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Don't get me wrong. There's no excuse for what Richards did that night. As a society, we need to make it clear that there's no place for that kind of ugliness—whether it's from Richards, Mel Gibson, or the latest bestselling rap artist. But by trashing the man along with his behavior, we're missing an opportunity to redeem a terrible moment and foster an environment where this kind of thing is less likely to happen.

What have been most unsettling for me are the opinions I've seen posted across the Internet regarding Richards's diatribe. People have either written him off as an evil jerk who deserves no mercy or used it as an opportunity to lash out against what they perceive as America's double standard on race ("Why is it okay for black comics to use the N-word, but then everyone gets bent out of shape when a white guy does it?"). Neither of these approaches is helpful in addressing the issue at hand.

If we respond with likeminded vitriol, we confirm the ignorance that Richards spouted. By jumping on the "reverse discrimination" soapbox, we're changing the subject in a disingenuous way and indulging our own racial hang-ups.

The truth is, all of us have darkness dwelling in our souls. "All of our righteousness is like filthy rags," says the prophet Isaiah. Most of us are just a bad day away from "going off" in a fashion to rival both Richards and Gibson. In today's cultural climate (which has no tolerance for intolerance), the rule is to castigate these kinds of offenders and mark them as unforgivable. A rebuke is certainly in order, but why not also leave the door open for redemption? In fact, if we were really on the ball, we'd use their mistakes as an opportunity to diagnose our own personal demons and constructively engage the subject of race in America.

Earlier this year, a white talk-radio host in St. Louis was summarily fired after he inadvertently referred to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a "big coon" while attempting to say that Rice running for president would be a "big coup." It was a bizarre slip of the tongue, for sure. But the man recognized his error at once and apologized profusely. He could not, however, save his job.

After hearing about that incident and listening to an audio clip, I wondered what good it had done to fire that host. I don't pretend to know what was going on in that man's subconscious or what led him to such a spectacular blunder. But I believe he was truly sorry. And so did Rice, who graciously accepted his apology.

That, of course, was not the first time a white person has been dismissed from a high-profile job for violating racial etiquette. Over the last couple decades, there have been countless instances. Back in 1988, CBS fired its popular sports pundit Jimmy the Greek for his ill-advised comments about how the superiority of black athletes could be traced back to slave-breeding practices. In 1999, a white City Hall official was forced to resign in Washington, D.C., after using the word "niggardly" (which has no linguistic relation to the N-word) during a budget meeting, even though he used it in its proper context and intended no racial malice. And who can forget conservative broadcaster Rush Limbaugh's short-lived gig as an ESPN football commentator in 2003? After suggesting that the media has a bias in favor of black quarterbacks, Limbaugh, who came to the job with a history of racially insensitive quips, was shown the door. Right or wrong, whenever these kinds of firings take place, I wonder whether our culture has missed a golden chance to address the deeper issues at play. What if, instead of firing the accused parties, we used their gaffes to open an honest conversation about institutionalized racism in our organizations? What if, instead of turning them into scapegoats, we used their situations to demonstrate the power of forgiveness and restoration?

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November (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50