn’t Black folks catch some flack as well for embracing it and implying the double standard that “when we say, it’s okay”?
Notice I always type “aggin” instead of the other word? It’s my own little personal battle with a word I so naturally use but desire to stop using.
Kramer is a character, Michael Richards is a person & a comedian. Comedians have always pushed the limits. But personally, as much as we used to sit around and listen to Richard Pryor, something he said when he was out of the limelight stuck with me more & caused my own battle to begin.
During the barrage of invus that were replayed after his death, one showed him discussing his ceasing to use the n-word in his standup routine, after it had been a part of schtick for so long. In brief, he said he went to Africa & he didn’t see any “niggas”. All he saw was beautiful Black folk.
Now I may never make it to Africa’s shores. Hell I find it hard enough leaving the 615 (hood aggin baby). But I see beautiful Black folks daily. And if I don’t see their beauty, I see the pain & furor & frenzy the word itself causes in folks, both Black & White alike. My daughter is eight, and I can see the pause she takes when I use the word, without considering it based on our convos. And if I went to one of my white co-workers and said, “Damn, these niggas in their trippin,” they’d prolly give me a look similar to if I would have said shit damn or motherfucker. That’s part of the irony of it. I can see when it’s not right to use it – work, on here, etc. because I know how the listeners can percieve it. Now I’m fighting the battle to quit using it totally, even amongst my inner circle who I feel so comfortable with and know I’m not being judged by.
So, based on the strength of what my man Rich said and my own personal beliefs and experiences, I’m trying my best not to use the word anymore. Hey, I stopped eating swine and drinking liquor and Lord knows I had a thing for bacon, country ham and Miller High Life.
I advise you aggins…good people to take up the same battle.
No other song or title seemed more appropo…
Public Enemy – “Anti-Nigger Machine”
*steps down off soapbox*
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/global/images/default-avatar.jpg){kind=avatar}
*Golf claps*…
I have never used the n word as a term of endearment. It seems hypocritical to use the word and tell others not to use it. It gets even worse when people give “passes” to use the word. Rap music has gone worldwide and different cultures are using the word now. I think the end of the use of the word would help but its a different case as far as this Kramer issue. He was saying 50 years ago he would be hanging upside down with a fork in his ass. He went WAYYYY too far.
Gotty,
Youve completely missed the point. Richards’ content was far worse than the language. He talked about lynching and sticking objects up people’s asses. The N-bombs were just icing on a racist cake. The content revealed his pathology.
He had a good ol fashioned antebullum racist rant. He went far beyond dropping N bombs
yo, the guy went absolutely batshit crazy on stage.
how in the world did he even think that would go over well even for the millisecond it took for the word to come to his mind? i mean, getting upset over a heckler is one thing but like the man said in the video afterwards…”it was totally uncalled for”. rest in peace to his career. good luck explaining your way out of that bottomless pit too Mr. Kramer.
I don’t think I missed the point as I do recognize what was said.
Utimately, when somebody relays the story to someone else, they’re going to say “Kramer said the n-word and…” etc.
I took up the case of the use of the n-word by anyone, as the rest of his statements are easily understood as being bigoted. No need in wasting energy towards that. That’s his own personal & public demon with which to reckon, word to Mel Gibson.
I chose to direct my energy and use this particular incident to address the use of the n-word, by him, myself, et al.
besides going to far, the context in which he said it would make even a 12 year old kid who knows nothing of our brutal history cringe. he didnt say ‘n*gga’…he said ‘n*ggER’..fully pronounced, directed towards the haglers, not cool.
but i feel you on cleaning the word from your vocab. i use it daily..just habit. and i honestly wish i didnt. almost newyears..i’ll put it on the list (not giving up my high life or ribs tho)
We never have the easy road, huh?
Why is it we as Black folks always have to go the extra mile and make things so much more difficult for ourselves? Everyone on this planet is dealing with the same issues, but we always seem to overly criticize ourselves and everything we do.
