Kramer (Seinfeld show) goes off the deep end

The idea that a word always has the same meaning is utterly ridiculous. Communication does not, and has never worked that way.

With that said, I do not like when black people use the word "nigga", but I understand its intended meaning, and its interpreted meaning is a lot less imflamatory then what Kramer was doing.

Words themselves are not the only aspects of communication that determine the final meaning and how other people interpret the meaning... tone of voice, body language, volume level... Kramer was yelling, being nasty, and did not have a "joking" tone. That gives what he was saying a completely different meaning then a white or black person using the word "nigga" in a friendly, joking, or ironic manner.

I think one thing that bothers me the most about Richards\' outburst is when he said "Oooohhh ... Ooooohhh... you\'re shocked... you\'re shocked by what lies beneath the surface" or whatever.
 
He suddenly realized the magnitude of what he just screamed at the hecklers, and then tried to pretend he was Lenny Bruce, delivering a commentary on modern racism.  What complete bullshit.  The problem is he wasn\'t performing a parody of racism like Bruce, he was actually being a racist.  I did not see any redeeming comedy or thought provoking ideas in what he did on that stage.
 
He just blew his top and gave voice to his true inner feelings.  Just like Mel Gibson.

I have NEVER seen that happen unless they make fun of white people.

Look up Rich Vos, Bill Burr, Ralphie May, Colin Quinn, Jim Norton, Nick DiPaolo, etc. All very funny guys(except Ralphie May who is kind of hit and miss) who have some good bits about race and black people.

Maybe they were acting like assholes and needed to be called out.

Sure, he could have called them lots of other things...I dunno...


seems like a lot of fuss over one washed-up actor spewing racial epithets. I mean, who cares? I like all the hollywood c-list coming out saying it\'s "hurtful" and "damaging to the community".... who cares? People get called that word everyday. Mexicans get called spics, asians get called chinks, gooks, whatever....Big fucking deal. It\'s not like the president said it or something....

Too true.  He was completely out of line but on the flip side these guys are being made out to be saints.  Get some fucking respect when you go out in public.

[clips]

meh,...i\'ve already stated numerous times already on my feelings on black folks usin\' nigga and white folks using nigger....on the streets clearly there\'s a difference...and certain white folks can use it in their act in a way that\'s not offensive and funny,..it\'s been done...i myself do like the kramer character, but comedians get heckled all the time, and if you\'re good you can embarrass the heckler enough to shut him up for good....clearly he lost it, and it just showed what he thinks of black folk deep down inside....

that said, black folk aren\'t helping themselves by continuing to use nigga in everyday life, that\'s why you will always have white folk sayin\' well they call themselves nigga why can\'t we? It really is ignorance of the black youth\'s part, mostly because they really don\'t understand how much people from the civil rights movement back in the 60\'s have sacrificed to have and do what afri. americans are doing today....

Instead they are made to look like clowns on videos glamorizin women, fast cars and money,...and talk of killing each-other, black folk don\'t have to worry about the white man,......they only need to worry about destroyin each-other...like i stated before,...there are black folk killing each-other as i type this in the inner cities over drug territory, or just robbing their own kind over bulls**t...yet nothing is really being done or said to curb this situation,....yet let some white guy yell nigger and s**t hits the fan....our priorities and things that we really need to be worried about are backwards....

[Paul2]

....our priorities and things that we really need to be worried about are backwards....

well said and I agree.

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

i personally don\'t understand why people get offended by nigga, being offended means you\'re giving power to the word. Don\'t get offended by it and the word loses all power it had.  The word shit has been said that much, these days no body gets offended by it.

shit shit shit titty fuck shit


did that offend anyone?

[videoholic]

He was on letterman the other night.  He looked really shaken up about the whole thing.  I mean he looked very very distraught.

Nothing happen to him that has not been happening to comics all the time. He is a fucking racist and thats it. Even in his apology he stills sounds like a fucking racist.  Some people are still racist pigs in this day and time. We can try and mask it and make it excuses. Deep down a lot of people are probably racist.

KKKramer

[Bobs_Hardware]

SoulGrind, here in Australia the notion of racism towards African-Americans and how it\'s perceived is completely lost on most people. Like others have stated, it\'s all in the vitriol with which the word "nigger" was delivered.

I have black friends with whom we share many japes revolving around the dreaded n-word and perceptions placed on black people (theft, violence, etc. etc.) and it\'s possible to call him that and have it be nothing more than a joke. However, if in the middle of a heated arguement, someone stood up and called him a "dirty fucking n*****" then that perception I\'m sure would be totally different.

Even then, though, it\'d be more like "Why the hell would someone try and use that as an insult??" more than "HOW FUCKING DARE YOU?!?!".

I personally think people are overreacting, and it was clearly just a joke taken far too far. I\'ve made many similar jokes in my time, where I\'ve been just as (apparently) truculent in my abuse, and I in no way consider myself a racist. I still distinguish between racism and faux-racism. And Mr. Richards definately appears to have adhered to the latter of those two categories, as evinced by the absurdity of his comments.

