It was ugly, and yes, it was racist.
But it's still a free country. You can say those things and not get arrested...and I would bet that many people in this country still feel that way, but would never express their thoughts.
Michael Richards exploded, and it was incredibly stupid on his part, because a) with his past role, he is a celebrity and b) stand-up comedians get heckled all the time and some of it ain't pretty.
I'm not a Seinfeld fan, but I'm gonna have a helluva time watching "UHF" after this.