Barack Obama and Michael Richards: When Worlds Collide
Hy·per·bo·le (hī-pûr'bə-lē) n.A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton.
[Latin hyperbolē, from Greek huperbolē, excess, from huperballein, to exceed : huper, beyond; see hyper– + ballein, to throw.]
Similarly: Barack Obama may be the best thing to come out of Illinois politics since Abraham Lincoln.
Some people might call Barack Obama the "flavor of the month" in the Democratic party right now. The rock star receptions, the media buzz, the hype, the book tour. He's got a lot of people singing his praises: from Oprah Winfrey to party strategists and newspaper columnists. Recent polls have placed him second or third in popularity with voters among those Democrats likely to run for president in 2008.
That he is still in his first term as junior Senator from Illinois and receiving such attention has many questioning whether he is too young or inexperienced to run. Others speculate as to whether this country is ready for a black man as its Commander-in-Chief. Some of us say it is about time.
Which brings us to a strange confluence of events: Obama delivers a well-received speech on Iraq and foreign policy to the Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs while out in Los Angeles, actor Michael Richards is banned from performing at the Laugh Factory and lambasted by his peers for his racist use of the "N"-word during a weekend performance.
Richards' use of the epithet was not part of his regular act. Unlike the legendary Lenny Bruce, Richards didn't use the word to deliver a homily about race and racism. Unlike the incomparable Richard Pryor, he wasn't trying to turn a mirror on us and expose the cracks in our society while making us laugh until we cried.
That Richards, while onstage, felt (or at least appeared to feel) that he could use the word without consequence reveals a distasteful side about the person most of us only know as Cosmo Kramer. What it reveals about us as a country is just as startling.
Barack Obama has a resumé most of us would love to possess. He is smart, articulate, well-educated, a former editor of the Harvard Law Review, community organizer and activist, state senator and now U.S. Senator. As this country still struggles to find a word comfortable enough to describe its black citizens, Obama is the walking definition of African-American. The hyphenate fits not because of the color of his skin, but the truth of his heritage: an African father and an American mother.
That he has captured the imagination of so many people, of such diverse backgrounds is encouraging. That he could mount a serious, run-to-win campaign for president is inspiring. And not just the hyperbolic sense of telling a child he could be president one day if...
Obama meets the Constitutional qualifications to be elected to the highest office. All other standards (foreign policy experience, military experience, was a governor, Washington-insider or -outsider) are politically-imposed and not just on Obama, but any and all other candidates. Forty-three men have occupied the presidency. In this country's history, there have been generals, farmers, lawyers, businessmen, a haberdasher, a bachelor, a Catholic, a really fat guy, tall men, short men, the handsome and the non-descript. But they have all been white.
So maybe, just maybe, 141 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, we are ready to seriously consider electing a black man to the office of President of the United States of America. And finally stop calling him "nigger."
Read Eugene Robinson's take on the story in the Washington Post.
4 comments:
Well, you're definitely "on the bus", aren't you? Barack Obama is actually not related to the Richards situation in the least, and that you use Richard's rant to further the political ascent of Obama is lame.
The real issue under all of the post rant hand wringing and posturing is that Richard's rant simply verbalized what white, brown and even black think much of the time. That these black people who seem to think that they have no responsibility to behave in a socially acceptable manner are "Niggers".
Jez, Chris Rock spelled it out in his comedy bit in which he described the civil war in the US between black people and niggers. He was telling truth...it's just that he left out the the rest of america is having to deal with their crap as well.
Black people seem similar to muslim people in that they get wrightiously offended if someone does not honor thier piety, but completely ignore the radicals of their own kind doing far worse. If blacks don't like the word "nigger", they should stop using it, for one, and, for two, do something about all of these no class, rude, obnoxious, black people that are best described as "niggers".
Kramer should have stood by his rant. To hell with the mouth blacks who were acting like Niggers. We all see it...we all think it....but he said it. Actually, it was rather refreshing.
But of course he issued his lame apology and everyone will issue statement like the above to act like they are better. But they won't venture on the other side of the track, and they will make sure they don't live in those neighborhoods, and they won't send their children to those schools.
This is an excellent opportunity to talk truth. To bad the truth is too yucky for the pc pussies that can't handle the truth. That's why they jump on every white transgression while ignoring a thousand times more black outrages.
Things will remain underground and not change.
Here's the deal, Manila:
1. There are thousands of comedians who deal with hecklers of all races, religions and ethnicities without resorting to racist antics. Richards was wrong.
2. These two issues are clearly related. But narrow-minded people like you don't get it.
Chris Rock, whom you cite, and Pryor and Bruce, whom I cite, used the word in the context of comedic expression, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, as an object lesson. Mr. Richards did not do that.
If you found it refreshing, write Mr. Richards. But those of us who found it disgusting, have not only the right, but the obligation to say so.
Mr. Obama is relevant, because as a black man who may seek the highest office, whether or not people like you are calling him nigger -- under your breath or out loud -- is part of the reality of the political landscape of this country.
While your comment is posted here, I have chosen to do so (when I could dhave so easily dismissed it) for no other reason than to illustrate the fools that walk among us.
Boy, you are simply dying to call someone else a racist, aren't you? Feeling guilty? Do you need to do this?
You seem to want things to be black and white. "He was wrong". (Oh, that felt good because then I know I'm right. Oh, happy day!) Hey, the guy got mad and lost his cool. Would it have made headlines if it was a white heckler and the black comedian that said the epitaphs? Of course not. And you wouldn't have created your stilted little commentary to forward Obama.
Whatever...go ahead and indulge your white liberal angst. You obviously prefer the racism to be kept underground and as I stated, that's likely where it will stay. Only to gain more power over us and erupt again and again. While pansies like you cover each eruption with paper and feel like you're so good in doing so.
Where did I call Obama a nigger? From what I have seen and heard of the young, repeat young, man, he is nothing of the kind. Did you purposefully miss my (and Rock's) point regarding the difference between black people and niggers? I think so in order that you could call me a racist. Talk about narrow minded!
Ah,nevermind...you go ahead and feel superior. Let's not talk about what "lies buried". But by all means, push Obama!
btw I don't really expect you to allow this post. You are clearly insecure and need control. Otherwise, you might have alternative view! OMG and, of course, those are racist and stupid. You know those fools that walk among us. In other words, you're an intellectual wimp. Bye.
Okay, Cheez Whiz, Here's your comment. But you decided to throw your two cents worth in my blog with a rant. So be prepared to take as well as you think you give.
I make no apologies for supporting Barack Obama. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. None. i make no apologies for berating a two-bit actor like Michael Richards. He has a problem. He's a closet bigot. There. You can make all the excuses for him that you desire. I believe reasonable, dare I say rational people will come to a different conclusion.
If Richards can can bring himself to a point where he can honestly apologize, it will be accepted graciously (but not forgotten). He hasn't done that yet.
Barack Obama doesn't need my defense. I happen to like the guy. I was able to see a broader horizon and was able to draw a conclusion about two different but interconnected events that you cannot. You don't like it. Tough noogies.
Please don't let the doorknob hit you on your way out. Thanks for playing with the Rational Inquirer. Next in line please!
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