WTF?
Michael Richards is a douchebag, originally uploaded by emilyrems.OK - so I’m not naive. I know that tons of people are still totally fucking racist. But I HAD thought that it was deemed distinctly NOT OK to show your racist colors in public. I know if I were a racist piece of shit, I would hide my prejudice under the counter like a ’50s stroke mag, for fear of societal persecution. So why is this stuff suddenly falling so trippingly off people’s tongues in public? Like, was anybody even the slightest bit surprised to discover that Mel Gibson is Anti-Semetic? Hardly. We were all surprised, however, that he was so willing to shout about it in public. Which makes Michael Richards’ little stunt at the Laugh Factory so unfathomable. As far as I know, he wasn’t even drunk. Just a little provocation from some hecklers, and the ugliest kind of racial bigotry easily come spewing out of him. Not on the street, mind you. But in front of 300 people with cameras rolling. Then he goes on Letterman to inarticulately and half-assedly apologize for making a mistake. Like it was a wrong answer on a math test or a dent he made in someone’s car. Again, I’m not surprised that someone could still be so racist in this day and age, but I am surprised at how EASY these people find it to blow up their own spots.
I was just contemplating this idea this morning when I walked into the deli downstairs from my office and inadvertantly walked into a potentially dangerous altercation between a crazy yelling dude and the entire staff and clientele of the deli. He somehow felt wronged. Said one of “those mexicans” in the back had threatened him with a knife - and then started going all racial on everyone in the place. The funny part was, the deli just happened to be full of peeps hailing from most continents of the world, so the guy had his hands full trying to racially insult everyone. By the end he was mostly bouncing back and forth between calling the Mexicans rapists and telling the Korean owners to go back to their own country, while a couple of big black dudes waiting for breakfast sandwiches closed rank in front of him before he could get further into the store.
So I guess my Thanksgiving wish this holiday season is simple: Racists of the world - we know y’all are out there, and we don’t expect your ignorant asses to change, but please, have some fucking sense and keep your ugliness to yourself.