SAN DIEGO -- So, are we good? I assume race relations are back on track in this country now that a seemingly remorseful Michael Richards has embarked on his mea culpa tour. I'm sorry, but the "Seinfeld" co-star needs to stop saying he's sorry.
First, there was Richards' lame appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman," a relatively friendly venue where the actor-comedian bungled his first attempt to apologize to "Afro-Americans" for his vile and racist Nov. 17 meltdown at a Los Angeles comedy club.
Now, Richards has apologized to the nearly 40 million African-Americans in the United States by offering his regrets to the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
What a surprise. You just knew these two grievance brokers would find a way to profit from Richards' misfortune.
It's bad enough that Richards stepped over the line by peppering African-American audience members with machine-gun rounds of ugly, condescending, N-word-filled expletives that just happened to be recorded by someone with a video cell phone.
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But now the racial opportunists have rushed in to milk this episode for all it's worth.
Jackson, who had previously said that Richards was "dangerous" and in need of "psychiatric help," then seized on the incident to advance one of his pet causes -- increasing the number of minority-themed (read: black) shows and minority (read: black) media talent to the airwaves that, Jackson claims, are "all day, all night, all white."
I'm not about to argue that media companies and television networks couldn't do a better job of putting forth images that more accurately reflect America. But what in the world does that have to do with Richards' outburst? Are we expected to believe that the reason Richards exploded on stage was because he hasn't been exposed to enough African-Americans in the media? Or that putting more African-Americans and Latinos on television will end racism?
And, of course, Jackson and Co. aren't the only ones trying to get mileage out of the meltdown. The two men who were insulted -- Frank McBride and Kyle Doss -- want a personal apology from Richards, and possibly a cash settlement.
Another surprise. I heard the "cha-ching" of the cash register the minute I saw that McBride and Doss had retained headline-grabbing Los Angeles lawyer Gloria Allred, who has built a franchise out of profiting from scandal. Allred wants Richards to meet with McBride and Doss in front of a neutral mediator, perhaps a retired judge, who could then decide whether any financial compensation was in order for pain and suffering.
You want pain and suffering? What about the rest of us who have had to suffer through this story day after day -- along with the unflattering portrait it paints of elements of our society?
There's only one silver lining to it all, and it is that African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities have been vindicated in their claims that racism and ethnocentrism are alive and well in America.
I can't speak for African-Americans. But I'd bet that what they'd consider more valuable than an apology is a simple acknowledgement that racism is real.
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What Richards did was unprofessional and unforgivable, and his career -- such that it was -- ought to be over. But, meanwhile, a larger debate about free speech is just beginning.
Jackson and other African-American leaders say they're going to pressure the entertainment industry -- including black rappers -- to quit using the ugly racial epithet.
Already, Jaime Masada, the owner of the comedy club where Richards launched into his rant, says he plans to ban the N-word from future acts that perform there.
Imagine that. What would the late Richard Pryor say about the new policy? And could we even print it in a family newspaper?
Ruben Navarrette's e-mail address is navarrette@wctrib.com .
