I was going to post some comments about Mr. O.J. and his "If I Did It" book this week. What a joke! Anyway, considering his book got scrapped by the publisher, that issue is now moot. SO, instead, I was sitting in the nail salon watching the news, and saw a clip of Kramer* from Seinfeld fame ranting while on stage at the Laugh Factory in L.A. (*Because I don't know this man's real name -- because he's never been on anything except Seinfeld -- he will hereinafter be referred to as Kramer.) If you haven't seen this video, YOU HAVE TO SEE IT. Go to www.tmz.com and scroll down the page until you reach "Kramer's Racist Tirade." However, I'd like to briefly share with you some of his...let's call them sentiments.
Apparently in response to two black hecklers, he screams at the men stating, "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f***ing fork up your ass."
WOW, for real? It's like that? He continued, "You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf**ker. Throw his ass out. He's a nigger! He's a nigger! He's a nigger! A nigger, look, there's a nigger!" In response to the crowd's obvious confusion, he says, "They're going to arrest me for calling a black man a nigger."
For anyone who thinks racism is dead, this serves as your wake up call! The interesting thing will be to evaluate how this plays out in the media. Mel Gibson was almost crucified in the media (in true "Passion" form) for making derogatory remarks about jewish people (and also for calling the female cop "Sugar Tits," which, by the way, is now one of my all-time favorite comments). Anyway, I digress. I am almost willing to bet money that the media will talk about Kramer's racist remarks for all of two seconds, and then quickly move on.
And yes, although the Laugh Factory has now banned Kramer from performing there, DON'T GET IT TWISTED, it didn't do so until TMZ posted the video on its website. The Laugh Factory actually allowed Kramer to perform the very next night after his racial tirade.
Isn't it funny how these white folks get all up in arms about derogatory jewish comments, but just expect us to get over it when white folks call us Niggers and tell us how back in the day we'd be hanging upside down with forks up our asses? Puh-leeze!!!!
--Notta
Apparently in response to two black hecklers, he screams at the men stating, "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f***ing fork up your ass."
WOW, for real? It's like that? He continued, "You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf**ker. Throw his ass out. He's a nigger! He's a nigger! He's a nigger! A nigger, look, there's a nigger!" In response to the crowd's obvious confusion, he says, "They're going to arrest me for calling a black man a nigger."
For anyone who thinks racism is dead, this serves as your wake up call! The interesting thing will be to evaluate how this plays out in the media. Mel Gibson was almost crucified in the media (in true "Passion" form) for making derogatory remarks about jewish people (and also for calling the female cop "Sugar Tits," which, by the way, is now one of my all-time favorite comments). Anyway, I digress. I am almost willing to bet money that the media will talk about Kramer's racist remarks for all of two seconds, and then quickly move on.
And yes, although the Laugh Factory has now banned Kramer from performing there, DON'T GET IT TWISTED, it didn't do so until TMZ posted the video on its website. The Laugh Factory actually allowed Kramer to perform the very next night after his racial tirade.
Isn't it funny how these white folks get all up in arms about derogatory jewish comments, but just expect us to get over it when white folks call us Niggers and tell us how back in the day we'd be hanging upside down with forks up our asses? Puh-leeze!!!!
--Notta
P.S. - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! :)
13 comments:
Unfortunately...this is the world we live in. Sad thing is...we have little recourse...other than steering clear of the Laugh Factory. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Frustrated Workerbee
By the way, as follow up, Jerry Seinfeld was on Letterman tonight, and brought Kramer on with him (via satellite) to apologize. During his "apology" he called us Afro-Americans...twice.
I wonder if Jerry SEINFELD would be as supportive of his friend if he had hauled off making a bunch of derogatory jewish comments.
As Arsenio used to say..."Things that make you say hmmm..."
--Notta
I uh...
Um...
I'm sorta' speechless about this.
Speechless in the sense of, I just can't prioritize my rage here.
"Kramers" name is Michael Rchards.
And, all I can say at this point is - this guy needs to be run our of town on a rail. He should never work on film again and he should be held under the same microscope as Mel Gibson, he should be held under a BIGGER ONE than Mel Gibson! This is insane that I haven't heard anything about this verbal assault!
Thanks for staying on top of this. I'm gonna spread the word about this, and let folks know what's up!
Just goes to show what white folks reeaaaallly think about us!! See, they ALL have the ability to resort to this type of verbal spew of ignorance when pushed.
Steve Harvey said it best on the radio the other morning. And I paraphrase " Folks paid there money, they have the right to heckle. That's part of comedy. If you take it, then you're in the wrong business..."
It's very disheartening & his apology means nothing. If he didn't already feel that way about us, those words would've never come from his punk azz mouth. I don't feel he owes us an apology at all to be honest. Why apologize for the way you feel? He's only sorry that he let it out in mixed company and not in his circle of white racists.
I'm shocked... actually I'm not. But am I the only person who caught his apology and thought it was half-assed. It seemed like he was trying to say, "I'm sorry n*****s for calling you n*****s". It was if he was "pissed" for having to apologize for the remarks. What a tool. But as a black woman, I'm never surprised when this gets "blurted out in haste".
No akilaz, you are not the only one who thought his apology was half-assed; I felt the same way while watching it. It was ridiculous. And as damien said, he only apologized because he got caught. You don't make remarks like that unless you truly believe what you are saying. But hey, at least we know where we stand with him. That's a whole heck of a lot better than these fools who really do feel that way, but who perpetrate a fraud on the daily by trying to act like they're cool with black folks.
