is Micheal Richards racist?

[wakefib]

yes or no? i really don't think he is. i think he is on drugs.

 

[perkele]

Publicity stunt.

 

[medical]

We ALL have racist tendencies.........It's biological. Screaming it in a public arena however.....! I think drugs/alcohol also.

 

[wakefib]

Publicity stunt.

that would be crazy

 

[mountain muscle]

Jesus it was at a comedy show. Go to bed children.

 

[gjohnson5]

In the midst of the OJ issues , it's hard for me to ignore the race issue or card in this case. Black folks are stigmatized in America because of elevated violent crime rates, so his tirade to me is nothing more then that stigma in Kramer's head and alcohol making it come out.

In comparison to the Mel Gibson case , however, there was no question about if Mel was racist or not...

 

[perkele]

that would be crazy

Why? His career went downhill after Seinfeld.

 

[wakefib]

Why? His career went downhill after Seinfeld.

i didn't mean anytthing toward you. i jsut mean that would be a horrible thing to do.

 

[paradox]

I dont think hes a racist i just think he may have a drug problem. Seinfeld was the pinnacle of his life/career , it would be hard to move on after that career wise.

 

[mountain muscle]

In the midst of the OJ issues , it's hard for me to ignore the race issue or card in this case. Black folks are stigmatized in America because of elevated violent crime rates, so his tirade to me is nothing more then that stigma in Kramer's head and alcohol making it come out.

In comparison to the Mel Gibson case , however, there was no question about if Mel was racist or not...

A people are not "stigmatized" because of something they do not have control over. Rappers celebrate their criminal persona and make millions off it. You really want to point the finger at 2 non-black men speaking their minds?

 

[Gambino]

buncha blue-eyed devils up in this bitch

 

[digimon7068]

yup. . .drugs/alcohol just loosen up the lips. . .

 

[mountain muscle]

In the midst of the OJ issues , it's hard for me to ignore the race issue or card in this case. Black folks are stigmatized in America because of elevated violent crime rates, so his tirade to me is nothing more then that stigma in Kramer's head and alcohol making it come out.

In comparison to the Mel Gibson case , however, there was no question about if Mel was racist or not...

It must be hard. OJ got off a murder charge on the basis of race despite overwhelming dna eveidence.. Hard to ignore the race card now, I agree.

 

[EnderJE]

I could dropping the N-bomb, but to say that they used to swing hanging from trees? That's a bit much.

 

[mountain muscle]

I could dropping the N-bomb, but to say that they used to swing hanging from trees? That's a bit much.

But no offense from the black man saying the only solution is the extermination of white people from the planet?

We are only talking about singular views now? Guess he didnt make the news.

 

[BlondeBombshell27]

No

 

[Hengst]

I think he was looking for the most hurtful words he could find to hurl at those folks heckling him. In this case they were black so he choose the n word. If they looked Indian he would have said dot head or some such thing........ So, I don't think he's racist.

 

[TC2]

I think he was looking for the most hurtful words he could find to hurl at those folks heckling him. In this case they were black so he choose the n word. If they looked Indian he would have said dot head or some such thing........ So, I don't think he's racist.

Plus it sounded like they called him a cracka first and he responded.

A mother fucker calls me a cracka and I'm going to call him a nigger...I've done it plenty of times, I'm not racist, but you want to talk shit..you're going to get shit.

 

[MrMuscle]

No

 

[biteme]

I don't see the option for... Who gives a fuck?

 

[musclemom]

I think he tried to make some sort of a point and it just went bad, or he tried to go over to shock comedy or something. The fact of the matter is, a white person cannot call a black person the N word, but it's a word black people can say to each other. That comment that he made in the end about "there's still those words."

The fact is, some comics just can't handle heckling. I'd really like to have seen what went on five minutes BEFORE the tape got turned out, what was he talking about. A lot of inflammatory stuff taken out of context looks worse than it really is.

 

[wakefib]

Plus it sounded like they called him a cracka first and he responded.

A mother fucker calls me a cracka and I'm going to call him a nigger...I've done it plenty of times, I'm not racist, but you want to talk shit..you're going to get shit.

all the people said before he went bonkers was: "my friends don't think you are that funny".

 

[Hengst]

..... cannot call a black person the N word, but it's a word black people can say to each other.......

Sorta like homosexuals and the word Fag. If any one else says it it's an insult but with in their own it's okay.

