The American Spectator

Reader Mail

It's a Wrap

11.28.06 @ 12:01AM

LAUGH IN
Re: Paul Beston's Last Thoughts on Michael Richards:

To me the biggest irony of the Michael Richards episode was the big sign "LAUGH" in the background of Richards' tirade. The loss of laughter at our common human foibles is one of the biggest sacrifices on the altar of political correctness. Without laughter what remains? Tension, suspicion, animosity, hardness of opinion that pits one group against another. People should just get over it and not take it so personally as to feel victimized. Especially in a comedy club, it's not personal, it's strictly business. And you've paid good money to be stretched, provoked, challenged. Enjoy it and laugh with it, you might find some Truth in the outrageousness that might be surprising. Political Correctness sucks. There, I've said a truth that needs to be told. Ooooooh.
-- Patrick Garrison
Ithaca, New York

Paul Beston's wrapup on Michael Richards highlights the most egregious factor in this episode. The disturbing part of the video is not what was said (because "Kramer" obviously has problems) but that some audience members were tittering as he said it. That this type of trash could be expected as part of a modern-day "comedy" act is a most troubling, and revealing, aspect of the Culture War.
-- Steve Nikitas
Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Just because some of our young black Americans choose to abuse certain words does not mean that black Americans that are 40 and older appreciate it.

Young black Americans, have no idea of the pain of hearing those words spoken in modern times. It's like replaying a bad memory or seeing flashbacks of past history. It was and is still real to me. So don't put everyone in the same stereotypical category with "some people." How would you feel if I said all white people are just alike because I have had bad experiences with some?
-- Catherine Revel

I don't know how you let this article go to print. Poorly written, filled with inconsistencies and makes assertions out of thin air.

"It seems to me that people who attend such venues expect this kind of material and this kind of treatment..." On what planet?

"They liked dishing it out, but didn't care for taking it." What?? What exactly did the audience members dish out that was anything remotely similar to what Richards was spewing?

"Gangsta rappers and their ilk have made the word more casual and less taboo, while also insisting that only they have the right to wield it." Provided no context -- those rappers do not usually use the term pejoritively and do not conjure images of lynching, etc. that Richards mentioned. Argue the merits of doing so, but don't compare it with what Richards said.

Overall, my impression of the article is that it is poorly written, panders to the self-righteous and affirms those who are quietly racist. Adds to my disgust of mainstream media.
-- BW (Biruh Workeneh)

"Meanwhile, the men in the audience who were the targets of Richards' insults have retained legal representation to seek damages." Oh, please.

On this molehill-turned-mountain, Black America cannot have its cake and eat it too. Will its leaders and luminaries publicly and immediately demand that it purges the despicable and offensive epithet from its own vocabulary -- and then actually do what it takes, no matter how long it takes, to get that result?

Given that hell likely will freeze over first, let's just ban public speech altogether, so that no one can ever potentially or actually be offended. Preposterous as that is, is it any more harebrained or outrageous than this current commotion created by an insincere has-been seeking who-really-knows-what and this politically correct, double-standard lunacy, fueled by opportunists?
-- C. Kenna Amos
Princeton, West Virginia

A very clever attempt at spinning this rather tragic outburst by Richards, but your less than subtle insults to Black American cultural leaders is even worse, and far more mean spirited: If Richards' outburst can be blamed on everything from rap artists to the self-interest of Jackson or Al Sharpton -- then why don't we all just shake hands with O.J. Simpson and accept his spin on matters: to hell with how clear the evidence may be! If Richards can poke fun at the brutal mistreatment of Afro Americans and you try to spin it as the way comedy clubs work, may I suggest it's high time these clubs clean up their act?...Let's face it: your spin attempt is sickening.
-- unsigned

I will be offended by Richards' comments when the black comedians and rappers stop using the "n" word and stop talking about doing women and showing them the ultimate disrespect.
-- Mike Barbour
Naperville, Illinois

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