Black Comics Weigh In On Racist Kramer Outburst

[Walter Cronkite]

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Michael Richards (Kramer) Apologizes on David Letterman

In light of Michael Richards' racist tirade at West Hollywood's Laugh Factory, comedians/actors Donnell Rawlings and DeRay Davis weigh in on the former "Seinfeld" star's break down and apology.

This past Friday (November 17), Richards, better known for playing Kramer on the highly-popular "Seinfeld" sitcom, repeatedly shouted the N word at an audience member after being heckled. Though the comedian returned to the Laugh Factory for a performance the next night, he has now reportedly been banned from the venue. Rawlings, a fan of Richards work on "Seinfeld," recently discussed the incident.

"Yeah, I think he went too far," Rawlings told sources. "Whether you're in showbiz or not, we all get to a point where we black out and that's when your true character comes out. Unfortunately for him, his true character was spitting out racist slurs."

"It's always been a question like...when can you use the N word, but being a fan of hip-hop we know that we use it differently," Rawlings added. "But used in the wrong hands, it's definitely pretty dangerous and he did it with the "e-r."

Last night, (November 20) Richards apologized via a satellite appearance on "The Late Show With David Letterman." "I am not a racist, that's what's so insane about this," Richards offered during the apology. "I lost my temper onstage. I got heckled and took it badly and went into a rage." Thus far, black comedians haven't cared much for Richards' apology.

"The political thing was to apologize but he really exposed himself," Rawlings explained. "Even when I heard bits of it when he was saying '*****' when he was like 'shocking...shocking, uh,' I thought he was gon do something funny on words and kinda flip it. But when he said a comment about 50 years ago you'd be hanging from a tree, that was definitely crossing the line."

Fellow comedian DeRay Davis, who has appeared on both of Kanye West's albums and is a cast member on MTV's "Wild 'N Out," also doesn't buy Richards' apology.

"You can't apologize for your emotions," Davis said. "It's like talking to somebody when you're drunk. When somebody's drunk, their true feelings come out. That was his stage. His stage was his alcohol and he said what he felt. He said it with too much passion."

Source: sohh.com