Racism still prevalent in our culture

MICHAEL RICHARDS, BEST known (or perhaps only known) as Kramer from “Seinfeld,” took a page out of Mel Gibson’s Guide to Social Misconduct and unleashed a racial tirade at the Laugh Factory, a stand-up comedy club in Hollywood.

This incident may have only appeared as a blurb in tabloid magazines had it not been for an audience member who captured the entire episode on her camera phone.

The video found its way onto YouTube, and within hours the scene had been witnessed by millions around the world.

Granted, Richards does have reason to be frustrated.

He has spent the past several years suffering from the “Seinfeld Curse,” which means that everybody in America, including casting directors, view him only as Cosmo Kramer.

His television and film credits have been embarrassingly sparse since “Seinfeld” ended and I doubt his performance at the Laugh Factory on Nov. 17 is going to do much to help him land any future roles.

He was a man already on the edge when he took the stage that night and all it took to set him off was some light ribbing from a group of African-American audience goers.

Richards is not the first comic in history to be the victim of hecklers, but gauging from his reaction, you would’ve thought that the hecklers had Richards’ mother bound and gagged.

Rather than comically returning the heckling back towards the group, which is what most seasoned professionals would’ve done, Richards instead dug deep and returned with what can only be described as hatred.

Even somebody with a twisted sense of humor will agree that there is nothing funny about repeated usage of the N-word accompanied by a disturbing reference to lynching.

Those who believe that Richards’ outburst was not motivated by sincere racism but was just a desperate ploy by a frustrated comedian are, in my opinion, just as ignorant as Richards has proven himself to be.

Had Richards only made the lynching reference, or if the N-word had slipped maybe once, then perhaps an argument could be made that Richards had simply gone overboard in his attempt to “hit ‘em where it hurts.”

For those of us who’ve seen the video, we know that’s not the case.

Richards’ vile antics lasted nearly three minutes. Somebody who is spewing racist remarks for that long is not trying to silence hecklers — they are unleashing years of pent-up racial hate.

Once the words were “mistakenly” uttered by Richards, he knew there was no turning back. The damage was done, so he decided to inflict as much damage as he felt African-Americans deserved.

The shocking part of the video is not hearing the racist remarks. Anybody with half a brain knows that racism is just as prevalent as it ever was and that “jokes” similar to the ones Richards made are told daily, albeit behind closed doors.

The truly shocking part of the video is witnessing a man opening that door and revealing to the world: Look, this is what I really think and I don‘t care who hears it.

Richards wasn’t alone in his racism that night. Do you know how I’m certain about that?

Go back and listen to how long some of the audience members continue to laugh during Richards’ rant.

The wicked laughter that came from the crowd seems to confirm that old comedic cliché: it’s funny because it’s true.

It seems as though, sadly, some of the audience members felt Richards was speaking the truth.

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