Is there a Masonic connection to Michael Richards Racist Outburst?

During a disastrous November 17, 2006, comedy routine at The Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, California, Michael Richards a/k/a "Kramer" responded to an African-American heckler with racially charged comments, yelling, "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside-down with a f***ing fork up your ass"--an apparent reference to lynching. He said over and over "He's a n****r!". Richards walked off of the stage and a Laugh Factory employee came on stage and attempted to apologize.

Three days later, in a November 20th satellite appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman (with Jerry Seinfeld as the guest) Richards apologized, saying, "For me to be at a comedy club and flip out and say this crap, I'm deeply, deeply sorry... I'm not a racist. That's what's so insane about this." He described his outburst as one of "pure rage." He was clearly shattered and confused during the appearance, which goes no distance in ameliorating the damage done. Every time something like this happens, it feels like it turns back the clock just a little.

The apology was as pathetic as the original outburst. It made me wonder how I might react in the same instance. If you are a regular reader, you may remember, I too, grew up cracker. All those hateful words and the jokes, and the images are buried somewhere inside me too. I think I could be just as angry, but I don't think I could, or would, play the race card. The fact that he even came up with the pitchfork image makes you wonder what is really in his heart. The fact that he would immediately bring up lynching seems to negate everything he has attempted to say in apology.

Interestingly, the Wikipedia tells of Richards' Masonic connections. Despite his protests, and if what I've read is correct, membership in the Masons sounds tantamount to being a racist:

"Richards is a Master Mason, and also holds 33° in the Scottish Rite; he is very active in preservation of masonic research, and in his personal life is an avid reader. He is a member of the following lodges: Riviera Lodge No. 780, Culver City–Foshay No. 467 lodge, Southern California
Research Lodge. He is also a Life Member of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Valley and a Life Member of the Scottish Rite Research Society."

According to Freemasonrywatch.org Masonry is:

"An organization dedicated to brotherhood, Masonry ironically remains a bulwark of racial segregation in the United States. By 1987, decades after most American institutions had accepted racial integration, only four of the forty-nine Grand Lodges could count even one black member in their jurisdictions. As the author of a recent scholarly study of black Freemasonry observes, "The legitimation of social intermingling between black and white Masons has remained anathema in mainstream Freemasonry."' (from the Handbook of Secret Organizations by William J. Whalen)

---o0o---