When the Paula Deen story first appeared I must admit I was angry (for those of you who may have just awakened from a coma, celebrity chef Ms. Deen has been vilified for admitting in a court deposition that at some point in her life she used a racial epithet).
No, I’m not mad at Paula. All she did was tell the truth. As a fellow Southerner of a similar age I know that times were very different in our younger days. Back then calling a black person a nigger—oh, please, can we dispense with this political/social correctness “N-word” malarkey?—was completely normal. Brazil nuts had no other name but “nigger toes” when I was a child.
I’m not saying any of this was right, but I honestly wasn’t raised to think of the word in a derogatory sense. That’s just the way it was, and what things and certain people were called. And I grew up in Atlanta, not some rural hillbilly town without a red light.
But the point is not about whether Ms. Deen uttered the word 30 years ago or yesterday. Our Founding Fathers thought that freedom of speech was important enough to include it in the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Remember the Constitution? It’s that quaint document upon which our once great nation was founded, now regularly trampled on by the courts and government.
When I first read about this “racial slur scandal,” as it’s being termed in the mainstream media, I remembered a skit Dave Chappelle, a black comedian, did on his TV show way back in 2004 called “The Niggar Family.” It’s a spoof of a Leave It to Beaver white family with an interesting last name that trots out every racial cliché and stereotype imaginable.
I found the skit on YouTube. Re-watching it made me think, “H-m-m-m, Dave Chappelle’s career certainly wasn’t destroyed by this.” I imagine a lot of his audience found the piece hilarious and admiringly thought, “The stuff that guy says and gets away with------.”
Consider the hypocrisy, and think about the shitstorm of trouble Ms. Deen finds herself in as she continues to be dumped by one gutless sponsor after another.
What in the hell has happened to our country? I’m sad that such obvious double standards are somehow OK in modern society. Just why is it acceptable for this person or group to say something and so horribly wrong for someone else to say the exact same thing?
Freedom of speech? Fuggitabowdit.
A former President disgraced the nation’s highest office when he got a blow job in the White House then lied through his teeth about it. Now all is forgiven and he’s a revered statesman.
Paula Deen used a word that blacks often call themselves, admitted it, and her life is ruined.
I’m disappointed that our citizens have become so spineless and apathetic that they put up with this kind of nonsense. Put up with it? Apparently, since this non-story refuses to die, the public is actually enjoying watching a decent woman being crucified in the press. “Oh, look, she’s crying. What BS—she’s just trying to save her ass. Ha-ha-ha---.”
Let me ask you-- who hasn’t said something in their life that they regret?
OK, now I’m mad again. I just saw a USA Today poll. The affirmative response is, “Yes, she should be forgiven.”
Huh???
Forgiven for what? And by whom?
Paula, you told the truth when a lot of weaker people would have lied. You’re now being unfairly persecuted by a horde of bloodthirsty, “holier-than-thou” jackals whose lives and reputations would probably wilt under the same spotlight of scrutiny to which you are being subjected.
I’m behind you all the way, sister.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
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7 comments:
Well put. This is but one symptom of a very sick country. Rome 2.0. What a shame, it was the brightest beacon of freedom and prosperity ever.
As always, well said Edd. (yes, play on your tagline intended...)
Don't forget that the woman who gave that blow job to Bill has ALSO had her life ruined...she can't get a job, she's never married, and the country apparently has not forgiven her while the country revers our 'statesman' Bill. And we still think Thomas Jefferson was a great statesman, too, in spite of all the illegitemate children he fathered with his 'house slaves'. Personally, I think it's a double standard in which women always lose.
Just curious, did you ever wonder if it was ok with blacks back when you were growing up to call them that derogatory term? I have to tell you that it wasn't ok back then for you to call blacks "niggers". They just never said anything because of fear. And as for certain blacks that call themselves "niggers" now, let me give you a tip. What is ok for siblings to call each other is not something that someone outside the family can say. Let me tell you, I along with other African-Americans cringe when we hear the term "nigger" used among us.
Of course not. I was a normal kid who was oblivious to most everything. And I was never around blacks growing up, to tell you the truth. So I didn't said anything to them, much less use a derogatory term to their faces. But your point is well taken. I wish more blacks felt as you do about this word that should no longer be a part of anyone's vocabulary.
Thank you, I understand and I appreciate your response.
Your comments stimulated a lot of thought and I thank you for that. No one is born with ideas of racism and prejudice. These are taught by society and the authority figures in our lives. Nevertheless, at some point we are free to make our own decisions about these concepts and everything else. Indeed we are the sole owners of our thoughts. To the degree we honor this responsibility and choose wisely, we are active participants in making our world a better place.
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