Comedy is supposed to be a way to bring people together, but Michael Richards demonstrated that misguided humor is also the easiest way to tear people apart.

During his stand-up comedy show at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles on Nov. 17, Richards took a detour from his wacky character Cosmo Kramer from the hit show “Seinfeld” by launching into a racial assault on two audience members. In our age of digital information, the world became privy to just how far the former Kramer had gone off the deep end.

If he can’t take the heat, then he shouldn’t be a stand-up comedian. It’s one thing to personally attack somebody after they make a fool out of you, but when he started dropping n-bombs and talking about lynching, his “comebacks” were disrespectful to all black people everywhere. Yet, despite the recent backtracking, the profuse apologies and all the other theatrics, he is in a predicament none of his situation comedy training will easily get him out of. There is never an excuse good enough that will justify blind hate.

There are some who feel that his reaction was justified, if not well thought out. However, the video, which was captured on someone’s cell phone and posted on TMZ.com, is a revelation. Although shaky and out of focus, it is the power behind the words that is truly shocking. After the initial heckling from one of the two audience members, he was heard saying such enlightened statements as: “Shut up! Fifty years ago we’d have you upside down with a f***** fork up your a**!”

The word “nigger” also slipped out, not just once, but at least five times. Contrary to what he has said since the incident, the way the words flowed, it’s probably not that far of a stretch to see him making some racist jokes amongst friends in the privacy of his own home. Obviously he felt bold enough to berate his fellow human beings in the company of hundreds of people.

It’s funny how celebrities have been blaming the act of expressing their true feelings on some force greater than themselves. Actor Mel Gibson, who was embroiled in a similar scandal earlier this year, could testify on the effect alcohol had on his alleged anti-Semitism.

According to published and televised news reports, Richards is claiming that his anger at these two men is what fueled this tirade. The pressure of people coming in late to his show and yelling that he wasn’t funny was just too much for this show-biz pro. He tried to make it sound perfectly plausible that anyone else in his situation, although it was implied and not stated, anyone who was not black in his situation would have responded in the in the same way. Anger alone doesn’t breed racism, intolerance does.

This is especially true since, according to the Boston Globe, Richards was said to have shouted anti-Semitic remarks from the same stage in April. Later he claimed it was OK “because he is Jewish.” (According to the Associated Press, his publicist Howard Rubensein said that he was just role playing because he was Jewish, yet there are published reports that contradict this statement by saying he merely identifies with the Jewish culture).

Why wasn’t that publicized? Most likely because it wasn’t captured by anyone on his or her camera phone. It was only after the media storm that all the apologies flowed. He said he was sorry, he was not a racist. He was everything that all his critics wanted him to be, but wasn’t the one thing that he should have been: honest.

“I’m not a racist. That’s what’s so insane about this,” Richard’s said in a televised appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” which was said to be at the behest of his friend Jerry Seinfeld.

This must be a case of racial slurs being spouted off by those with anger management problems and not those with a genuine dislike of black people.

Going on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” Jesse Jackson’s radio show, and requesting an audience with black leaders, including Al Sharpton, could mean that he is sincerely sorry for his actions, but it probably means that he has some really sharp P.R. people who are good with damage control. The only thing that sounded sincere this whole time was the anger in his voice when he was making those harsh comments.

Nobody’s buying it, not even Jackson and Sharpton bought it, saying that the apology was not enough. Money, fame or even feigned ignorance will not be able to wipe away the pain and discomfort that Richards has caused those men, among countless other people. If by some miracle of God he is able to affably continue his career in stand-up comedy, next time someone heckles him he should just forget the snappy comebacks and count to 10 before he speaks.