I was a Paula Deen apologist for a long time. You’ve got to understand, I actually watch a lot of Food Network and Cooking Channel programming. I have my favorites (Ina Garten) and my not-so-favorites (all of the competition shows). I genuinely liked Paula Deen’s show. She was a natural entertainer on TV, telling stories and jokes and she always has a one-liner at the ready. I defended her when she announced she has diabetes and everyone acted like she was injecting Diabeetus Kitty into your eyeballs. I defended her when that butthead Anthony Bourdain tried to start something with her repeatedly. But I can’t really defend her at this point. Not only is she rather awful, she’s also pretty racist.
Last year, CB discussed the lawsuit brought against Paula and her brother Bubba. Go here to read CB’s previous story. The lawsuit claimed that Paula and Bubba both used racial epithets, treated their black employees like they still lived in the Jim Crow South, and even dressed up black employees as slaves. So Paula was just deposed for the lawsuit, and OMG.
Celebrity chef Paula Deen has admitted to using the N-word and telling insensitive racial jokes during a May 17 deposition that was videotaped — and also confessed to her brother’s cocaine, pornography and alcohol addictions!
Paula, 66, admitted to using the N-word and wanting black waiters to play the role of slaves at a wedding party she was putting together, a new bombshell report from the National Enquirer claims.
“The personal disclosures uncovered have stunned Paula’s family and could mark the collapse of her entire empire,” a source told the tabloid.
The Emmy-winning kitchen queen was questioned for three hours because of the $1.2 million 2012 lawsuit in which the former General Manager of their Savannah, Georgia, restaurant, Lisa Jackson, claimed use of the N-word by Paula and sexual harassment and infliction of distress and assault by her brother Bubba Hiers.
When asked by Lisa’s Atlanta-based attorney if she’d ever used the N-word, Paula responded, “Yes, of course,” and gave examples of times she used the offensive term.
In terms of telling racist jokes, Paula said, “It’s just what they are — they’re jokes…most jokes are about Jewish people, rednecks, black folks…I can’t determine what offends another person.”
And when asked if she wanted black men to play the role of slaves at a wedding she explained she got the idea from a restaurant her husband and her had dined at saying, “The whole entire waiter staff was middle-aged black men, and they had on beautiful white jackets with a black bow tie.
“I mean, it was really impressive. That restaurant represented a certain era in America…after the Civil War, during the Civil War, before the Civil War…It was not only black men, it was black women…I would say they were slaves.”
During the deposition, Bubba also made shocking admissions, including using the N-word in reference to President Barack Obama.
“While Paula and Bubba did make some pretty damaging confessions in their depositions, what they admitted to only scratches the surface of what actually goes on in their daily lives,” an insider told the Enquirer.
A representative for Deen exclusively tells ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, “Contrary to media reports, Ms. Deen does not condone or find the use of racial epithets acceptable. She is looking forward to her day in court.”
Yeah, I can’t defend her any more. At all. I doubt Paula is alone in using and enjoying those kinds of “jokes” but at the end of the day, it’s highly inappropriate to “joke” like that at work, especially if YOU ARE THE BOSS. If you’re the boss and you’re telling racist jokes to your black employees in between making them dress up as Antebellum slave-servers, then NO. No, that is not okay.
For what it’s worth, People Mag has some addition details that make Paula seem like less of a monster. While Paula did reply “Yes, of course” to the question about using the n-word, she also added, “It’s been a very long time.” Paula said that she had used the word or thought about using the word in the 1980s when she was a bank teller and the bank was held up by a black bank robber, and she says she “probably” used the word when describing the events to her husband. Paula also said, “But that’s just not a word that we use as time has gone on. Things have changed since the ’60s in the South. And my children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior. As well as I do.”
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
Paula also said, “But that’s just not a word that we use as time has gone on. Things have changed since the ’60s in the South. And my children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior. As well as I do.”
-If that part is true, then I do give her some slack. I’m not saying that any of her behavior was or is ok, but she’s right it was a different time and times have changed. At least she has changed unlike others. I hope, because I do like her show, and I want to continue liking her 🙁
I give her zero credit for that. I don’t know how she could use the n word in a context that WASN’T “cruel or mean” and the fact that she thinks it’s okay in ANY context means she really doesn’t get it. Also, your quote isn’t the wholy story either — even after se said that thing about times changing, she also admitted to using the n word in the 80s and more recently than that.
I agree with you Esti. There is no excuse.