To me, the lesson here was Michael Richards revealed himself as a racist, towards Black people in particular. Gotty’s point there is right. It’s obvious, now it’s public, and everyone should deal with it in their own way. Personally, I will not support him or the Seinfield enterprise in anyway.
But the entire discussion of the “n” word leaves me baffled. N!gger and N!gga are both profane words that should not be used in civilized or public discussion. Whether it’s used in a racist manner or in a jovial “slangular” format, it’s not acceptable language in public. Period.
The issue lies in Black people embracing it and using it as profusely as we do. The idea that we are somehow furthering our own degradation, or somehow disgracing ourselves even more than others who don’t like us is overkill to me.
We all know the history. We all know the original meaning. But why such a debate? Take the term “redneck” for example… it’s a derogtarity term for disenfranchized white folks that was used by Southern black people. Soon white people began to use it to discriminate against their own. (see “trailer trash” and others) Soon there was a huge embracing of the term by Foxoworthy and others, and now white people use it all the time.
It’s been examined, redefined, and intergrated. But I still know what it means if I (as a Black man) where to use it. Everyone knows the consequence. No real debate there. But n!gger pops up and suddenly everyone is confused and unsure of proper usuage and acceptance. Come on, people. We all know what it is… no need to act brand new about it.
I think Dyson put it best in his retort to Bill Cosby’s down-putting of “afrocentric names” like Shanequa. We know people are going to frown upon names like Shanequa, but do we accept that condemanation, or do what we feel fits us? Keep naming your kids with “afrocentric” names and change the bigotry for yourself and your children. That’s the win-win.
Sorry for the long post! Peace.
Nah, I don’t even care if white people say nigga anymore. Nigga is the new dude. If black people didn’t want whites to say nigga then they should stop putting it into videos TV shows, movies, and rap lyrics.
However, what this assclown did was not only use the word nigger in a demeaning and insulting way that was not a part of his routine, but he tried to demoralize and dehumanize black people in order to make sure that they will never be on “his level” as a white man. It’s the whole reason behind supremacy, and his references to lynching shows that he knew what he was doing.
Whooaa!!!I knew there was a reason why I didn’t watch Seinfeld.He lost it,showed his true colors.Only thing he was missing was his big stick and his white sheets.
I hope he never gets another job in Hollywood.If he were to come out in a movie now,that movie would not be seen by very many people..He’ll probably donate some money to a charity or something like that to smooth it over..With “US”.
as a black man with a sick sense of humor i only see a white man with an equally sick sense of humor. for a minute i found it funny but then everybody got mad and i was ready to see the ensuing fight. ima probably catch a lil hell myself just for sayin it was kinda funny but EVERYBODY THINKS LIKE THAT! to anybody who reads this shit: I stay in atlanta GA the most rascist place on the planet. everyone i come across is either subconsciously racist or open with it. but shit lets face it pimpin WE ARE RAISED IN A WORLD WHERE WE ARE RAISED TO SEE RACE FIRST SO ITS ONLY RIGHT TAHT WE HAVE OUR PREFERENCES. I CANT BE MAD AT KRAMER CALLING ME A NIGGER WHEN I JUST CUSSED OUT THE INDIAN DUDE AT THE STORE ON BANKHEAD FOR SHORTING ME ON MY CHANGE. I CANT BE MAD AT THAT WHEN I SAW AN ASIAN PERSON AND WONDERED WHY WE ALWAYS CALL THEM CHINKS! I CANT BE MAD WHEN EVERY TIME I SEE A WHITE PERSON MY BLOOD BOILS! IM STILL WAITING ON THE DAY(ill probly never live to see this) WHEN THE WORDS DONT MATTER! MY NAME IS CHRIS AND I LOVE MY DARK SKIN!
