Said Nigger by "Mistake"
Go over to Oscar’s and view the clip if you haven’t seen it.
That’s what Jerry Seinfeld said. That it was a horrible mistake.
Michael Richards screamed “Nigger” more than 5 times and said that “50 years ago we would have had you hanging from a tree with a fork in your ass”
But that was a mistake too I guess.
If I forget a comma in an invoice? That’s a mistake.
If I forget to pay a bill….that’s a mistake.
Can you hear me now? When one of my SM’s calls me.
And I say “Yass Missus!”
Instead of “I’ll be right there.”
That would be a mistake.
But it might be what I’m thinking.
That’s the problem. The real root of the issue. Michael Richards said exactly what he wanted to say.
Exactly what he felt. What a lot of them still feel.
When I was hired at this company, They recruited me heavily…raised my salary by a few thousand and threw in all sorts of perks. My elation and pride was dashed when at the orientation, I met a young woman, white, who was hired for my same position. As people who clicked, we began to talk and I learned that she was making 13,000 more than me. She had no degree, less experience….matter of fact she had a GED.
Why?
The way of the world I suppose.
But like Michael Richards said
50 years ago I would have been probably cleaning her house.
It almost sounded as if he were mad about the fact it wasn’t 50 years ago. When he could have rounded up some boys and strung those hecklers right up the nearest oak.
Right now…at the moment I am writing this… I am sitting on the Metro North train….next older white man….who only sat next to me because it was the only seat…yet his body is halfway off of his own seat lest he touch me in any sort of way.
Why?
Michael Richards forgot about the internet, cell phones, video cameras….his career….while he expressed himself.
And that’s just what he did.
He didn’t make a mistake. He expressed himself. Said exactly how he truly felt.
The fact that Jerry Seinfeld thinks it was a mistake….shows me that he more than likely feels the same way.
Don’t fool yourself that this is all a mistake. Racism and racist behavior is never a mistake. It’s deliberate. It’s real.
I’m almost glad he did it. At least I know how he really feels now. Not that it matters to my life. But every once in a while….it’s a good reminder.
Like how on ANTM, Jaeda was forced to work with an ugly Italian man who probably smelled like rotton tomatoes, who publicly declared that he did not like black women. Tyra , I feel, side stepped the whole issue of racism in modeling. I wanted to smack her for that. Here she had an opportunity to step up to the plate….and instead of addressing the racist….she got rid of the visibly distraught black model. Tyra could have stopped it right there and found someone else to work with. Instead she dumped the girl and told her she should have tried harder to work through it. We all know that was just Tyra be her hating ass self...I mean she did chop off all that pretty natural hair of the girl. And Tyra knows how long it took to grow it...That's why she don't have none of her own! Instead of punishing the racist behavior she condoned it...missing a perfect opportunity to start to turn things around in her industry
I’m complicit too. When I see things obviously racist…I don’t protest…other than here or into the ear of anyone who will listen.
Those caveman commercials for Geico are hilarious….but aren’t we really the cavemen in reality?… Everytime I see a saltine acting black....I feel just like that dude....
That’s what Jerry Seinfeld said. That it was a horrible mistake.
Michael Richards screamed “Nigger” more than 5 times and said that “50 years ago we would have had you hanging from a tree with a fork in your ass”
But that was a mistake too I guess.
If I forget a comma in an invoice? That’s a mistake.
If I forget to pay a bill….that’s a mistake.
Can you hear me now? When one of my SM’s calls me.
And I say “Yass Missus!”
Instead of “I’ll be right there.”
That would be a mistake.
But it might be what I’m thinking.
That’s the problem. The real root of the issue. Michael Richards said exactly what he wanted to say.
Exactly what he felt. What a lot of them still feel.
When I was hired at this company, They recruited me heavily…raised my salary by a few thousand and threw in all sorts of perks. My elation and pride was dashed when at the orientation, I met a young woman, white, who was hired for my same position. As people who clicked, we began to talk and I learned that she was making 13,000 more than me. She had no degree, less experience….matter of fact she had a GED.
Why?
The way of the world I suppose.
But like Michael Richards said
50 years ago I would have been probably cleaning her house.
It almost sounded as if he were mad about the fact it wasn’t 50 years ago. When he could have rounded up some boys and strung those hecklers right up the nearest oak.
Right now…at the moment I am writing this… I am sitting on the Metro North train….next older white man….who only sat next to me because it was the only seat…yet his body is halfway off of his own seat lest he touch me in any sort of way.
Why?
Michael Richards forgot about the internet, cell phones, video cameras….his career….while he expressed himself.
And that’s just what he did.
He didn’t make a mistake. He expressed himself. Said exactly how he truly felt.
The fact that Jerry Seinfeld thinks it was a mistake….shows me that he more than likely feels the same way.
Don’t fool yourself that this is all a mistake. Racism and racist behavior is never a mistake. It’s deliberate. It’s real.
I’m almost glad he did it. At least I know how he really feels now. Not that it matters to my life. But every once in a while….it’s a good reminder.
Like how on ANTM, Jaeda was forced to work with an ugly Italian man who probably smelled like rotton tomatoes, who publicly declared that he did not like black women. Tyra , I feel, side stepped the whole issue of racism in modeling. I wanted to smack her for that. Here she had an opportunity to step up to the plate….and instead of addressing the racist….she got rid of the visibly distraught black model. Tyra could have stopped it right there and found someone else to work with. Instead she dumped the girl and told her she should have tried harder to work through it. We all know that was just Tyra be her hating ass self...I mean she did chop off all that pretty natural hair of the girl. And Tyra knows how long it took to grow it...That's why she don't have none of her own! Instead of punishing the racist behavior she condoned it...missing a perfect opportunity to start to turn things around in her industry
I’m complicit too. When I see things obviously racist…I don’t protest…other than here or into the ear of anyone who will listen.
Those caveman commercials for Geico are hilarious….but aren’t we really the cavemen in reality?… Everytime I see a saltine acting black....I feel just like that dude....
Michael Richards also loved to dress up like black folks....remember this?
And of course the black man in the background finds it hilarious.I did too at the time. Now I wonder about my own tolerance for coonery in any form...
I wonder if it will even be mentioned by the folks in my office...doubt it....maybe one day I should publish my final paper in Baldwin...which address the ways of white folks....
I could go on all day…..Let me get back to listening to Robin Thicke.
Said with a Clean DJ Diva Spirit at 8:12 AM
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