Paula Deen: Ignorant or deep seated hatred?

[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.