I don't know... I find a lot of what Michael Richards has said difficult to believe. He's not racist, but when hurt and looking to strike out, he goes for racial slurs AFTER bringing up the painful history of lynchings? He's never used such language before, but it just rolled of his tongue when they hurt him with their heckling?

No one can really know if Richards is really racist or not, other than him. But actions taken in rage when your mind switched off cna be very telling about people in general.

i don't necessarily think that just b.c somebody used a racial slur means that they should be labeled for life as racist- i think SOMETIMES people say really stupid things-- sometimes it's ignorance, sometimes it's just losing control. I am not saying that i condone what happened here at all- i just think before we label him for life, we should examine past behavior. Sometimes people just mess up...big.

dfiskey, I understand your point and I think it's valid. I think I was careful not to call him a racist but to say that his words are very telling without being able to see into his mind or heart. I would note that in this case, he not only went racial with his comments, he took it so far past what was necessary to "hurt those who had hurt him."

totally agree with you sacker-- i wasn't insinuating that you were calling him racist-- i was more addressing the generalization of the topic of a when to call someone a racist, not this specific michael richards incident. I agree with you though, about what you are saying about Richards.. it's quite sad.