Gotty and Jerrold’s comments are on point. This will continue to go on until we make a difference. Terrorism and Racism will always be around; they go hand in hand. Forget about the ‘n’ word for a moment and think about the phrase he said prior to that about the lynching’s..a heckler is similar to someone jonesin’ you on the street. If you have some nice comebacks it’s all gravy..once you run out of one-liner’s or in Richards case ya career is on empty you will try anything to get a rise out of someone. Let’s focus on destroying the foundation of said racism and work towards logical understanding.
I think that deteriorating what happened on stage at the laugh factory into a miscommunication about who gets to use the word nigger and how its used doesnt make sense to me. In my opinion the pitchfork statement was the worst part about it. A white comedian saying nigger isn’t the worst thing ever and I don’t think black people are even as completely reactive to ‘others’ using the word (still more reactive than we need to be, yes. but its getting better) and it looked like people were waiting for him to make a joke out of it. When they realized that there was no joke involved, simply a really bad comedian that cant handle hecklers without making the crowd walk out on him. As far as the word goes i’ll say that the word itself doesn’t mean any more than you allow it to mean. The reason it bothers us is because our society isn’t okay, but eliminating the word doesnt eliminate the injustices or the problems, it simply eliminates the word, congratulations. What we need to do is stop addressing the products of racism and prejudice and lets address the root. Superficial equality doesn’t help me get to sleep at night. So personally,I can hear nigger all day, its not pretty, but its not the problem and its no where near the worst thing thats happening to black people right now.
http://www.youtube.com/v/l2NntVd4-mo
Im one of the few black people that are HUGE seinfeld fans, I’ve seen close to all of the episodes in their 9 year history, and i still watch the reruns.
But this shit right here??? Totally uncalled for. at least mel gibson was drunk and impaired. This muthafucka was of full mind and body and let that shit spew from his mouth on stage.
Whats worse than what he said, is some of the white peoples reaction to it, alot of them dont even think its a big deal, they’re tryin to give this dude a support group.
I dont know if i can watch the show the same anymore.
yo. he apologized, we should all just move on and act like this never happened. lol, …
year right… no but chuck i feel ya, i got the senfield dvd box sets last xmas. shame i cant dub over them.
He’s gonna take some heat for a few days and then it will fall by the wayside…yo C.Taylor..Mel Gibson drunk and impaired…I heard it said ‘a drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts’..
Some of ya’ll need to take a close look,listen however you want to view the racist act.Everyone one of “US” has been a victim of racism in some shape or form.My grandfather(R.I.P)told me one day that if someone ever call’s you a “nigGER”, you whoop they ass.Not four, five days later it came to,I was called a “nigGER”.Whooped the boys ass, and his brother.Now to make a long story short,I’d like to see some of ya’ll on here that say,”hey it’s okay now,the word doesn’t bother me”,(From the words of my man Senator Clay Daniels,”Shiiiiiitttt”).Let someone other than “US” come to your ear and say “Fuck You nigGER” and really mean it.You’d go off,never would you walk away and say it was okay.Hell with that,this man is a racist,he know’s it…He looked like he was going to cry on Letterman…You’ll get rid of those Seinfeld sets now…
Apology not accepted!!!
“hey it’s okay now,the word doesn’t bother me”,(From the words of my man Senator Clay Daniels,”Shiiiiiitttt”).
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LMAO
However, I’m not even taking aim @ Richards. He was just a good sparking point. I’m more concerned with my use of the word and my own backwards thoughts that I need to unlearn and correct.
this shit dissapointed me. what tripped me out was that it was “kramer” of all people. i feel like i just found out santa/wrestling is fake. even though you know it was, you didnt believe it…
i cant even watch seinfeld no more.
HIS APOLOGY ON LETTERMAN LAST NIGHT
http://media.putfile.com/Kramers-Apology
damn i wish Chapelle show was still runnin. i can see the skit now…”Seinfeld..deleted scenes” heh.
i could care less about him using the N-word, but more of the referencing to lynching and stickin forks up black folks ass. that shit is what pissed me off. we give too much power to the word, we should just let that shit go b/c giving reactions to it is exactly what they want us to do when they use it.
