RICK’S BLOG: MORE THOUGHTS ON MICHAEL RICHARDS’ RACIST TIRADE

BY RICK GRANT rickgrant01@comcast.net Posted November 27, 2006

In my last Blog, I stated unequivocally that Michael Richards was finished, and he would never come back from his racist tirade. However, now, given Richards’ extensive reaching out campaign, I’m hopeful that some greater good will come from this nasty incident. Richards seemed genuinely "shattered" by his hateful remarks. Richards’ appearance on the Jesse Jackson radio show came off as a sincere effort to apologize and make things right with the African-American community.

More significantly, Richards racist rant and its aftermath has opened up a dialogue about deeply embedded racism in whites and blacks. It underscored the need to have a moratorium on banning the N word by both blacks and whites. Reverend Jackson said that word is poison and should be stricken from our lexicon. Moreover, Reverend Jackson suggested that blacks and whites need to sit down and talk about this sensitive issue in an open forum.

Indeed, I wholeheartedly agree with Reverend Jackson. But racism goes much deeper than just the use of the N word by blacks and whites. Wisely, Richards’ is getting psychiatric help with his anger issues. His dialogue with black leaders is a step in the right direction. The question is: Can Richards’ career recover from this ugly melt down? Now, I feel that Richards’ is on the path to redemption. If he leads a new initiative to wipe out racism from our culture by acting a symbol of its negative impact, he could restore his standing as a comedian and comic actor.

After the fallout from Richards’ rant, I’ve given this matter much thought. I’ve come to the conclusion that these racist programs are lurking in many of our minds like a computer Trojan Horse virus. Our minds became infected years ago. It’s waiting in some deep recess of our consciousness to unleash its poison. These viral programs come from years of cultural programming–negative inputs from our parents and the culture at large. These racist viruses are so repressed –hidden-- that only when we lose our temper and are traumatized do they come to the surface in an involuntary tirade of hateful verbal vomit.

I think that Richards had no idea that his repressed racist vitriol would come to the surface. He was lashing out and he tripped the Trojan Horse’s switch–and out came the vicious words, like a army of killers, striking back at the hecklers. I think he was genuinely shocked at its ferocity.

Yes, we think back to celebrities who have royally screwed up, and we see that it is possible to comeback from a major career debacle. Rob Lowe rebuilt his career after his romp with underage girls in motel room was caught on tape. Mel Gibson seems to have survived his antisemitic rant. Martin Lawrence came back after his bizarre mental meltdown on a street in L.A. And, Anne Heche regained her career after her very public breakup with Ellen Degeneres, followed by a mental breakdown on a street in Beverly Hills, claiming she couldn’t find her spaceship and was lost.

In the future, after the smoke clears, Richards’ may turn this negative into a positive, and actually benefit from his campaign to redeem himself. Time will tell.