"Seinfeld" star Michael Richards' racially charged tirade against two African-American men in a comedy club was bad enough by itself, but his appearances on Dave Letterman's show and on Rev. Jesse Jackson's talk-radio show were perfect examples of what not to do in a situation like that.
The aftermath of the tirade has been a total farce. His going on Jackson's show was a total waste of time; all the civil-rights leaders did was make an example of him, and Jackson later said that he didn't believe the apology that Richards mumbled WHEN they allowed him to talk. He was on the air for two hours; Jackson and his associates spoke for three quarters of the time, taking turns lecturing the comedian.
I listened to the entire show and from my point of view, they didn't care about what Richards said; all they did was climb on the soapbox that he provided for them and beat the daylight out of him with his own words. They were clearly out to destroy him for what he said.
He should not have gone on Rev. Jackson's show. It was all showboating by Jesse Jackson and his colleagues; nothing of substance came of it.
What he should have done was gone on a neutral show where he could have explained himself completely, apologized, then disappeared from sight for a while. Instead he's been in the news just about every day waging a PR campaign. And no, Jesse Jackson's radio show isn't neutral ground on most issues.
Richards is compounding his original mistake with more mistakes that are causing further damage to his reputation. He needs to get out the news and get his act together.
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