Michael Richards goes on racial tirade in L.A.

By now I'm sure most of you have seen it, but if not, take a look at Michael Richards' Racist Outburst during a stand up set at the Laugh Factory in L.A.

I'll be honest, as I watched the video of the man we all know as Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld spewing bigoted venom and racial slurs; I was both stunned and saddened.  Saddened because this man brought me may nights of joy in college, as I am a self-proclaimed Seinfeld junkie. 

Just like Mel Gibson a few months ago, Richards swears up and down that he is not a racist.  Those comments from he and Gibson are the most worrisome of all.  If a non-racist can tell a black man "50 years ago WE'D have had you upside down with a fu**ing fork up your ass," then what does a hard-core racist have on his mind?  This was much more disturbing to me than the 7 times he used the word nigger/nigga.

I'm against all use of the so-called n-word; we do give other races liberty to use the word anytime we put it out there.  But Richards, in his frustration and anger, opened his soul in a way that most closet racists are able to suppress.  The anger in his voice at the outset of the video is that of a man who has no respect for his heckler as a person.  I am amazed at how he could allow his brain to imagine a man “hanging upside down” and then the fork…

WHAT IS UP WITH WHITE MEN’s OBSESSION WITH SODOMIZING BLACK MEN?                                                           

I would argue that many of us have co-workers, teachers, church members, and representatives who walk around everyday with similar images on thier brains. But most are able to control themselves and not project that image out into the world: at least not in mixed company.

Fair our not, Seinfeld lost one of their biggest fans with this one.  Richards isn't the first, and he won't be the last to allow his true feelings to come to light in a heated moment.  In the immortal word of Ice Cube, "…no matter how much you wanna switch, here's what they think about you."