 

[solidspine]

He is certainly not a racist, he just lost his cool, happens, not the end of the world, and not a big deal, Mel gibbons deal was well nothing, nothing, meant nothing, just a lot of hype against him,

Hasn't anyone else ever gotten drunk and said things they did not intend?

For Christs Sakes

 

[OMEGA]

I think if he would have framed the issue as:

"why is it ok to call white people Crackers, honkeys, or white devils, when you will be virtually Hung if you call a Black person anything derogatory."
I
f he said this, would have at least explained part of his tirade.

Its seems to be permissibale in these parts to be racist toward Whites and Latinos ( I am in California)

 

[solidspine]

Its seems to be permissibale in these parts to be racist toward Whites and Latinos ( I am in California)

Aside from people you know, friends, acquaintances, relatives,

Ethnic groups don’t like each other; certainly don’t love each other,

In general without exception they hate each other.


I have been to China many times, 95% are Han Chinese, That is over one Billion Han Chinese, what ever the heck that is, but they will quickly tell you that in China they have 46 minorities, and they live in, Gongjow, Chongqing and Tibet,

They could fool me, they all look the same,

I’m Swedish, and tell me a part from a Norwegian or a Dane I can’t do it.


Muslims in Iraq, they are all fricken muslims, that is, same to every one,

But the Sunnis hate the Kurds and they all hate the Shiites, They are all muslims, I can’t tell them a part. But they hate each other.


When God said “Love one another, As I have loved you, so you must love one another, “---- I guess he kind of had an idea what we are like.

 

[TC2]

I think he tried to make some sort of a point and it just went bad, or he tried to go over to shock comedy or something. The fact of the matter is, a white person cannot call a black person the N word, but it's a word black people can say to each other. That comment that he made in the end about "there's still those words."

The fact is, some comics just can't handle heckling. I'd really like to have seen what went on five minutes BEFORE the tape got turned out, what was he talking about. A lot of inflammatory stuff taken out of context looks worse than it really is.

exactly..it looks and sounds by his response that they called him a cracka 1st and he got pissed and retaliated.

 

[Razorguns]

nope. calling someone a nigger isn't racist. that's why all you folks do it everyday to black people i bet.

calling a chinese person a gook or chink when ur angry at a shop isn't racist either.

morons.

 

[mountain muscle]

I just do not see why this is a big deal.

 

[Spartacus]

and the Number #1 thing you can only say on Thanksgiving. ...
1. I'm in the mood for a little dark meat.

 

[wakefib]

exactly..it looks and sounds by his response that they called him a cracka 1st and he got pissed and retaliated.

witnessess said thats not how it happened. all they said was "my friends don't think you are that funny". then he went bonkers on them.

 

[TC2]

witnessess said thats not how it happened. all they said was "my friends don't think you are that funny". then he went bonkers on them.

if that's how it happened then he's a racist prick who deserves what he gets.

But I've seen longer versions of the tape (all the news stations have been cutting it short) and it really looks and sounds like they called him "cracka" first.

It looked like they were being loud and obnoxious, he called them on it and they got pissed and started the racial slurs first.


And these "witnesses" are the same ones crying for compensation for "emotional stress"...please....give me a fuckin break.

I get really sick of the whole "everybody can say whatever they want to a white person(especially a black person) and no one bats an eye, but if a white person says ANYTHING that isnt kissing their ass, it's like a nuclear bomb going off".

 

[The Shadow]

anyone who saw the apology on Letterman would concurr that he at LEAST has racist tendencies

 

[p0ink]

I don't see the option for... Who gives a fuck?

bing! bing! bing! bing!

 

[TC2]

anyone who saw the apology on Letterman would concurr that he at LEAST has racist tendencies

I try to put myself in that position...IF...it did happen the way I think it did.

If I stood up for myself and called someone a nigger after they called me a cracka and I got a ton of shit for it....it would be really really hard to aplogize in the first place, even harder to really mean it.

 

[The Shadow]

...it could have been edited.....at least what I saw....the n bomb was dropped before I heard" any other name calling....doesnt mean that it didnt happen - could have - just not loud enough to be picked up

 

[TC2]

...it could have been edited.....at least what I saw....the n bomb was dropped before I heard" any other name calling....doesnt mean that it didnt happen - could have - just not loud enough to be picked up

Yeah but look and listen to the way he responded.....doesn't sound like he is attacking somebody, sounds like hes responding.