I also agree with Damien. Dont apologize for saying what you meant. Its a waste of air. I also saw this on U Tube and what was even more crazy were the comments that people were making. I swear that there are 1000 satements like the following: "why isnt anyone mad at Chris Rock for saying cracker all the time"... And "how come no one is saying the nigger has to apologize for calling Kramer a cracker". And "why cant black people just get over it, you weren't even around during slavery". And my personal favorite.."Nigger can apply to anyone, whites, Asians etc...they were just acting like niggers by being rude. Has nothing to do with color"
Im not sure why anyone is shocked. This is the American way. Has always been. This is nothing more than another reminder.
'Isn't it funny how these white folks get all up in arms about derogatory jewish comments, but just expect us to get over it when white folks call us Niggers and tell us how back in the day we'd be hanging upside down with forks up our asses? Puh-leeze!!!!'
Yeah, this double standard is so obvious in so many places I'm surprised the media doesn't just get it over with and set aside a single day for us Blacks to complain about all the crap we still have to deal with-- since that's all they seem willing to give us anyway.
After all, if it's American Blacks or Africans or Lebanese Muslims getting attacked, humiliated, shouted at, targeted or insulted, the media just brushes that off. It's just the inevitable "collateral damage" in the Manifest Destiny march of the Anglo-American culture, y'all see? Obviously, as Orwell might have said, some targets of hate are more equal than others.
Also BTW, as far as Kramer/ Michael Richards goes his weird display may have been connected to some manic psychiatric disorder that I've heard some comics have, so I may give him a slight amount of forbearance in that department.
But it still doesn't excuse the comments, and if anything the fact that they *did* come out if he was having a manic episode, shows just how deep-rooted this racism still is in our culture-- the manic episode mighta made him lose it, but it's the culture that gave him the words to say.
Of course like you say, Mel Gibson basically gets publicly flogged for weeks for his comments-- while Kramer's are already slipping off the radar screen. I guess Kramer gets props for choosing a less protected target.
Whites often want to talk of the larger picture, affirmative action, demise of black men, and the even playing field, etc. Then say I am not a racist. What they don't understand, it is the small indignities one experiences, sometimes on a daily basis, that also defines racism.
I was listing to conservative talk radio a while back, yeah I listen from time to time…Sun-tzu, a 4th century Chinese general, said “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”…so I listen to keep up with the twisted thinking of the conservative right.
Anyway the commentator played a Chris Rock clip of him talking about how he “hates crackers” and the like and tried to make a comparison of the Richards incident. His thinking was why Rock wasn’t singled out as a hate monger or racist for making such incendiary statements. He also eluded to the fact that many black people use “nigger” when speaking among themselves or in certain hip-hop music lyrics…so what’s the big deal. While the analogy does not hold water the commentator raises and interesting question that Notta has dealt with before….the blatant use of the word “nigger” by blackfolk. Blackfolks, can we agree to STOP using that word…PLEASE!!!!
this is a generational issue...Black folks over 35 see the issue clearly...the youth weaned on Hip-Hop (when nigga as a in-house term was released into the public domain) are the ones sitting comatose in the front row while Michael Richards goes off...they, according to Sinbad who was in the club at the time, didn't rush the stage, didn't leave the club...didn't do anything!
As someone who is Jewish and African American, I can tell you that the difference is in the type of pressure that Jews put on anti-semitic remarks as compared to ones the type of pressure exerted when racists remards are made against African Americans. I think some of the reasons for this is that the Jewish lobbies and activists exert a more concentrated and continous pressure on perceived or real anti-semitsim.
So for exmaple Mel Gibson has never had a strong liking in the Jewish community to begin with, so his comments to are still remembered in a way that would swerve a large number of Jews away from ANYTHING he does. This is also communicated within the Jewish communities or a much more international basis than it is when racist remarks are made about African Americans. To be honest with you the majority of the Jews in Israel and in most of the world are not what you would call "white" Jews so the effects of anti-semitic statement can cross the lines of Yemenite Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Iranian Jews, Syrian Jews, Polish Jews, Indian Jews, etc. So for example anti-semitic remarks by someone could in affect an international black balling of said person. It is not a matter of "White" people getting up in arms about anti-Semitic remarks, it is ONLY because large numbers of Jews keep contant pressure on both the speaker of such comments and the media that this is kept in focus. Jews are still talking about Mel Gibson and his remarks. Also, whenever there were protests of anti-semites Jewish organization call the media to show up to the protests. Here in New York when we protested Iran we called the media to get them to film and interview people.
Maybe if there was a more concentrated African American response not just to the use of the word Nigger, but also to the more evil elements of the Kramer guy's comments (I don't know what his real name is). Look at it from this perspective. The fact that he said the guy should by hung by a tree would in my eyes mean that this was a threat and legal action should be taken. His statement, "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f***ing fork up your ass." alone should have caused a continous response even to this day from African Americans. This is more than racism, this was a threat, which may have legal ramifications.
There should have been mass burnings of Seinfeild DVD's and anything related to this guy. The media should have been called to show up to such events. That is how you get the media to keep the story going and keep the attention on the event. This took place when Rev. Butts (I think his name was) and members of his church protested obscene rap and they held a demonstration in front of the major record labels where they bulldozed and stomped on the CD's their children had been listening to. I personally don't watch Seinfeld anymore because of those comments, and if I were ever famous I would never let the media forget it.
Also, maybe the use of the word "Nigga, Nigger, etc." in popular media sometimes confuses the issue. I have a number of friends who can't understand the logic of why it is okay for Black people to use the word "nigger, nigga, etc." but no one else can. I have met some sincere non-African Americans around the world who don't understand how one person using it makes someone angry, but another use doesn't. I never know what to say since my family doesn't use the word, and I don't understand why it is okay for some to use and other not to use myself. These are just my thoughts I could be wrong.
Post a Comment