Richards has something serious going on. He’s either very depressed, or he’s on drugs, hard ones.
His racist outburst was an act of career suicide; already he is banned from the Laugh Factory for life, other clubs are sure to follow suit.
He will not be working on any new TV shows or movies.
Serves as a reminder how far we need to go as a country, lots of people still think like he does, some of them have no wastegate in between their little brains and their big mouths.
two things: First, from Tupac Resurrection “Nig-GERS was the ones gettin hung with ropes from trees…Ni-GGAS is the ones with ropes hangin round they neck in the club.”
don’t ever confuse malicious intent with a community’s attempt to reclaim a word. the semantic/semiotic use of the N-word is completely different comin out of a white man’s mouth than it is when ya boy says it. He means it as an insult…ya boy says it with love. Richards meant it as an insult and then tried to turn it around into a joke – that’s a NO-GO, dun.
Two – don’t fall for that “reverse racism” shit that whites pull to justify their shit. Blacks can be prejudiced..your prejudice may even cause adverse actions towards white people (you might give a white man a hard time or an ass whuppin). but Racism is where you fight a off-duty cop who tried to steal on you and the ENTIRE police force, sheriffs, and constables come out and and stomp YOUR ass. Racism is the exercise of institutional discrimination powered by prejudice and enforced by culture.
think about it…what institutions do we run that ensure lower employment for whites…ensure shittier schools for whites…lower white people’s property values because they live there…? that’s what RACISM does.
I have to agree with a few points already made.
#1 – Stop saying Nigger, Nigga or any other incarnation of the word in your community or towards others if you don’t want someone else who is not black to use the word. No matter your reasoning and explanation it won’t ever make sense to me and it is my feeling that it invites and encourages use of the term. Hip-Hop, does not help either. Do you think that the majority of 50 Cents fans are black? Think about it the msg…
#2 – Before we judge someone else look introspectively. As Chris T, post #10 already mentioned; chances are you yourself harbor racist or prejudice attitudes. I think that how you act in respect to these attitudes determines if you are or are not racist. If I as a white person were to call a black person a Nigger am I a racist? I say no because I do not hold prejudice against black people as a whole, I do not hate black people – the word is used to inflict harm and to try to elevate myself over another person… that said it’s low and not right.
I feel that the best way to react to such things is with your wallet because in this world money talks – C.R.E.A.M!
I won’t touch anything associated with Mel Gibson and I won’t support Michael Richards either….
IMO the best thing is to LISTEN… there is always soemthing to learn from everybody.
Now ill you PLEASE do an interview with Eric Sermon and let us know wtf is going on with Def Squad and why he stopped rapping?
Follow up from Letterman the other night where Richards spoke with Seinfeld & Letterman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dufHYw-W6j4
remember back in tha day when it was okay to use the N word on all in the family and honkey/cracker on the jeffersons? it was all good then and people just laughed it off. i never liked seinfeld so i could careless about this guy but i understand why blacks would be pissed and offended by him. he fuct up but doesn’t make him a bad guy. everyone has there beliefs. he should have caught a beatdown at least.
well said
dont worry about WORDS.
if you are you’ve got it all backwards.
i agree with alot of people on here, i got a sick sense of humour myself…
but kramers rant was some coke fuelled los angeles insanity straight up.
wrong as all hell.
i put it to you like this:
“blessed be those that let in light and air,
for in the light all things may be healed,
even the long desire for darkness.”
use whatever words you want, and be prepared to pay the price for them.
you know what the price will be most times?… NOTHING.
dude is right above about ATL saying racism is everywhere, stop lying to yourselves or stop being afraid, it not alright, but its ok.
we’re all people.
and kramer is one person that needs a beat down.
you’re pissed that dude did that? maaaan, whats the bad men in power (im not talking about the boosh administration) doing to you everyday? too big to deal with? ok, worry about a lame comedian and a few little vocal sounds produced by some guys throat muscles.
you’ve got institutionalised systematic colourblind full blown war-against-you to deal with.
theres bigga issues than niggggggggggggga. you just got a taste.
lol @ this man……you hate black “ways”
I guess white peoples “ways” is some down right flowery poppery shit…they never do anything wrong i guess
get off that shit, niggas always want to say something to put down there own.