 

[The Shadow]

could be


bad decision

 

[Spartacus]

now everybody knows who Michael Richard's is

 

[Razorguns]

I just do not see why this is a big deal.

try callnig people on ef, real life, etc. 'you nigger' and then tell them 'hey it's no big deal!'

see what happens. I've seen idiots here get into fights cuz THEY were on the receiving end of an insult. Not even racial.

hypocrites. nothing more. what if i called u 'hey mountain fag' to your face, and then said 'you loser, it's no big deal - grow up'.

it's about being mature and not using offensive words to people. class. Something Micheal ain't got. how do u think they feel being called a nigger?

r

 

[bluepeter]

Of course he's a racist. Forget the part about calling someone a nigger, that's almost a whole other debate. Telling a black person that fifty years ago his ass would have been hanging from a tree with a fork up his ass?

 

[wakefib]

Of course he's a racist. Forget the part about calling someone a nigger, that's almost a whole other debate. Telling a black person that fifty years ago his ass would have been hanging from a tree with a fork up his ass?

yeah, that was fucked up.

 

[Spartacus]

BTW, the two "victims" were on Fox News last night with Gloria Allred, their lawyer.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

He's insecure and doesn't know how to handle criticism since he's used to having all his material written for him. He basically self destructed with that tirade.

 

[mountain muscle]

try callnig people on ef, real life, etc. 'you nigger' and then tell them 'hey it's no big deal!'

see what happens. I've seen idiots here get into fights cuz THEY were on the receiving end of an insult. Not even racial.

hypocrites. nothing more. what if i called u 'hey mountain fag' to your face, and then said 'you loser, it's no big deal - grow up'.

it's about being mature and not using offensive words to people. class. Something Micheal ain't got. how do u think they feel being called a nigger?

r

It isn't a big deal. Call me what you want they are just words. They mean nothing unless I let them. Maturity is growing up beyond the name calling stage.

I understand what you are saying, but everyone should be held to the same standard. He apologized and said he was wrong. Maturity is also being able to accept it and move on.

Everyone seems so worried about offending people these days, they have lost their abilities to communicate.

 

[gjohnson5]

In my opinion just being black is an issue or the use of the N word would not be such a large issue. I , for the most part agree that people can control thier own destiny, but To say that is 100% the case is just ignorant

A people are not "stigmatized" because of something they do not have control over. Rappers celebrate their criminal persona and make millions off it. You really want to point the finger at 2 non-black men speaking their minds?

 

[Spartacus]

In my opinion just being black is an issue or the use of the N word would not be such a large issue. I , for the most part agree that people can control thier own destiny, but To say that is 100% the case is just ignorant

I'm curious as to your take about the discrimination within the black race regarding "shades"
that goes back 20 years with me
back when I was smoking pot and hangin' with the bros I worked with
kinda surprised me

 

[Spartacus]

I smoked pot with white people as well
hell it was white people that introduced me to pot and got me started
I just through that in to demonstrate how well I had bonded with "them"

 

[gjohnson5]

Read the book "Heart of Darkness"
There is discrimination even as slaves are gathered in Africa by the dutch and other "settlers"

Slaves were described in terms of thier complection is rich ebony black , and muddy dirty brown...

These type of stigmas still exist today especially in New Orleans where ALMOST noone is 100% black or white. Kids get very light skinned with kinky hair with opposite race parents and they can't even walk into stores without everyone staring at them...

It takes alot of courage to do that especially in places like New Orleans were the opposing racial stereotypes are like "forks being shoved up your ass"

It's shocking that 16/33 people dont think Kramers words are racist....

I'm curious as to your take about the discrimination within the black race regarding "shades"
that goes back 20 years with me
back when I was smoking pot and hangin' with the bros I worked with
kinda surprised me

 

[gjohnson5]

When EDTA is found in blood evidence, then that means that the blood evidence was planted. But it's interesting to me how many people simply ignored that fact....

It must be hard. OJ got off a murder charge on the basis of race despite overwhelming dna eveidence.. Hard to ignore the race card now, I agree.

 

[Hengst]

It's shocking that 16/33 people dont think Kramers words are racist....

But the question was NOT - were his words racist?
BUT - was HE racist?

 

[gjohnson5]

In order to spew a barrage of hate in the manner that he and Mel Gibson did , alcohol or not , means that these people were harboring hatred long before they finally spoke out. In these 2 cases it is impossible for me even in a devil's advocate position (appenantly not for some 50% of the people on this thread) to differentiate the two considering the length or time of the racist tirade and the anger in which the words were spoken

But the question was NOT - were his words racist?
BUT - was HE racist?

