This whole thing smacks of a Stupid Publicist trick. Get everyone to think Seinfeld just as the DVDs are made available for Christmas.

It's not like the guy had a career.

Kramer, Elaine and George aren't getting a dime from the DVD sales. That's why they weren't enthusiastic about doing commentaries. The only people getting royalties from the DVD sales are Jerry and Larry David.
So, while Michael Richards certainly didn't have much of a career, I don't think he would whiz that down his leg for something he's not even getting any money for.
Personally, I think he's a nut.

There's another video somewhere on youtube that falls under the general topic of racism and Seinfeld. The actor Danny Hoch (from the movie Whiteboyz, which I'm guessing no one here has seen) gives an account of his failed audition for the role of the pool-man who tries too hard to become Jerry's friend. They (Seinfeld and producers) wanted Danny to play the role "hispanic", which Danny finds offensive, and questions why the show didn't try to cast someone who was actually "hispanic" to play the part. Its an interesting story.

Matt:

Youv'e hit upon the wierdness of this incident exactly. Richards could have said anything, no matter how vulgar, no matter how low, no matter how offensive, just as long as he didn't use the "'n' word". He could have assaulted the hecklers, and people would have shrugged it off.

I don't think using the term was genuinely indicative of Richards' harboring racist views. He probably just wanted the heckling to stop and his instinct was to be as offensive as possible. He somehow didn't realize that he committed the one unforgiveable sin in American life.

The totemic power that the "n" word has aquired is really a remarkable social phenomenon. 30 years ago, i.e. back when Richard Pryor the funniest and most significant comedian around, I would have guessed the opposite would happen.

I'm not sure that I would change it though. The standards of politeness in modern society should be raised, not lowered.

It's not like the guy had a career.

Oh, come on. The guy was one of the supporting characters in one of the most successful series on television (for whatever that is worth). He wasn't Alec Guinness or Laurence Olivier, but to say he didn't have a career is silly.

I must say, I really don't care that much for the guy, he is an actor after all. For the most part, 99.999% of these people are complete idiots.

kbowman:

I ought to start by noting that most people who use that word ought to be horsewhipped. (There are obvious exceptions due to context, although I remember a friend telling me to pipe down when I used it while re-enacting a scene from Blazing Saddles.)

Still, its offensiveness is pretty amazing in a society where the f-bomb proliferates and sex is everywhere. You would probably get an interesting result if you plotted a line graph, beginning in the 1950s, regarding how offensive folks think that word is versus how offensive they find the other stuff.

Bruno:

I don't know -- this might hurt DVD sales if the media keeps mentioning it.