Well, here's my take on the issue. The two threads are about the same topic but are discussed differently.The first thread is about Michael Richards' racial tirade and he has been pulverized all week for it(with good reason to) and i hope he reaps the fruit of what he's sown. I am also glad that at least for once, there have been no double standards when it comes to misbehavior and race. The past week or so, it has been all about O.J and a bunch of angry white people upset that he'd make a profit out of telling his own side of the story. He has been castigated (at least by the media) for his actions and probably would never see any mainstream success again as long as this story remains, hopefully.
The second thread was abotu Bill Cosby's comments earlier this year about black males and personal responsibility. Ironically enough, many "liberal" whites(and some blacks) treated Bill Cosby just as unfair as they are doing this KKKramer guy. Now you would think Bill Cosby echoed similar sentiments about black people which, depending on who you ask and how you look at the context of his comments, might think he actually did. Personally, i think Bill Cosby was right and wrong. His criticism of a perceived anti-intellectual stance amongst significant numbers of black youths, as well as the failure of our "leaders" to act, were met with cold and perhaps undeserved repudiation. People were reacting as though George Wallace, Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms wrote the script for him. The harsh words for Cosby were so immense that even white conservatives had to defend him at some point. But i thought it was undeserved. He was right in saying that so many of our youths (males and females) and underachieving, indulging in anti-intellectual behavior and not getting our priorities right. All of that is true, except that it is completely wrong to make a generalisation. I do not know if he intentionally meant to make such a general comment or not, but either way he was wrong to make a sweeping comment. That, to me, is one of the few mistakes he made. He was absolutely right to criticize the "bad eggs" amongst us and even Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Maxine Waters, some of the so-called black leaders, did not disagree with him. I am not sure if they agreed, but given their take-no-prisoners attitude towards letting their feelings be known, i'd be sane enough to assume they probably agreed with him.
I was so embarassed by the way Bill Cosby was treated for his concern. Now, as some have pointed out, he was speaking perhaps to the "wrong crowd" and maybe should have gone down to act as the doctor to the really ill people, but for those who say he has not done anything for the community, here's the thing; He has. He donated $20 million dollars to Spelman in 1987 and still continues to be a donor towards them as well as other African-American causes. Cosby has never been one to look over his community and keep going so for him to be castigated by some of the people he was trying to help was an act of betrayal, to say the least. Usually, i do not buy into the whole "personal responsibility" bullshit spouted by all these fucking moronic conservatives because it's all rubbish in my opinion. Let's be honest, even those who commit crimes know it is wrong for them to do so but are only acting either out of desperation or stupidity. They still know it's wrong. But he was right in saying that some of us have got to get our priorities right and take charge. You cannot goof off, refuse to go to school, stay off drugs and crime, have 4 children by 4 different women and expect to have a perfect lifestyle. You do not need to be Edwin Hubble to be able to figure out that it's a Herculan task, perhaps even an impossibility. That is what he was trying to point out.
Yet, some treated him as though he said anything half as bad as this bastard Richards. Some are even defending him or sugar-coating his words. Now is this not someone who used blatantly hateful speech? Where are the repudiations from the black intellects? How come he claims to reach out to black and Jewish civil rights activists and is pardoned in the twinkle of an eye. Cosby was not offered a similar retribution, even though what he said was not even 1/4 as bad as what this fool said. Yet some of the folks who attacked Cosby are nowhere to be found now. It's a shame. It's a shame that when some try to help, they get it thrown in their faces. But if they decide to keep things as they are for everyone to handle, they'd be criticized by the same set of people. You do not believe me, look at Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. We should not bite the fingers that feed us. Sure, i am not for making up lies, buying into exaggerations about black state-of-mind, but when some things are obvious, let them be discussed. It is pointless crying over spilt milk.
Unless, of course, you're Michael Richards.
This is all I have to add to that, Cris.