Yesterday as I watched Michael Richards aka Cosmo Kramer unravel and go after against a heckler in LA, I was reminded of a Seinfeld episode in which Kramer accuses Jerry of being an anti-dentite. Kramer has a brief but eloquent comment on discriminating against marginal groups, including dentists in this episode.
This sickness within us. I am not sure when we will get rid of it.
Richards had to see the black man in that heckler. He couldn’t simply be the heckler. He had to be the ‘nigger’, who fifty years ago would have been held “upside down with a [expletive] fork up your ass”, for such impertinence. He would have been lynched.
Ah, what memories do we retain! Scratch the surface and all the good stuff will pour forth.
Watch the video. As many times as you possibly can. I did, until I felt sick.
In a class I am teaching on racism and untouchability this semester, we discuss the psychological aspects of racism. I constantly remind my students of our prejudices and their memories, which remain just beneath the surface. It isn’t in Richards alone, but in us all.
Let no one assert racism is history in this country.
Post a Comment