For those who don't know the story; a few years ago during a stand up set at The Laugh Factory Michael Richards, or most know him as Kramer from Seinfeld, had a breakdown on stage where he yelled at a black audience member for repeatedly talking during his set. While yelling at the man he called him a N****r over and over again. For this he has apologized many times, much like Paula Deen. Also like Paula, his career was brought to an end because of his outburst.
Just like I'm sure Kanye Wests career would have crumbled had he called Taylor Swift a honky or a Cracka during his "Beyonce should have won" rant a few years back. Because fact is, especially as a celebrity you CANNOT make certain mistakes. Kanye didn't even make any racial claims, this time, yet his career was, once again, almost ended by his outburst.
But now, years later a post popped up on my feed shared by a friend who didn't pay enough attention to what he was sharing. It contained a picture of Michael Richards that asked "Why are only whites racists?" Then went on to say this.
Remember Kramer?
Michael Richards better known as Kramer from TVs' Seinfeld does make a good point. This was his defense speech in court after making racial comments in his comedy act. In it he raised a few interesting points...
Someone finally said it.
But how many are actually paying attention to this?
There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans,
Arab Americans, etc.
And then there are just Americans...
You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction.
You call me 'White boy', 'Cracker', 'Honkey', 'Whitey', 'Caveman'...
And that's OK...
But when I call you Nigger, Kike,
Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink...
You call me a racist.
You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you...
So why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live in?
You have the United Negro College Fund.
You have Martin Luther King Day.
You have Black History Month.
You have Cesar Chavez Day.
You have Yom Hashoah.
You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi.
You have the NAACP.
You have BET...
Imagine if we had WET
(White Entertainment Television)...
we'd be racists.
If we had a White Pride Day,
you would call us racists.
If we had White History Month,
we'd be racists.
If we had any organization for whites only to 'advance' OUR lives,
we'd be racists.
We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce,
and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce.
Wonder who pays for that???
A white woman could not be in the
Miss Black American pageant,
but any color can be in the Miss America pageant.
If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships...
You know we'd be racists.
There are over 60 openly proclaimed
Black Colleges in the US ...
Yet if there were 'White colleges',
that would be a racist college.
In the Million Men March,
you believed that you were marching for your race and rights.
If we marched for our race and rights,
you would call us racists.
You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange,
and you're not afraid to announce it.
But when we announce our white pride,
you call us racists.
You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us.
But,
when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.
I am proud...
But you call me a racist.
Why is it that only whites can be racists???
There is nothing improper
about this Post...
But let's see how many of you are proud enough to send it on.
I sadly don't think many will.
That's why
we have LOST most of OUR RIGHTS
in this country.
We won't stand up for ourselves!
BE PROUD
TO BE WHITE!
It's not a crime YET...
First of all I would like to make it clear that, Michael Richards said none of this. After his outburst he has done nothing but apologize for what he said, never once trying to justify it. The origin of this speech is unknown and has been making round on the internet and in e-mails since LONG before he made his mistake.
With that being said, after reading this I couldn't help but express my opinions on the subject since there is no form of hate I despise more than racism. It is the most ignorant and unfounded form of hate in existence. I don't condone hate in any way shape of form, but I can understand some hatred. Such as Jews hatred for the Nazi's or a rape victims hatred for their attacker. Sometimes I can see why someone would hate another. But to hate a whole group of people just because of the actions of a few, or even worse because they look different than you, is ignorance in it's most deadly form. So here is my response to this ridiculous, uneducated rant of hatred:
Why are "whites" the "only" Racists?
Because, pretty much, the only people who think
this speech makes sense are white. . .what happened to being the bigger man, setting
an example for others. What this is saying is; wrong or right, if you can do it
and get away with it I should be able to as well. . .that's ridiculous. Racism
is ridiculous no matter what, but fact is white people are the only race
that do it so universally. You might hear "blacks" mad at
"whites" but seldom do you hear blacks mad at "whites"
Asians, Mexicans, Canadians, the French, Arabs, or other races. As white Americans we have made a terrible name for ourselves as we've segregated and
judged just about everyone by color and race since we got to America. From the Natives we
slaughtered to claim their lands. To the Mexicans and other Central and South American
cultures we have began to judge because they don't live up to our standards.
But all this aside since when did "They started it" or "They do
it too" become an acceptable excuse to copy an action we know is wrong.
DEAR GOD when will we stop trying to justify what is wrong and start DOING what
is right. Instead of pointing out the problems of the "ghetto's" why
aren't we trying to find new ways to fix them. We need to help each other not
condemn each other. There is NO Good, Logical, or Reasonable pro racism argument. We are all human beings no
matter color or religion, lets start acting like it.
To this my responded with: I didn't read the article, just really believe in the picture.
As a fellow "white" at times I have also wondered why are "Only whites racist." After thinking about it this is what I came up with: First off, truth is there are only
certain people that believe whites are. . .the ignorant. People who don't look
at the big picture which is racism is alive in every race, culture, and religion.
The problem is that "White" being the most predominant and broadcasted color on earth we have
the "highest number of racists" or at least that's how it looks. We also have things like the Holocaust, the KKK, Manifest Destiny, the Inquisition, and slavery.(All things fueled by hatred towards specific
cultures, race, religion or color that were conducted, for the most part, by
whites) The whole world knows our history and we look bad. It takes digging to
find racism and blatant discrimination in other cultures. People don't realize
how universal discrimination is, from Chinese vs Japanese, Arabs vs Jews, wars
between Indian tribes, and the Africans that sold their brothers and sisters
into slavery. But white history is taught every day in school and it is a history soaked in the blood of other cultures. We need to teach all of it too our children though, so they can
see that hatred exists everywhere. Not just from whites or towards whites but in all groups.
Most of all we need to teach ourselves that NOTHING good has ever come from
judging another person. So here's another speech by a "white" man, one I can agree with.
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible- jewish, Gentile, black men, white…
We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each others’ happiness, not by each others' misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.-Charlie Chaplin The Great Dictator
My point is that YES racism is universal, in every culture you will find racism and it's a sad fact we have to face. But there is no logic behind it because once you get past the looks we're all the same. Take Cancer for instance, it doesn't discriminate at all. Neither does AIDS, Hepatitis, diabetes, or hunger. These all tear through our lives no matter how we look. They kill, disable and disfigure no matter our outside appearance or beliefs. So there exists common ground between everyone to stop hating for no reason but instead start loving for a GREAT reason. For hope, and for the future. Because somewhere out there, there is a person who might hold the key to curing one of these horrible diseases. . .and that person could be white, black, Asian, or Mexican. Because there are other things, beautiful things, that don't discriminate. Like intelligence and creativity. So lets stop finding superficial reasons to hate each other and use the reasons right in front of us to start working together to fix these problems that affect all of us. We all have AMAZING potential, we are ALL beautiful, and each and every one of us has the potential to change the world into a better place. LOVE EVERYONE and ++SMILE++
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