Michael Richards, the N-Word, and the real villains

So Michael Richards messed up. Big deal. He's one actor--a superb comic actor, mind you--whose career has fallen far from where, on merit, it deserves to be. And he's apologised. Well, good. From what he said (and yes, I saw the original sickening diatribe), he certainly sounds sincere. And really, can you read minds? If you think he's sincere, maybe he's not. If you think he's insincere, maybe he isn't.

None of that matters. The only thing that does matter is what Richards does. That's the main part of his apology with which I disagree, in which he says (in answer to Letterman's question) that his job now is to work on himself. I mean, sure, fine, that's good--but it would be better if he could work with others, especially fellow Whitefolks (Tim Wise is a great example of how to do that).

But what's infinitely more important than the fate of this (excellent) actor is the structure of Hollywood itself. Hollywood is in the heart of Native American land (i.e., what they call "Hispanic" in order to suggest foreign squatters rather than original owners). Yet the TV and movie output of Hollywood would have one believe that First Nations and "Hispanic" people hardly exist in the US, minus one or two tokens. While Africans (i.e., Americanised ones) fare better than do our cousins, we have been Hollywood's victim since its inception, earning millions of dollars for our "masters" through their racist depictions of us.

Today, the related music (and now video game tie-in) industry is a plantation full of the most self-hating House Slaves. We're told "It's Hard to Be a Pimp"--who's really getting paid for this filth? Who's getting the big money? And don't even get me started on the abuse of Arab and Muslim images.

Br. Earl Ofari Hutchison writes: "Former Seinfeld star Michael Richards quickly bowed to public pressure and apologized for his boneheaded N word laced diatribe against black customers who allegedly heckled him during his appearance at the Laugh Factory. But Richards was a soft target. He's a white man that sprinted way over the line of racial etiquette.

"It was a no brainer that blacks [sic] would rage against him. They have done the same against the legion of other white celebrities, politicians and public figures that have gotten caught with their racial pants hanging down. When the predictable firestorm hits, they back peddle fast, do their mea culpas and declare they're not racist. The same can't be said for the legion of black [sic] comedians and rappers that have virtually canonized the word. They sprinkle the word throughout their rap lyrics and comedy lines, and black [sic] writers, and filmmakers go through lengthy gyrations to justify using the word."