Brief response michael richards

16 December 2006 A Reaction Paper on Michael Richard’s use of the “ N” Word The incident that triggered the rage of Michael Richard during his stand-up in the laugh factory was directed to Kyle Doss and his company (Wikipedia 2006). Accordingly, the comedian was offended by the noise during his performance as the group ordered drinks. Richard initially warned them but the group’s noise persisted and so he got mad, and launched on a racial tirade which were recorded on a celfone camera.
As per my opinion regarding Richard’s use of the word “ Nigger”, it is not justifiable that he got mad because of the group’s noise. When he used the word, he intended to taunt the black Americans who were patrons of the said establishment. Being a performer with his long experience, he should have known that distractions may occur on such establishments without the motive of the patrons to intentionally create a disturbance. However, Richard reacted to the situation and showed unprofessional attitude during the 2006 November 17 incident at the Laugh Factory.
Richard made an appearance on the David Letterman show and made a public apology to Kyle Doss and Frank McBride, another target of the outburst. However, the two did not accept the apology and filed a case against Richard. They felt that what Richard did was not sincere and was forced as a resort to save his career. This may be justifiable since the image created in the mind of the public was that Richard was a racist. With it being on record and with the patrons who witnessed the outburst, the statements he threw to the targets were generally addressed to the black American race and not specifically or individually addressed and it was made in public. Doing public apology on air is much more of an appeal to the audiences and viewers. Because if he is indeed sincere with his apologies, he should have approached and seek the forgiveness of Kyle and the target group in private before appearing on public to make amends to those black Americans who viewed and learned what he did.
Richard may have denied that he’s a racist but his actions prove a different story. Just like a “ slip of the tongue”, his opinion about blacks were revealed during his outburst. The way his mind works during that incident showed his low opinion of the black culture. If he indeed has compassion for black people, those offending words should have not left his mouth. Since he is not a dark-colored skin American, and the used the word “ nigger”, he has a lot of explaining to do. As Wyann’s mentioned, their culture much have the right to use the word over the white Americans. Forbidding them not to use it when their culture is actually the owner of the said traits is like “ taking away” a part of their culture.
In general, Richard made a mistake and I hope that his apologies are indeed sincere. But in the process, he needs to make amends to the targets of his outburst. Maybe, if Kyle and McBride would publicly express that they forgive Richard for his misgiving, maybe then the black community would be ready to forgive him. Though we don’t know how much of the black people are offended and what percentage understood the feeling of Richard during the said incident. It is indeed unsafe to open your mouth when you are angry. It is wiser to stop, think and remain quiet during emotional moment.
Work Cited Page
Wikipedia – the Free Encyclopedia. Revised 14 December 2006. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 15 December 2006 from .