Paula Deen: Ignorant or deep seated hatred?

[JW2020]

Her statements are inexcusable. Do you think that her statements were made because she genuinely hates black people or because of her environment she thought such statements were acceptable or is she just a money grubbing rich person who will say or do anything for money and because of the status that money affords her she thinks she can say or do anything with no consequences?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. probably neither. hatred doesn't really drive racism in this country except amongst people like the

kkk or the neo nazis

the desire to keeps one's status/power/privilege however does. the belief in moral and intellectual superiority of whites also does.

its way too late in the game to claim ignorance though. like maybe if she had these thoughts 50 years ago, it might have been ignorance, but she admitted to more recent convo's about race that were hugely problematic

[OneGrassRoot]

37. ^^ THIS ^^ n/t

[leftstreet]

2. Was she out of the country during the Civil Rights Mvmt?

[liberal N proud]

3. She issued an apology

'Please forgive me' for mistakes

Don't know how sincere she is, that's not my call, but it probably will not hurt her business.

[bunnies]

16. The videos gone.

Maybe she took it back after getting fired anyway.

[Tx4obama]

22. The TWO videos she released are on the link below

Here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/paula-deen-apology_n_3479279.html

[bunnies]

23. Already watched the first one.

I dont have the stomach for the 2nd. Thanks for the link though.

[The Link]

4. All of the above.

[dawg]

5. If I had to guess, I would say stupidity.

But it's still very hurtful, even if she did not mean for it to be.

I have been around lots of people, mostly older, who talk like Paula Deen. Many of them have even referred to people that they love and care about using these racist terms. None of that excuses it, or takes the way the pain that it causes. But that has been my experience, having grown up in the South.

[Warpy]

6. I didn't find her remarks hateful, just anachronistic and ignorant.

She's from SC, ferkrissakes. It's really the last great bastion of continuing to fight the Civil War. A lot of people surrounded by pervasive hogwash tend to spout it themselves without thinking before they speak. I really think that's what happened to Deen, she forgot she wasn't in Charleston any more.

For her part, the remark about the wait staff was nostalgic. It's just grotesque beyond belief to the rest of us.

[JustAnotherGen]

7. I think

That the woman who sued her had a damn good reason to.

And that your questioning is too limited and does not speak to the hearts and experiences of black people.

[Lil Missy]

8. neither one. predjudice does not mean deep seated hatred. n/t

[longship]

9. But what's the latest news about the Kardashians?

And what's Lindsay Lohan doing?

Frankly, I don't give a damn what B-list celebrities think or say, let alone what any celebrities think or say.

Having fame simply because one has fame means nothing to me. That goes for actors, who are apparently good at pretending but not so much at being educated. That goes for sports people. And that goes for the opportunists who have risen to political power.

I am sick of popular culture rewarding ignorance. When will it end? Probably some time after Jenny McCarthy is Surgeon General.

God help us all from ignorance.

[Renaissance Man]

10. Ignorant or Deep-Seated Hatred?

I think that an assumption is made in the OP that making racially charged and racially derogatory statements has to have a qualifier or be placed on some spectrum of diagnosis when it comes to bigotry. It doesn't. Also, assigning "racist" or "bigoted" or any other character traits based on what someone says is short-sighted, and it doesn't look at the larger picture of how people treat others without the same racial makeup. Look to their actions, and you'll find a lot more bigotry under the surface without that person having to utter any racially derogatory term.

Personally, I'm more concerned with the racists and bigots that use their racism and bigotry to adversely affect public policy as it relates to poor people and people of color, red line property in poor neighborhoods, gentrify neighborhoods, those who bought into the "forced busing" meme and move their families to suburbia so that their children don't have to be exposed to children of different ethnic and socioeconomic makeup in schools, etc. I'm equally as concerned with those people like Ellen Sturtz who felt as if though she was within her right to heckle the first lady at a private fundraiser (that's more of white privilege than bigotry or racism, but there's enough to go around). Personally, I hate all of it -- racism, bigotry, prejudice, white privilege, etc.

With regard to Paula, yes, she is a bigot. The fact that she's a 67-year old, Southern Caucasian lady from South Carolina increases the chance of her being racist exponentially. I'm a life-long southern black male. Trust me. I've seen her type.

Deep-seated?

It depends with some white Southerners. The same Southerners that hate President and First Lady Obama can easily be found at a majority white Southeastern Conference school's football stadium on a Saturday flying Confederate flags (with said institution's colors) only feet away from the gate during tailgating only to walk in the football stadium and scream wildly for a team comprised primarily of black football players. Quite a dichotomy, but I digress.

The derogatory statements that she's said about the President, her gratuitous use of the n-word, and wanting her wait staff to mimic slaves from a bygone antebellum/Civil War era, is completely inexcusable. The fact that she has done any of this, considering the degree of notoriety and popularity she's gained on cable TV and that it is the year 2013 is gobsmackingly stupid. She knows better. There's no way to feign ignorance on this.

Let's not put qualifiers on this or make it as if though her racism is "maybe a little innocent" or "not as bad as we think it is." Racism and bigotry is always bad, no matter how "innocent" or "not as bad" or "ignorant" or "deep seated" we may feel one person portrays. No passes.