 

[Gambino]

ghjohnson, for the sake of arguement, do you think it is acceptable that every other black comedian rips on white people?
I realize what kramer said wasn't funny, but an insult is an insult IMO

 

[mountain muscle]

In order to spew a barrage of hate in the manner that he and Mel Gibson did , alcohol or not , means that these people were harboring hatred long before they finally spoke out. In these 2 cases it is impossible for me even in a devil's advocate position (appenantly not for some 50% of the people on this thread) to differentiate the two considering the length or time of the racist tirade and the anger in which the words were spoken

It is this sort of thinking that I take issue with. You automatically brand what they said as "hate", because of the color of their skin. To me that says you harbor hate and should be considered a racist as well. The fact you can't even play devil's advocate reinforces the notion that you are racist.
Not to mention you just couldn't resist using the word "Devil" when talking about two white men.

 

[wakefib]

In order to spew a barrage of hate in the manner that he and Mel Gibson did , alcohol or not , means that these people were harboring hatred long before they finally spoke out. In these 2 cases it is impossible for me even in a devil's advocate position (appenantly not for some 50% of the people on this thread) to differentiate the two considering the length or time of the racist tirade and the anger in which the words were spoken

i see where you are coming from, but i am sure youcan understand that some drugs can make people do some stuff they would NEVER do if they were sober.
maybe i am being bias with this since i remember him as Kramer lol.
for sure his words were racist. that was the most horrible thing i have heard in a long time (the pitch fork part).

 

[musrat98]

I'm not saying whether he is racist or not but, The tapes do not show the two guys heckeling him all night calling him names and disrupting the show for other people in the audience.
He had enough of it and lost his temper. I think what he said was awful and ignorant, But we all know what can happen when we get pushed to the limit.
I don't think deep down he meant it he was just looking for a way to hurt the guys and lost control of his mouth.

Using the "nigger" word doesn't bother me that much because that is what the guys were being. However the hanging from trees comment was way out of hand and he has completely ruined what carrer he had left.

 

[Spartacus]

Read the book "Heart of Darkness"
There is discrimination even as slaves are gathered in Africa by the dutch and other "settlers"

Slaves were described in terms of thier complection is rich ebony black , and muddy dirty brown...

These type of stigmas still exist today especially in New Orleans where ALMOST noone is 100% black or white. Kids get very light skinned with kinky hair with opposite race parents and they can't even walk into stores without everyone staring at them...

It takes alot of courage to do that especially in places like New Orleans were the opposing racial stereotypes are like "forks being shoved up your ass"

It's shocking that 16/33 people dont think Kramers words are racist....

you know me
I'm just fuckin' around
I had a racist wife from a racist family
she put it as this
"the difference with you is that you really want them to succeed"
she was straight ass blueeye blonde
be walking along and some nigger chciks would yell shit at her out of the blue

 

[Spartacus]

ghjohnson, for the sake of arguement, do you think it is acceptable that every other black comedian rips on white people?
I realize what kramer said wasn't funny, but an insult is an insult IMO

that's lame
you know it
I could get into some long ass socio-pyschological spread about it
it's not the fucking same
the pain and connotations

 

[Spartacus]

Read the book "Heart of Darkness"
There is discrimination even as slaves are gathered in Africa by the dutch and other "settlers"

"Heart of Darkness" is the book for the basis of "Apocalypse Now"
in apocalyse now marlon brando as kurtz reads a passage from TS Eliot's "The Hollow Men"

I

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

 

[Spartacus]

II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer --

Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom

 

[Spartacus]

III

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

 

[Spartacus]

IV

The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.

 

[Spartacus]

V

Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow

Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

 

[gjohnson5]

This stupidity is not even worth responding to.

It is this sort of thinking that I take issue with. You automatically brand what they said as "hate", because of the color of their skin. To me that says you harbor hate and should be considered a racist as well. The fact you can't even play devil's advocate reinforces the notion that you are racist.
Not to mention you just couldn't resist using the word "Devil" when talking about two white men.

 

[gjohnson5]

Heart of Darkness is a book by Joseph Conrad which deals with exploring the Heard of Africa. As it has been called in the past "Deepest and Darkest Africa"

The book is all about exploitation of tribal fighting for slaves.

"Heart of Darkness" is the book for the basis of "Apocalypse Now"
in apocalyse now marlon brando as kurtz reads a passage from TS Eliot's "The Hollow Men"

I

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

 

[mountain muscle]

This stupidity is not even worth responding to.

And yet you did anyway.