Everyone, use this link to tell Food Network that you will no longer watch the channel as long as Paula Deen remains on the air: http://www.foodnetwork.com/contact-us/package/index.html
This. It’s not acceptable to use that word or justify its use based on the gravity of some stressful circumstance. Boo on you, Paula.
@Latisse: Done.
I have to call bs on that. Just because a person is not using slurs in what they consider a “cruel or mean way” doesn’t mean anything. You don’t have to be inciting violence for it to be cruel.
Paula is 66 meaning she was a young woman during the civil rights movement. She has no excuse for this behavior. I’m tired of age being used as an excuse to be a racist prick.
Exactly. My mother is her age and is from South Carolina. She has never said the n-word or told a racist joke. The notion would sicken her because SHE IS NOT A RACIST.
I agree. She was 16 in 1963…not 1863. She has had decades to correct habits that she might have learned when she was a child.
There is just no excuse.
She also states in her deposition that her family tells those jokes alot. But ‘not in a mean way’ (whatever that means)
She basically admits her husband does it, and she’s never said anything because ‘he’s her husband’.
I think FN is wrong for letting Paula go…I have heard there are some things in that deposition that I just can’t believe!!? I also heard there was some site u could go to to read it, is this true??? It would be nice to read the TRUTH!!
But she also said that she might have used it while describing a conversation between black people. !??!
I think saying “Of course” when asked if she used it really set the tone.
@Emma13 She is disgusting, and so is the fact that you feel the need to “cut her some slack.”
@AlmondJoy I’m just using your comment to comment to everyone in general 🙂 Thanks but I do think your comment was a little harsh. Let me clarify:
Cutting slack was the wrong way to phrase it sorry guys.
I just wanted (as in the past tense) to keep liking her, that’s it. I’m sure all of you can understand that. I’m sad to see that someone I thought (again past tense) was a really great person. I don’t think what she said was ok and I’m not defending her, I didn’t intend to, but what I am saying is that I hope she truly understands (or is starting to understand) why her use of that word and her actions was NOT ok. And not just because it got her in trouble! I think any change is better than no change, and I would hope everyone would agree with that.
@LL2
You missed my point. Let me clarify: I DID NOT say that because black people use the N word then that excuses everyone from using it.
I said that because black people probably use it more than any one else…..lets be honest here….it creates an atmosphere of where the FEW black people that have an issue with it have little to no legitimacy or credibility because the majority of their community use said word.
As I stated previously the do as I say not as I do mentality harms the black community more than anything else regarding the N word. Until black people themselves step forward and start taking their own community to task real progress wont be made. Oprah had the balls to do it and when Bill Cosby did it he was castigated for it.
I believe this is an issue only black people themselves have any legitimacy to correct within their own ranks.
As for Paula…well, shes a clown.Really dumb.
No way and no slack! People back then knew perfectly well that this was hateful and unacceptable– the fact that there was a passionate civil rights movement is enough proof that people knew better and had every opportunity to know better, but if you need more, tuck your nose into To Kill a Mockingbird. Racism was certainly more widespread, but I do not accept that people did not know that this word hurt. They just considered the hurt to be unimportant.
My mother, born in the thirties, remembers my uncle Mike getting a serious whooping when he was heard using that word within earshot of my grandfather. It has never been a neutral word ever, not in any context.
Unrelated to this particular article: Really, people need to stop sticking sticks up their own butt holes. Words are words; don’t get all emotional because someone called you something. I remember once when someone called me a chink and my brother immediately threw a fit, but did I care? No. Who gives a flying cow pie what someone called me. I don’t, cause I don’t give a flaming brown bag about whoever it was. Words are just words; unless they are acted upon in physical violence, it’s not worth getting your panties all soaked in crap. So tired of people getting all worked up over the N word, or C word, or B word, and all those other alphabet words. By letting someone get to you with words, you’re just showing them how weak you are.
Words have meaning and history. Just because YOU render those words meaningless does not mean everyone else has. You adjust your language to certain sensitivities and when you don’t, you’re insensitive. Instead of saying “why get worked up” to ppl who are offended daily for their skin color, why not say to the offender, “why are you talking in such a way”
Victim blaming all the damn time, be it racism, sexism, or whatever else. I’m sick of it.
A ch—, my friend, is not a n—–. If you don’t understand the cultural context of that word, then fine. Don’t expect everyone else to meet you on your plane of ignorance, though.
When you are a boss and a supervisor and have employees, words DO matter. You have certain responsibilities when you run a business.
If she was just saying these things in her home, she wouldnt be getting sued.
