Why is it okay for black comedians to say the word "nigger" but Michael Richards gets  blackballed for it?
959106
THANK YOU!!!!!  I am soooooooo sick of this double standard with the black race-- if you watch the Wire, that's all they call eachother is nigger.  So WHY is it okay for them to use it to eachother but it is a major faux pas if any other race uses the word?  You dont see Jewish people calling eachother kikes, or Polish- polaks, Germans -krauts, Chinese-chinks, Puerto Ricans-spics, etc, etc.  This is a multiracial, multicultural world and if YOUR RACE ENJOYS calling eachother a nigger, and use it so proficiently, then you are opening pandoras box to allow everyone else to use it, whether it is acceptable to you or not- by the way, I dont particularly care to be called a "cracker" but at least I dont go around calling other white people this.
841944
You're correct.  We accept free speech unless it offends us.  Take for instance the Michael Richards thing. Now the Laugh Factory is putting a ban on the word n*gger.  What happened to free speech?  Then again, that's a private business and he can run it the way he wants.   It's an interesting world, the same people that cry "free speech" are the same that would cry "censor" if the speech is not favorable to them.
869624
I dont see why he needs to apologize to anyone other than the heckler , if he feels bad about it . I think the "N" word is over dramatized anyway. I would not use the n word unless I meant it , then anybody that didn't like it can kiss my azz.
740259
No, they aren't "just bigots" maybe those people who ask think its a double standard and would like to know why blacks can call each nigga's but a white boy can't. Yet blacks can call white people crackers and thats no big deal.
980186
I don't believe Mel Gibson is dead yet...Being drunk and not being filmed helped him out a little. Michael Richards on the other hand  I believe his career was dead and buried before he even made those comments..Which by the ...I think it's a double standard due to the fact that rappers say the "N" word (No I don't use it!!) every other word!! And you hear all these little hip hop clowns refer to themselves as it again every other word...I have no problem with the fact that he snapped and called them something they probably refered to themselves as all day long anyway....It was the comment that precipitated it\n\n"If it was 50 years ago you'd be hanging upside down with a fork in your a*s" That blew my mind...\n\nSomething like that just doesn't roll off your tongue unless you've thought about it before..That was unbelievably offensive and crossed every there was to cross in my mind!! The dudes career has been dead for years. So I can't even say he buried himself with that comment...But he sure let people know where his mind lies..He's racist no if's ands or buts about it.
678309
I'm not black and I think that is very offensive even if it is not directed towards me.It is just an ignorant word that ignorant people use in my opinion.
1019535
I don't think so.  If you say "Hey you chinc" or "What's up ni**a"  then yes that's rude and offensive.  I'm white and I grew up with many different black people and I consider many of them close friends and I never have to think twice about saying "black" because calling them "African American" is too long and official, she's my irish friend, he's my cuban friend, and they're my black friends.  Why is that offensive?
996632
I LOVE this question. Absolutely love it. I believe the "urban" vocabulary (or the lack of it) is destroying what little is left of good English in this country. I agree with all of the above, except the one about the "N-word." I hate that word too. However, the fact that our sister has implied that people who are black can use that, and us blanco's can't, is pure hypocrisy. Hypocrisy and stupidity. \n\nThe fact that that word carries any negative connotations at all is entirely because of who invented it (redneck southern plantation owners, who didn't CREATE it...they merely changed the pronunciation). n--i--g--g--e--r is simply a white rednecks way of reading/pronouncing the spanish word (LOOKITUP!) for black, niger. So I very firmly believe that no one should use the word, INCLUDING people who are black who don't respect themselves. The use of the word by them and not us "whites" is also hypocritical because it is reverse-rascism. So because you are a person who is black, that means that the blancos are racist, because they're white? Did anyone stop to consider that when you play the color game the insults run both ways? Hypocrisy. If a person who was black called me white-trash, that wouldn't bother me. It's true. If I said "black trash" to a person who was black who lived in the gutter, they'd probably kill me. There's something wrong with this picture! A person's skin tone should not change the way we interact with them.
508747
Ask the black folk. Besides duh (the) dat (that) woot (would) and a host of other words in the English language they were raised with and will not pronounce, they say nigger pretty much with every breath they take. Watch how they edit the word in my answer. Yet these same people in media will air the word if a black person utters it. The person under me here is a good example of what I mean. Nigger is a no-no for white people for voting reasons. We got to get dem (them) people to vote for Democrats.
1186622
yes he had the balls to say it on her show. said he didn't make his clothes for niggers to wear. he is a rascist and i willl not wear tommy hilfiger clothing. i won't support a racist sell t-shirts. hes an an asshole.
974633
Those guys should apologize to HIM for heckling him at the club. Didn't they call him a 'white cracke'r? Isn't that racist? And he is catching hell because he responded to them? That's not fair. Richards owes them nothing. Too bad more white people aren't standing up for him.
743681
I do not think he is racist.  Perhaps in the heat of the moment he lost his reasoning.  \n\nAsk me why comedians like Chris Rock are allowed to use racist terms in his monologues.  (i.e., honkey, or cracker).\n\nDon't get me wrong, Micheal Richards use of the word was meant to single those heckling him.\n\nI think the sooner we grow above petty name calling, the faster we can make racism history.\n\nAnd if you were offended by Michael Richards then don't watch Borat you might pee your pants, (from laughter or discomfort, whatever your disposition).\n\nThat's my two cents.  Now how about some change?
859291
i just wrote a letter today to the editor of a newspaper on this very subject. when people make the statement that "blacks use it", they make it seem like its a universal thing throughout the entire black community. it is not!! a small segment of society, namely the hip-hop industry has taken to using this word. as usual, society had chosen to take the actions of the few to mean the attitude of the many. it is a hate filled, ugly, vile word that should not be used by anyone & it's especially ugly when used by young people who have no clue as to its origins. it is not a word that can be adapted or "taken back" or any of the other nonsense people (who are looking to capitalize on its usage) come up with.\n\nThe main think I want people to take away from this answer is that  ALL Blacks DO NOT USE THE WORD "NIGGER" NOR IS IT OKAY WITH US. Its usage IS AN ACT OF SELF-HATRED BY WEAK MINDED, IGNORANT INDIVIDUALS. \n\nSorry about the caps. I just hate to think that there are folks out there who think we all use this ugly word.
808325
He was real wrong to say those nasty things, but i do not see how money would help anything. what really gets me is that i hear black people say that word and not one person even gasp, yet a white guy says it and they cant believe they have heard that word. Racism knows no color. to the lady who gave an answer addressed to me. I by no means meant to offend anyone. i really did not know there was a diff. i do appreciate you explaining that to me.
1126039
The sloppy english that is often used by blacks is of a crude, vulgar type. The black people that hate blacks that speak standard english do so because they want to associate vulgarity with the african race, so as to make vulgarity socially permissable. The truth is that vulgarity is more common among blacks, but is certainly not a defining trait, as it would be racist to say so. The black people that insult the clear-speaking blacks are thus simultaneously promoting bad black stereotypes while trying to exploit racial equality.
765743
I think there's a lot of joking about black people that is accepted (along with other races) but Richards was just vicious and way out of line. I'm not sensitive about race, at all, but when I saw his video, I thought, "WOW!".
789723
Andrew Dice Clay and Eddie Murphy have said things in their acts that have offended me.  Now it's Michael Richards.