Contrast

[novapsyche]

Sometimes through juxtaposition poetry can be found.

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Michael Richards to MySpace: Why Have I Lost All My Friends?

The inner demon behind racist words is not necessarily racism

Oh mi god, he said "the n-word!!!!" Bid deal. Get over it. It's just a word. Why is it that black people can call each other that word without a problem? They think it's a compliment when another black person says it to them. Don't get me wrong, Michael Richard's shouldn't have said it. Period. He lost his cool and said some things he definately should not have said. Have you ever been really upset and blurted something you would NEVER normally say? That's all it was. He obviously has some anger management issues that need to be taken care of.

This is just like Mel Gibson saying that the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Did he really mean it? No. He was upset that he was getting arrested. That's all.

Are these people guilty of racism? No. They are guilty of speaking without thinking of the consequences first.

People need to stop being so sensitive about absolutely everything. We all have to walk around on egg shells. God forbid you say something that might be offensive. But aren't we allowed to say whatever we want? It's called the First Amendment.

Posted by: Sarah | Nov 21, 2006 2:10:15 PM

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Emmett Till

Picture of Emmett Till

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The O.J.-Kramer discrepancy

Okay, so instead imagine Richards on stage in that grainy video, except this time the heckler is a woman. She heckles him, telling him he's not funny. Richards gets livid. "Cracker!"

Oh, in my scenario, the woman is white. And in this moment of rage, Richards is going to go for an epithet, a racial epithet, because that's what seems handy at the moment.

Comments

try #2

[eposia.livejournal.com]

edited to rephrase a statement that sounded wrong in context upon re-reading.

I can not think of one single time in my life, no matter how angry or out of control emotionally I was, that a racial epithet came to mind to use against someone. Not once. Given that personal experience, I find it very hard to believe anyone defaulting to such behavior is not at least a little bit racist. I have said many a hurtful thing in my life in the heat of the moment, "speaking without thought for consequences" as it were, and have had not the slightest problem keeping my slurs free of racial reference - since they never came to mind to use. And yes, some of those times of anger were against people of other races, so if racism was there it would likely have cropped up.

Richard's statements are appalling and inexcusable, and I look with anger not only upon Richards but upon any people like your quoted comment that are so blind to racism they defend such statements, even indirectly.

[sarahsmiles.livejournal.com]

I could never figure out where people stand on racism. If you judge people based on race, I'd consider someone racist. If someone hates people based on race, I'd call her a bigotted racist. Though if someone loves people because of their race, I'd still consider them racist. Richards seems pathetic, like Mel, and sure, they're saying anything hurtful that comes to mind. The words were, to me, racist. Does that make him racist? I can't tell. But it does make him someone who says racist and hateful things. Just my thoughts of course.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Richards seems pathetic, like Mel, and sure, they're saying anything hurtful that comes to mind. The words were, to me, racist. Does that make him racist? I can't tell.

I point you to Richards' rant leaves no doubt he's a racist, wherein the author states

I have a reader who [...] sent an e-mail hoping to preempt my calling Richards racist. She asked that I consider the possibility he's no bigot but simply a man who, in anger, reached instinctively for the most hurtful language he could find. We've all been there, right?

Well, no. Richards' rant, according to the video of it online, lasted a good 2 ½ minutes. You might angrily snap that somebody is a ''fat so-and-so'' without really meaning it. You don't spend 2 ½ minutes calling them fat unless fat is exactly what you mean.

What bothers me most about my reader's explanation is that she felt compelled to postulate an alternate reason for Richards' behavior. Evidently she found the likeliest reason too hard to accept. Nor is she alone. TMZ.com, the website that obtained the video, polled its users with this question: Is Richards a racist? Forty percent of the respondents said no.

[...] But if so many of my white countrymen refuse to recognize racism when it is this blatant and unmistakable, what expectation can we have that they will do so when it is subtle and covert? In other words, when it is what it usually is.

Modern bigotry usually isn't some nitwit screaming the N-word. It is jobs you don't get and loans you don't get and apartments you don't get and healthcare you don't get and justice you don't get, for reasons you get all too clearly, even though no one ever quite speaks them. Or needs to. It is smiles in your face and knives in your back. And it is, yes, a sitcom -- like Seinfeld -- that presents New York City, of all places, as a black-free zone.

These are complaints African Americans have sought for years to drive home only to be met largely by indifference, the defensive apathy of those who are free to ignore or diminish any claim on conscience that makes them uncomfortable. At the risk of metaphor abuse, the response to this debacle makes clear that you can't explain Advanced Racism to those who haven't passed Racism 101.

[sarahsmiles.livejournal.com]

Ya, I can't disagree on that either. When I said "I can't tell." it wasn't to give him the benefit of the doubt so much as it was to take a second look at my assumptions. I can easily condemn the act and the words as racist and hateful. And if punnishment follows that, so be it. I just don't feel qualified to make an absolute judgement on people these days. Condemn the act, yes. But I personally can't damn someone to hell. That's someone else's job at the moment. :)

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

I was raised by a racist father. I have racist thoughts. Those thoughts are countered by a lifetime of experiences, with rommmates, friends, lovers and neighbors.

Even at my most angry, I wouldn't bring race or national origin into an argument. I've even worked hard not to call Rush Limbaugh fat, it was too easy and a cheap shot. His size isn't what makes him a waste of human flesh, it's his power and influence.

I like your analogy. We can't understand most of simianpower research. We'd need beginners level courses in solar science and instrumentation to understand it. Similarly, understanding racism, especially the more sneaky and insidious forms, takes a good understanding of the why's and how's of discrimination.

The people in Michigan who voted Yes for Prop 2 haven't taken Racism 101, so many arguments about modern racism didn't make any sense to them. Prop 2 was a false appeal to fairness.