[cali]

13. excellent post!

btw way, the person who filed the suit is white.



(love the word gobsmack)

[Renaissance Man]

17. Thanks for that good catch!

Thanks for keeping me informed about that. I've edited.

[Skidmore]

25. Well said and spot on.

Thank you.

[no_hypocrisy]

33. What idealistic scenario Paula Dean wanted was an army of simpering Black servants with

obsequious answers to commands.

She wasn't looking for this kind of "employee":

[bunnies]

11. yes. nt

[avaistheone1]

12. It's was her ignorance, laziness and stupidity that spoke when she made her crude remarks.

jmo

[BainsBane]

14. I don't know that it matters

probably a combination of the two, but in this day and age there is no excuse for that sort of thing, particularly for someone well into adulthood. No pass from me.

[procon]

15. Most of my family comes from the south

and they are a product of that environment. Some degree of cultural racism is inherited in their way life, but if she is anything like them, she will strongly deny any charge of racism because that awful label would demand a little self-critical soul searching, followed by the inevitable acknowledgement of culpability and then an honest effort to change... and that's bridge too far for most.

Deen's stereotypical beliefs about people of color are genuine and permanently ingrained in her psyche and reinforced by the deeply rooted traditions and prejudices that predominate in that particular region. Just as my clueless relatives thoughtlessly use the n-word, Deen probably gives no more pause to the words she uses to describe black people than she would in talking about the weather.

[1-Old-Man]

19. I have had two in-laws move into the region, it got them bot

Both of them became rabid racists, and both deny it. If they could only hear themselves. And you know what? They paraphrase Reagan all the time. Welfare Cadillac driven by a Welfare Queen seem to be their favorite undying myth.

[YeahSureRight]

20. Something is in the water 2 good friends moved to FL 20 years ago

politically left of center now full blown raging racist bagger.

Sad really they were at one time decent people.

[YeahSureRight]

18. Paula is typical of every white person I know who still lives in Dixie today

her attitude is why I left over 30 years ago and refuse to go back.

She is of the age where her attitude is just the way they were raised and continue to live today.

It is no secret about Paula and those like her, people in the South just don't talk about it, and that attitude is rampant.

[NoPasaran]

34. I buy my broad brushes at True Value Hardware

Where do you get yours?

[Generic Brad]

21. I vote for ignorant deep seated hatred

It is definitely a combination of the two.

[tarheelsunc]

24. I think ignorant.

It's like doesn't even realize she did anything wrong... what did she say, "of course I said it" or something like that? In her little world, that's normal and typical behavior. Her apologies to me sound insincere, like she thinks she really doesn't have anything to apologize for. I hope that she honestly does learn something from this.

[karmalk]

26. NSA data collection should be used to study racism

wouldnt have to identify individual people, but scan emails for racist terms and ideas, just to get a handle on how widespread it is, what the patterns are, and where it evists

a powerfull tool for good

[Zoeisright]

27. The Food Network is not renewing her contract.

So that's positive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/22/dining/paula-deen-is-a-no-show-on-today.html?_r=0

[Beacool]

28. I think that she's a product of her time and place.

I also don't think that she sees herself as racist and I doubt that she has used the word recently. She was asked if she had ever used the word. I bet most Southern people of that generation must have used it at least once. Should her career be destroyed for it? That will depend on her fans. Will they accept her apology and continue to buy her wares?

[cali]

29. she's a racist pig. that she doesn't see herself as a racist pig is hardly exculpatory

It's not just her use of the "n" word.

and I hope that her career is destroyed and that she loses tens of millions in the lawsuit.

great lesson for others.

[graywarrior]

30. Arrogance

[bravenak]

31. She does not hate us. She just feels superior because she is ignorant.

She probably can't live without us. A lot of older southern people are like that. They'll say nigger but the first person they want to hire is black. I had a teacher like that, called me negro or colored all the time and constantly hugged me and told me I was cute- can she take me home? I was the only black kid in the class, and she would pull me to the side to complain about the white kids and how they had no home training. I loved her but she was racist.

[reflection]

35. That's interesting.

Although I am from the South you just showed me something I was previously unaware of. Do you mind me asking how old you are? I'm wondering when this occurred.

[bravenak]

38. I'm 32.

This was my 6th grade teacher. She had spent some time in Botswana, so she was on an African kick. Nice lady though.

[malaise]

32. Any one who is longing for the good old days to the point that she wants

to see black slaves dressed up in white at Southern Weddings is a racist - she must be living in a gawd damned bubble of insensitivity and not one shred of empathy to state this shit publicly.
Fuck her. Let her go roll in her butter.

[OrwellwasRight]

36. Can't tell, but one thing about her apology

(at least apology #1): It's the best celebrity/politician apology I've ever seen. She's doesn't apologize to those she "may have offended," she apologized to "everyone she's hurt." She admits her behavior "was" (not "may have been&quot hurtful and that it was unacceptable.

Can't say if it was sincere -- looked to be so, but the other two videos were significantly more weasly, indicating she had been coached -- but I can say that is how apologies should be done. I am soooooooo sick of lame non-apology apologies, in which those who had the weak character to be offended, are blamed ( e.g., the recent apology of Congressman Heck). So I give her credit for a good apology. Not sure I credit her with much else.