I figured with your racist stupidity and ignorant clinging to the black racist cry in the US you would post something of this nature.
Only blacks can be victims of racism in your mind, when in fact they are perhaps the biggest practitioners of it in USA today.

You cannot say anything worthwhile because it is a fact that blacks are the biggest racists today in the USA. You have nothing to defend but a crutch which weakens your positions and negates your points. You have to call me stupid because the actions of your people have brought it to that level.

You and your point are stupid, ignorant and afraid. You cannot stand up for yourself so you rely on race and history. You are unwilling to to accept that your own people have made as big, if not bigger problem out of race as the white man, yet you are unwilling to work on a solution, you blame others. You even forego any discourse.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

You would benefit for understanding this point. But your race card is too easy of a cop-out for you.
Stupid?

Yes you are. On an incredible scale.

 

[mountain muscle]

BTW GJ, thanks for the red. Anyway who opposes your point of view must be wrong eh? I didn't label you, I was trying to open a dialogue which you want to have nothing to do with.
Also, "The Heart of Darkness" you need to re-read.

You completey missed the point of that post, as expected, because you are just a victim.

 

[mountain muscle]

GJ, think of the race card as the joker in the deck. You want the joker to be even better than an ace, while the rest of the table just wants to throw them out and play an even game. Time to grow up junior.

 

[reaper99]

I wish more people knew what cracka meant. The word cracka is a racist word. It was used to describe the slave drivers (the ones with the whip) as in cracking the whip. Its all BS entertainment, who the fuck sues somebody over words?

 

[Spartacus]

Heart of Darkness is a book by Joseph Conrad which deals with exploring the Heard of Africa. As it has been called in the past "Deepest and Darkest Africa"

The book is all about exploitation of tribal fighting for slaves.

yeah I pointed that out with my posts about trading whiskey and swords to the natives for slaves
so yeah you can yell the blacks sold themselves into slavery
but that's not a correct appreciation of the situation

 

[Gumaro]

i dont think he is a racis.

i have to ask though. out of all the racist words out there, why is the 'n-word' the only one that we censor?

 

[gjohnson5]

Getting back to this , why does this tirade have to be an attack on everything else around it? What Kramer said is the issue here , not how we treat racial epithets , or what one perverted , twisted , miscontrued mind things of another poster.

The N word is only a small part of the issue , his entire tirade and wha he thinks of other races due to his tirade is

i dont think he is a racis.

i have to ask though. out of all the racist words out there, why is the 'n-word' the only one that we censor?

 

[Gumaro]

I wish more people knew what cracka meant. The word cracka is a racist word. It was used to describe the slave drivers (the ones with the whip) as in cracking the whip. Its all BS entertainment, who the fuck sues somebody over words?

ahh. speaking of ignorance; i thought cracker came from how white saltine crackers are

 

[Gumaro]

Getting back to this , why does this tirade have to be an attack on everything else around it? What Kramer said is the issue here , not how we treat racial epithets , or what one perverted , twisted , miscontrued mind things of another poster.

The N word is only a small part of the issue , his entire tirade and wha he thinks of other races due to his tirade is

but how we treat racial epithets has to do with what richard said. racial slurs/jokes/insults are common at comedy shows. IMO, its only because richard said the 'n-word' that this got out of hand.

although, since he is a well known celeb, this would have the same repercusions it is having now had he used any racial

 

[Smurfy]

he's in therapy now. lol

 

[redsamurai]

as I stated in another thread......try going to the apollo and heckling some black comedian.....don't even use any racist shit.....just heckle him......see what happens......and these two jabronies are "suing".....I hope they're suing for the face value of their tickets for that evening.....that's reasonable. But of course I'm not stupid and I know full well that they will expect millions from this.....especially now that Gloria Allred is involved, she needs her cut too. Typical american bullshit theatrics...

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

he's in therapy now. lol

Just like Mel Gibson. I actually saw a preview for his movie Apocalypto on Fox during The War At Home. They even showed him narrating some of it.

 

[musrat98]

Unless I'm mistaken, isn't "Kramer" jewish anyway??
No one has suffered in america as much as the native americans yet somehow you hardly ever hear of them standing up and playing the race card.

If two (indians) were the ones in the audience, were called savages and told 150 years ago you would have been shot, your daughters raped, your land stolen and your main source of food brought to the brink of extinction, that it would be such a big deal? Uhhhhhh NO.

As usual the poor black man has been wronged again so lets sue.
Its getting kinda old, don't you think.

In my expierence every time a white and a black get into an argument the first one to use racist comments are the black people. white s.o.b., cracker, white boy, white devil, honky, bucker, wigga, etc.