He made an ass out of himself. Thanks for the post and raising the level on this example of stupidity.
What an asshole! Thank you much for posting.
dawg.. youre racist “i hate the ways of black folk. not black folk but their ways”?? i dont think michael richards went on a rant about the ways of black folk, he just repeatidly used the word nigger in an extremely ignorant and hateful way. but if you want to go on a rant about the ways of black folk.. go right ahead. cracka..
and let me add.. i think you need to shut the fuck up with your lame ass commentary and just stick to posting albums like you used to.
raraa
I did and I will. That it irked you so much that you had to make that reply…well I can’t do anything about that. apparently you didn’t read my previous replies above.
and let me add.. i think you need to shut the fuck up with your lame ass commentary and just stick to posting albums like you used to.
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Duly noted but considering your previous comment and this one, maybe you should just scramble on over to one of the thousands of other places online where you can get albums. There’s plenty. But perhaps this one doesn’t suit your tastes anymore, which is no skin off my back. Can’t please everybody I guess.
Gotty, I’m a reporter, Washington Post. Yeah, really. Trying to get feedback from people on the Richards story. Curious to know if there are white people out there who are confused over why they can’t use the word when so many black people do. If anyone else wants to chime in, feel free. Write me at my email address, fearsd@washpost.com, and I’ll give you my contact information. My deadline is, like, right now. And no, this is not a prank. – D.Fears
Nigger honkey wetback nazi towlhead lol lmao rofl blah blah blah is it me or is anyone else getting tired of hearing all that crap? Guy got pissed as hell, just snapped. Am I defending him? Hell no I don’t give a crap about that. I don’t give a crap about morons getting pissed about the whole deal either. I do care about just what will happen when all this hate can’t be subdued anymore, when it comes forth like a tidal wave. We need to get moving out of this stupidity of human filth, start blaming ourselves for most of the shit that is happening nowdays instead of blaming a problem on someone else. Video games, racism, and good ol’ relgion. Damn, god is a funny person right? Built a society of half crazed blood thirsty people whose mortal enemy is of the same species. Hell who needs birth control or the death penalty when you can find someone to do the same job cheaper? Still we are doing better than say 500 years ago, we are on the breach of interplanetary civilization and can tell you the size of Britney Spears ass before we can add 8-2. Oh and I would like to say I am sorry if any of this is offensive, cause you see I AM human myself so that makes it ok for me to say these things. Or is it because I am American that I can say this stuff? Maybe I come from England or Turkey or China? Or should that even matter? Perhaps I am one of those people that like to see people suffer, and seeing hatred against others makes it all the more better. Just ask yourself WHO you need to be wary of, people like him, or people like me? Just remember that when the babies are burning the world will keep on turning. Frosted flakes are MORE than good…they’re GRRREAT!
Damn that dude is crazy, this is just f*cked up. How come we have all these problems? we need to stop this cause we are just killing ourselves. white people did some mean shit, but everybody done some mean shit sometime or another. We flippin out over some stuff about a white guy up on stage says when there are like a hundred other things we should be lookin at. got child rapists and murderers walkin free cause of some stupid rule that only exists on paper and we all get in a big fight over why we are better than that other person cause we look different, or how stupid they are cause they look like that. we need to find out what is causing all this stuff and fix it, cause I know that he didnt come outta his mommas belly wearin white robe and a hood, somebody stuck that shit in his head.