You first got Jerry whose questionable behavior includes breaking up with no remorse with women over the slightest flaws and his consistent indifference (or even enjoyment) over his friends' misery (like George). Also very obsessive, quite selfish. 

George's negative traits that make him hilarious include selfishness (mainly with money), laziness, outrageous dishonesty ("come on ... my father's gay), and extreme impulsiveness. 

Elaine Benes: Extremely superficial (e.g. dating a guy solely for his good-looks then dumping him because he scarred his face), laughs at friends, selfish tendencies, fakes it, etc

Cosmo Kramer: sometimes shallow, occasionally breaks the law, uses Jerry's apartment without consent, brutal honesty issues, 

I love he show. I own all seasons on DVD and have watched every single episode... The peak of comedy in TV... 

... followed by Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin of course... 

 

Somebody should make the same poll for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia!

But you know we're not talking about the actors, here. We're talking about the characters. 

Exactly. 

If we were to judge movies or tv shows or anything like it by the conducts of their real life actors and performers, we would have to dislike pretty much everything. 

Like I've said before; everybody is an a****le about something. We have to separate the artist from the art. 

Anyway, I have always disliked Elaine. I mean, I 'love to hate' her, but she'd be the last person I would ever want to hang out with. Much too much of a hypocrite about things, considering how shallow and narrow-minded she is in her own life.

Well, he did a little more than simply explode on some guys. He went out of his way to say very cruel things regarding their ethnicity, and nothing else. The stuff he said . . . damn, even if I got as mad as he did, I don't even think I could come up with anything that specific and mean in the midst of a rage. He spoke like someone who has felt those ways already and had those thoughts for a long time, but kept them buried. I am not trying to sound self-righteous or anything, but I swear I don't think I would say anything racist to someone who made me angry. Because I honestly don't see the difference. If someone makes me mad, I get angry at them, not their skin color.

Anyway, you shouldn't judge whether someone is a racist or not based on how he acts around his friends. it's how he behaves toward strangers that shows what he's really about. And burning crosses isn't required, last time I checked, to be a 'closet' racist of sorts. Like I suspect Mr. Richards may be. 

I get the feeling you didn't really pay much attention to everything that was said that night. Richards did much more than call them n****rs. 

I still love his character on Seinfeld, and think he is a very funny, talented guy. But to act as if it's stretching things to assume him a racist is a little naive, in my opinion. I'm not calling him one for certain, since I can't see into his mind, but I am saying it's a very high possibility. I could be wrong, but asking for someone to do something wrong twice in order for it to actually be wrong seems very odd to me. What he did was wrong the first time, and I'm not going to brush it under the rug and assume he's a swell guy just because he hasn't done it since. Who knows how many times Richards may have said similar things in private, when there wasn't a camera to capture it? If you see footage of an abuser causing harm to his child or spouse, you don't assume he was having a bad day, do you? You call him what he is. 

Whoops, my bad. I'll address it correctly, now.

The short answer: yes. The long answer: it's complicated.

If Richards still made it personal first in your example, and if he were gay, it's possible the guys would have merely been trying to hurt him back as a reaction. It still wouldn't be right of them, but it would a bit more understandable. But by all logic, if Richards were gay, he wouldn't be spouting off racial slurs of any kind, because he himself would already be part of one of a minory and most likely knows how it feels. It would stop him, perhaps. But let's say that did happen . . . even if it would have been as a reaction, anybody who calls someone else a name based on that person's ethnicity, sexual orientation, mental defect, etc. is being a bigot. Of course, they could be joking, but in this situation, they wouldn't be, clearly. 

In the actual case with Richards, it's not complicated at all. We know all the variables and we know exactly what was said and for what reason. Richards was being heckled, so he decided to say something racist and cruel-hearted in return. Apparently he thought that was the appropriate, even-handed response. The first thing he jumped on was the color of their skin, which as far as I can see has nothing to do with how they were behaving. Had they been white hecklers, Richards probably would have still gotten angry, but he would have called them 'idiots' or some other name that is non-race-specific. Why? Because he is white, too. It is painfully clear that Richards said what he did because he is white, and they were black. Their heckling no longer became the issue, and he made it about race. He did. Not them. Why should I assume anything other than what is glaring obvious about this man?

That's all I'm saying. He's  a funny guy, but he did something very disgusting in my eyes. But you know what? He has the right to say or think whatever he wants about what any type of people he wants. And I'll support his right to say racist things, no matter how hurtful they might be. Because they ARE just words, not actions. It's also The Laugh Factory's right to keep him from coming back there if they want. And I think they are right for doing so.

Never in my life have I ever said anything as idiotic as ''minority groups are not racist against other minority groups.'' 

Plenty of black people keep gay folks down all the time. But is that logical? Nope. 

What I said: ''But by all logic, if Richards were gay, he wouldn't be spouting off racial slurs of any kind, because he himself would already be part of one of a minory and most likely knows how it feels.'' I did not say it was impossible, and I still considered the possibility of it happening and went on with my post. 

And from what I've seen, not a single gay person has ever spoken against black people in this way. Not once have I seen that. I'm sure it has happened, but not enough to be all that common. But the reverse seems to happen very often. Plenty of black christians push to keep gay marriage unrecognized. I'm not about go into THAT, however. Talk about hijacking a thread. 

 

I don't get it, either. I've always liked George. 

I must be out, or I'd pick up the phone.
Where could I be???
Believe it or not, I'm not home!

 

Although that was cute...

 

George gets it , or... ?