 

[Spartacus]

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53078


Black firefighter a disgrace

Tennie Pierce, a black 19-year veteran firefighter, recently won a $2.7 million settlement from the Los Angeles City Council.
Here's the story. Following a firehouse volleyball game, fellow firefighters laced Pierce's spaghetti with dog food to "humble" him. Pierce, who calls himself "the Big Dog," took a few bites, saw three co-conspirator firefighters – two whites, one Latino – laughing, and demanded to know why the chuckling.

Pierce, after learning that the firefighters – in an undoubtedly good-natured way – placed dog food in his spaghetti, called the prank "racist"! He hired a lawyer, found an "expert" witness who associated the consumption of dog food with "300 years" of discrimination against blacks, and successfully settled the case with the city.

Los Angeles Times reporter Sandy Banks, in an article about the award, failed to mention a few salient facts: that Pierce somehow managed to survive on the force for almost 20 years; that fellow firefighters referred to Pierce as a "turd stirrer" – meaning he routinely pulled pranks on others; that the 6-foot 5-inch Pierce often referred to himself as "the Big Dog"; that the incident was apparently a reaction to a volleyball game won by Pierce during which he repeatedly urged to his teammates to "feed the Big Dog" by throwing the ball to him; and that, in the frat boy tradition of many firefighters, his co-workers likely fed him dog food as a display of affection, knowing that, after all, Pierce had pulled pranks on many others during his long career – photos of which (including Pierce's involvement in the shaving of the pubic hairs of a fellow firefighter) later appeared on the Internet.

Days before I read about the firefighter's award, my 91-year-old dad and I watched a movie called "Proud." Narrated by the late, great Ossie Davis, the movie dramatized the experience of black sailors aboard the USS Mason during World War II. The ship became the only black-manned ship that actually saw combat. As a destroyer escort, it shepherded Allied convoys through German sub-filled waters, taking risks even the vaunted English Navy refused, deeming the mission too treacherous. Indeed, black sailors welcomed the assignment to the ship because, during this military-segregated era, they wished to prove themselves by seeing actual combat rather than engaging in "menial" labor.

In one scene, a German sub launched a torpedo at the USS Mason, but the highly skilled blacks – thought too dumb to master hi-tech equipment including sonar detection – skillfully evaded the torpedo. They then counter-attacked by launching depth charges. The men of the USS Mason, despite their heroics, never received a commendation, even though their commander sent a letter to Washington, urging recognition for these brave sailors. As a result of lobbying by the grandson of one of the sailors described in "Proud," President Clinton honored the surviving crewmen during a long-delayed ceremony. Finally, the USS Mason crew received their rightful commendation for bravery and sacrifice.

It's difficult to describe the feeling of honor and pride I felt as I watched my dad watching the movie. Every five minutes I looked at my dad, as he watched the movie with his typically stoic expression. My dad, you see, served as a cook during the war, earning the rank of staff sergeant. He spent time on Guam as soldiers prepared for an assault on the island of Japan, a mission aborted, of course, because of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He, too, like many black soldiers, received little recognition for his contribution. My dad once told me he enlisted as a Marine in 1943 because "it seemed to me that the Marines were all about action. And I wanted it."

After my dad and I watched "Proud," he said it reminded him of a wartime story – a story he never told me. "Son," he said, "we black enlistees had just gone through training at Montford Point, North Carolina. We gathered to hear a speech – supposedly inspirational – given by a white major. The officer said, 'You know, I traveled all over the world. But I only realized that we were truly at war when I came home and saw you people wearing our uniforms.'" Insulted, my dad said he and every Marine stood in a silent protest of the major's blatantly racist remark.

This brings us back to Mr. "Rin Tin" Tennie Pierce. Enjoy your $2.7 million. When the next Veterans Day comes around, think about how your bonanza trivializes the grit, determination and honor with which black men and women withstood insult, degradation and abuse during Jim Crow America. They stood tall and demonstrated by word and deed that black men and women – like my dad – considered themselves Americans, not African-Americans, who only wanted an opportunity to show their ability.

Your crass, manipulative use of the race-card-for-money insults countless men and women who endured indignities, marched and died, to provide you the right to work as a firefighter – an opportunity historically denied to qualified black men and women.

You, sir, are a disgrace.

 

[biteme]

He must be aplogizing to save his career. He was pissed and purposely made offensive comments, but they are blowing it all of proportion as usual. White people are pussies, either that or they are afraid of the crazy, angry black people.