Just words? Try calling a black person the n-word to his face. Unless you want your features re-arranged, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Commenter101, I totally agree with you! How many of you can honestly, and I do mean honestly, say you have never used the N word? Is it because she is a white woman using the N word…. Yes, that is what I thought!
Having been in the entertainment industry for many years, I am blown away by the number of celebrities that feel it is okay to sling that word around, but yet they are the first to call RACIST when a white celebrity, or anyone that is not of color uses the word. So, unless you are black, you are forbidden to use that word…. PLEASE! I am not saying it is right or wrong, but I am so tired of the R word…
I think you should look at the film “The Color of Fear” created by Lee Mun Wah. It was on Oprah and he still offers trainings on Unlearning Racism and other isms. One of the things addressed is the role that certain Asians have as the “model minority.” Non- threatening, “good” and “smart” and easily assimilated into mainstream (white) culture. Words are not just words.
Also, in 2013, it should not be necessary to still explain to anyone who was raised in this country and has even the merest degree of common sense why white people cannot use the N word without looking and sounding like a flaming racist. But, for those who are still new to the idea:
http://racismschool.tumblr.com/post/53241104242/ownership-of-a-word
In addition to what everybody else said, I think you have an unnatural fixation on feces.
It is NOT “just a word.”
@Eli, you seriously object to only black people acceptably using the word? Why? Because you want so badly for that *one* word to be available to you and others?? Why is that? Honestly, I’ve only ever come across racist whites who are angry-ANGRY!- that they cannot use that word. The injustice! How unfair! Freedom of speech MEANS all people can use any word despite half a millennia of abuse in connection with a word. Why not do blackface for Halloween? It’s JUST a costume done in FUN! It’s just a JOKE!
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
MCraw, obviously you are lacing in reading comprehension. Let me try and break it down for you…
As long as black people continue to use the N word, don’t get pissed off when a white person uses it. The word needs to disappear, but won’t, until the blacks STOP using the word.
Why is okay for blacks to use it, but it is RACIST if a white person uses it…??? Blacks get a pass! That in and of itself is racist!!!
LACKING…
@Eli
You just made a generalization about an entire group of people. I’m black and I do not use the N-word nor do I find it acceptable for anyone to use. So don’t use the “black people use the N-word too excuse”. You are mainly just referring to rappers, etc. All black people aren’t rappers or from the “hood”.
No, rappers are NOT the only ones that use it and I am happy you don’t, but you are the minority on that one.
Blacks and whites use it, but it seems someone gets called out if they are white and use it. Which is exactly what is happening to Paula Deen. If Paula were black, this would not even be a blip on the news! And I find that, total BS….
@Commenter101
You can’t be serious! Is the US Constitution just a bunch of words? Is the Bill of Rights just a bunch of words? Words are never just words. Having the use of language one of the significant things that separates humans from lesser mammals. I can’t even debate you because it just isn’t even possible that you actually believe what you just wrote.
@Eli
Okay, Eli. I’m just curious, how many black people do you know and how diverse are they? I went to a black college and encountered black people from all walks of life. I wonder if you had the same experience I did whether you would insist on making such generalizations about black people.
Im a white woman living in East Harlem, NYC and Im totally floored at how people of color use the N word casually in their everyday speech. The strange double standard is really shocking to me.
Personally, I never have nor never would use the “N word” but I dont feel white people…or anyone else for that matter…be castigated for using it until black people stop using it altogether. This do as I say not as I do nonsense is not working and the overt farce is making a mockery of african americans having real credibility.
As for Paula….Its very possible to tell jokes at everyones expense and also to still love everybody. This is much ado about nothing.
@RdyfrmycloseupmrDvlle
Look if it makes someone feel good to use racist words, they should just admit it. They should own their racist tendencies. They don’t need to justify their behavior by saying “blacks do it too”. I never just do something because “others do it too”. I’m a mature adult and I do the things I want to do and the things I believe in regardless of what someone else is or isn’t doing. I don’t engage in immoral behavior because “others do it too” and sometimes get away with it. I’m a leader, not a follower or a copycat. If the only reason you can give to justify the use the of N-word is because “black people do it too”, I really don’t know what to say to you. Isn’t that what kids say? I want to do something because everybody else is doing it?
@Eli,
Thanks for broad-brushing an entire ethic group. As someone else said, some african americans not only refuse to use the n-bomb, but are upset that others do the same. It is not a minority, or an exception to the rule. The use of the n-bomb in the community resulted from a bunch of misguided people who feel that “taking back” a slur removes its power, such as the lgbt community does with the word “queer.”
