My Plea

Like the entire class my blog’s are written in regards to what is written in the syllabus, but now we are nearing the semester we are deemed independent enough to write a blog on our own terms. At first I was exited but then I was told it had to be a little bit relevant to the course. I was a little scared being the fact I am not one who contains much political knowledge, but there is a quote someone once told me “When in doubt always look towards thy Kramer” and like he always does Kramer came through.

Michael Richards who famously played “Kramer” on Seinfeld has moved on to stand up. Not much Hs been said about his stand up actually until now. Michael Richards was performing his stand up act at the Laugh factory in California, and was heckled by two African Americans who additionally came in late and made quit an entrance. His response to this was a racial outrage repeating the n-word several times. (Richard's Article on CNN: Richards Rant Video )

This would not have been so widely publicized if not for a camera phone that one of the people in the audience pulled out as he started his rant. Dan Gillmor could not have categorized this action better in his introduction; he calls them “the former audience”. He says that it used to be that people were mere consumer of the news but is now learning how to join it and make it. Due to this new kind of media America was able to see the video firsthand rather then read about fourth hand with many changes to the story pending who it was written by. This former member of the audience gave us the story the way it happened.

Furthermore Gillmor says in chapter two that “Pictures are a part of journalism, and most organizations employ professional photographers. As camera’s become just one more thing we all carry everyday, everyone’s becoming a photographer. We haven’t begun to think through the social implications of this fact, but the implications for journalism are serious.”

This is just one of the many examples how journalism is changing by the day as Gillmor said in the paragraph above. We no longer just read and watch the news we make it and all of us being part of this new culture should recognize this as a responsibility not a commodity.

Now that I got the class requirement’s out of the way I can actually say what I wanted to originally.

First things first to say that Michael Richards is a racist would be ludicrous. Many African Americans were in the audience that night (including Sinbad) and if he was such a big racist he wouldn’t walk into a club with such a large population of people that he can’t stand because of their color.

As everyone knows in comedy clubs when you say a comment to the comedian on stage or make any other disturbance during the show you are likely to be the next victim of his routine. So when these two men who walked in late made a ruckus and then made a comment to the comedian of course they were going to get a verbal spanking.
Anyone who would have done this would have received the same treatment. If the guy was a fat guy he would have said hey fatty or if was Jewish he would have called him a dirty Jew or some other racial slur. The point is that he would have said this to anyone and he didn’t just say this because these two men were black. He was going to say something out of line to anybody who would have done this.

Comedy clubs are notorious for having an anything goes type of atmosphere because it’s all in good fun hence the name comedy club. When Michael Richards said the n-word about ten times he was just saying an absurd comment to get a rise out of the audience.

Although his alibi is that he has anger management issues, but I don’t I buy it. I think that he is just pulling this anger management act so he won’t get sued for all he’s worth by Ms. Allred.

I think he was most likely drunk as many comics are during their routine and just went a little overboard. His first racist joke he said was funny and even after he said the n-word people laughed, but he had impaired judgment as most people do when they have a little alcohol in them. In fact after the second or third time he said it he said “you see now I said something crazy” implying that he didn’t mean it to be racist he just wanted a rise out of everyone.

Michael Richards has been in comedy for over twenty years why all of a sudden would he become a racist, all comics have their trademarks and racist was never his. Do you really think he thought this is a good way to re-invent himself?

He was so clearly drunk and some things he didn’t mean to say what he said as most people don’t when they are drunk. Give the guy a break he said a stupid thing while he was drunk we have all been there. Should we really start labeling people by what they say when they are drunk! If Albert Einstein was hammered and he said 2+2=35 would anybody say he’s a moron! No, because everyone would just say he said a dumb thing he didn’t mean that he didn’t mean to while he was drunk as did Michael Richards so America give the guy a break because we’ve all been there and know very well he didn’t intend for this rant to come out the way it did.

But I am not his lawyer and this is not what I think the main issue of this article is. The rest of the blog will explain the bigger problem at hand.

When you go to a comedy club you should not go in looking for a lawsuit, because if everyone went in like this there wouldn’t be any comedians. Did Richards go a little over board? Yes but is he a racist? Certainly not it was all meant in good fun and was taken a little over board, it’s a damn shame these “victims” couldn’t understand that.

Unfortunately they did not take this as a joke and now Jessie Jackson and the NAACP got involved. They of course are turning it into another “America hates Blacks” issue. Even worse these “victims” brought in Gloria Allred to sue for “hate speech” as she says (Richards Victims ).

In situations like these it becomes quit evident what is really going on. These two men really didn’t endure that much suffering however like any normal American they were given an opportunity to sue and become famous and took advantage of it.

The part that really drives me nuts here is that whenever a black comic says a racist white remark nothing is ever made of it. In fact if you watch the video the African American called Richards a “white ass cracker” I don’t really know what that that means but I am pretty sure it is nothing nice about our fellow white people. However nothing was said about that, in fact it seems quit evident that a black man can make all the racist white comments he wants in or out of a comedy club and never receive a consequence.

This is a major issue regarding who free speech restrictions apply to who it doesn’t from the current scuffle it seems rather palpable.

Free speech is either for everybody or nobody, if one person can’t say a word then nobody can. The separations of who has free speech and who doesn’t is unfair and I don’t know how much more this one sided fight can go on. If the blacks say they can say white comments as a joke then how come whites can’t say black comments as a joke, what is offensive to them is offensive to us as well. Even worse when it’s not a joke and an African American makes a racist white comment nothing happens.

I am not saying that I should be able to say the n-word all the time (nor would I want to) since they say it and since they say racial comments about me. Nor am I saying that black comics are to offensive to white people and should stop. I am simply saying that if a word is derived racist by both sides it shouldn’t be said by both sides and if a African American comic can poke fun at white people (as they so famously do) then white people should be to do the same without being sued.

Being the fact that I am Jewish which is a ridiculed minority as well, I like to think that everyone in America has the same freedoms and restrictions regarding the first amendment and the rest of the bill of rights.

This leads me to my redounding question, why can African Americans say what ever they want while everyone else gets brought to court? What is the difference! For people who have made it their life’s goal to be looked at as equals it seems sort of hypocritical that they want this special treatment.

Apparently there is a big difference; African Americans as it seems from this event are more sensitive than everyone else in the world. Don’t get me wrong I am not the least bit racist, some of my favorite comedians are black (Chris Rock, Richard Prior and I prefer them over many other comics I would say they are in my top 5) and I have no hate towards African Americans whatsoever.

However I am a believer in fair game and if something is out of bounds for a white man to say than the same thing should be for a black man. There are never lawyers brought in when Chris Rock makes a white joke that’s out of line, so when a white comic makes the same mistake why the big fuss?

The answer to this reoccurring question is that there shouldn’t be one. Comedy clubs are a place were jokes are told, everything said in the club should be taken as a joke. Everybody not only African Americans must understand this. So I will put it in very simple terms, when something is said by a comedian in a comic club while he is on stage at this comic club it is a joke. Whether or not you think the joke was in bad taste is for you to decide but if you are offended you should not sue rather boo.

So I ask on behalf of all those who enjoy standup comedy the way it is, please please realize were you are and what is the point of this sacred room, do not sue for every little thing you do not like or are offended by, stand up comedy will be ruined if we start restricting it. Everywhere In America people have to watch what they because someone might get “offended” and sue for “harassment”, please do not take away the one place on America were nobody gets offended.