[Titan]

meh,...i\'ve already stated numerous times already on my feelings on black folks usin\' nigga and white folks using nigger....on the streets clearly there\'s a difference...and certain white folks can use it in their act in a way that\'s not offensive and funny,..it\'s been done...i myself do like the kramer character, but comedians get heckled all the time, and if you\'re good you can embarrass the heckler enough to shut him up for good....clearly he lost it, and it just showed what he thinks of black folk deep down inside....

that said, black folk aren\'t helping themselves by continuing to use nigga in everyday life, that\'s why you will always have white folk sayin\' well they call themselves nigga why can\'t we? It really is ignorance of the black youth\'s part, mostly because they really don\'t understand how much people from the civil rights movement back in the 60\'s have sacrificed to have and do what afri. americans are doing today....

Instead they are made to look like clowns on videos glamorizin women, fast cars and money,...and talk of killing each-other, black folk don\'t have to worry about the white man,......they only need to worry about destroyin each-other...like i stated before,...there are black folk killing each-other as i type this in the inner cities over drug territory, or just robbing their own kind over bulls**t...yet nothing is really being done or said to curb this situation,....yet let some white guy yell nigger and s**t hits the fan....our priorities and things that we really need to be worried about are backwards....

Truer words could not be spoken.

Its pissing me off that people keep calling him racist. People have no idea what "racist" actually means. Racist means believing one race is better than another. KKK is racist. What he MAY be is prejudice, which means having negative thoughts about a group of people. Richards isn\'t saying whites are better than blacks or anything so he\'s NOT a racist. What he is is prejudice, if he even is that. I mean, even people who hold no prejudices say nigger in the confines of their own people. My roommates do it and they have friends who are black and listen to rap music and hip hop. My one roommate really thinks Beyonce is hot (which she is btw). They aren\'t racist or prejudice. People who hold no prejudices still tell race jokes. I\'ve done it. I\'m not prejudice against any race. I have asian, black, hispanic friends and I\'ve joked with all about race with them.

racist
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one\'s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.

Not Michael Richards. If he said that white people were better then this would hold true.

prejudice
1. an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
2. any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
3. unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, esp. of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.

Much more fitting. Before you people call anyone a racist, learn what the fucking word means and chill on playing the race card.

racist..maybe not by definition.

the race card issue is pretty valid seeing how thats what this whole little mess is about..lollerskates!!

[Titan]

racist..maybe not by definition.

the race card issue is pretty valid seeing how thats what this whole little mess is about..lollerskates!!

But people are calling him a racist and shit when its not what he really is. I consider that pulling the race card. Come on. Everyone in their lifetime says some "racist" stuff at some point in their lives and anyone who says they aren\'t is probably lying. He was stupid about it but I don\'t think he\'s a racist. Possibly has some prejudices against black people but he\'s not a racist. He tried to play it off as part of his act and failed miserably. He should have just ignored them.

OK Dictionary Dan, why are you making such a big deal about what word we call him?  You act as if calling him a RACIST is much worse than calling him a PREJUDICED BIGOT.  It\'s OK to be prejudiced, but not OK to be a Racist?  That is a meaningless distinction unless you happen to be prejudiced, and you\'re looking for some explanation for why you\'re not as evil as everyone believes you are.  That\'s sort of what Michael Richards was doing when he claimed that HE was not a racist.
 
I see very little difference in the severity of those terms, so it\'s not important that we didn\'t use exactly the right word.  Maybe it might be important to an English major know-it-all, but I don\'t think you are one of those.

[Titan]

OK Dictionary Dan, why are you making such a big deal about what word we call him?  You act as if calling him a RACIST is much worse than calling him a PREJUDICED BIGOT.  It\'s OK to be prejudiced, but not OK to be a Racist?  That is a meaningless distinction unless you happen to be prejudiced, and you\'re looking for some explanation for why you\'re not as evil as everyone believes you are.  That\'s sort of what Michael Richards was doing when he claimed that HE was not a racist.
 
I see very little difference in the severity of those terms, so it\'s not important that we didn\'t use exactly the right word.  Maybe it might be important to an English major know-it-all, but I don\'t think you are one of those.

I was merely making a point man. I was just saying that racist and prejudice are different. Everyone dubs someone a racist as soon as they say something about another group of people, if its race or ethnicity. But people don\'t know that racist is actually ACTING on those beliefs that one race is better than another. I never heard Michael Richards in his rant that white people were better. Prejudice is merely just a negative feeling against a certain group of people. But people are also overlooking the fact that the heckler called him a cracker-ass motherfucker. Last I looked, a "cracker" is the white equivalent to "nigger". I get offended when people say that. I\'m not saying what he said was right. He was an idiot for saying it but I don\'t think he\'s a racist. I dont\' know why you are getting so defensive about this. You are saying prejudice and racist are the same word but they aren\'t. That\'s like saying a painting and a photograph are the same thing because they are a picture of something.

And I wasn\'t saying it was ok to be prejudiced. You\'re putting words in my mouth and saying shit that I never said. I was merely pointing out that most people have some prejudices agaisnt some group of people, no matter if they\'re talking about race, ethnicity or even just another school (like rival schools) or community. If you also looked at the definitions, prejudices can be positive too. People seem to only associate it with the bad although the positive can also be equally bad.

BTW, I\'m not an English major so don\'t say that shit. You don\'t know me so stop making opinions about me. I\'m a Communication Studies major at my college but I just happen to do well with grammar and shit. I don\'t know why considering I failed every grammar test I\'ve taken. That\'s no joke either. Freshman year of high school I did better on my pretest for grammar than the final (and I got a 60 on the pretest).

EDIT: luckee. I reread my posts and your right about the race card stuff. I was wrong about that thing and I admit it. But my other points about the differences of racism and prejudice stick.