To bring out the old chestut of the unfairness that black pepole use it and non-black people can’t just shows a cultural unawareness and a sense of entitlement.
@Commenter101, every ethnic group has its own experiences, so it’s absolutely ridiculous for you to attempt to speak for everyone and say what should or should not affect people. You have no idea what kind of memories and experiences that word is attached to for some of us and why we might hate it.
@Eli, not every black person likes that word. In fact, some of us hate it. So no, I don’t think white people should be allowed to use the word just because many black people do (which we have no control over). That sounds like the argument of a selfish, spoiled child. You don’t have enough words at your disposal? Well, feel free to use it. Free country. But be prepared for people to react badly of it. You have a right to use it; you have absolutely no right to dictate who’s allowed to be upset by it.
For everyone: It’s not like we’re all of one shared mind. Shocker here: Black people have varying opinions just like anyone else. (It’s like we’re almost human or something!) And personally, that word is associated with some really crappy memories in my childhood and adulthood. There’s a mindset behind it, an attitude that always accompanies the word, in my experience. It has never been and will never be JUST A F*CKING WORD.
And with that, I’m out. Have a lovely day folks and please be kind to each other.
As a white person I will get ticked that non-blacks use the word. It is NEVER used as anything but an insult. Ive long heard the excuse “Oh, I call everyonoe a N…”. Um, yes, when insulting them.
Why can a black person use it? Because it is them taking the power back from that word. They are making it THEIRS. it is not for me to judge if that is right or wrong, let that “community” decide in general if it is ok or not but I have no problem with them taking control of a word that has such an emotional gut punch. And yes, I can say that I have never, ever used that word.
She’s just saying she objects in a cruel context. As in, calling someone it to their face. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t use it to make racial jokes. “A n—– walked into a bar, and…”
I know this culture, I know these people. I know how they try to rationalize it. It’s bullshit. It’s racism and they refuse to recognize it for what it is and THAT’s why shit doesn’t change in the South. Everybody wants a cookie for no longer lynching, but newsflash: it is 2013, and that just isn’t good enough.
It’s not that they refuse to recognize it, it’s that they don’t care.
It’s not a crime to be insensitive. It should be sometimes, but it’s not.
Now if she was verbally abusing employees to the point that they lost the ability to make a living, or if she was purposefully using racist hiring/firing practices, that’s a different story.
Either way Paula Deen is set for life financially. And like it or not, this type of knowledge about her may actually solidify part of her fan base.
I agree. The South was a very different place then. I don’t condone racism in any form, but she was honest, and apologized. What more can she do? This feels like a witch hunt
There are so many things wrong with what Paula Deen has done. Her behavior is crude and abhorrent. She’s not sorry about any of her jokes or comments or racially insensitive slurs. She is sorry that now the world knows. On another note, it isn’t so much that she said the “n-word” as it is her explanation for no longer saying it. She implies that she stopped saying it because it is no longer the politically correct name. Like we went from slaves to negro, to niggers, to colored, to black and african american. It is incredibly presumptious of her to think that it was ever ok to use that word. Sometimes people need to learn to shut up and keep things to themselves.
This makes me sad, and sick.
Me, too. I thought she was so good-hearted. So disappointed.
Me too. I read this story largely to see if it was from a tabloid stirring things up, but it sadly sounds very true. It blows when someone you think positively of turns out to be a douche.
She’s awful. Glad you saw the light.
Also glad you saw the light. I refuse to watch anything this fraud is on.
Besides being a racist, she’s a moron. She was on Oprah once and said she couldn’t “phantom” something…uh, that word would be “fathom.”
She’s one nasty, unsanitary cook (she is not a chef), and I’m sick of watching her fondling men, i.e., young guys on her show, being bawdy, acting like a horny old woman, riding on the back of Robert Irvine with a glass of wine in one hand and LICKING his bare chest while on her knees…hey, you can easily Google that and see for yourselves.
I despise her.
Also her restaurants suck. My husband and I ate at one in Tennessee a couple years ago, and it was just not good and terribly overpriced. So yeah, I can’t even find anything redeeming about this woman.
FINALLY right? I can’t believe that anyone would not see how phony this woman is.
It’s amazing how a sweet southern accent and grandmotherly-like appearance can dupe people.
I’ve always thought she was sketchy, even before her Victoza endorsement deal went down. Plus her “recipes” are a joke-I know how to make grilled cheese and cake with a shit-ton of artificial coloring and flavoring. She is so far from a real chef, it’s not even funny.
As you can tell, I really REALLY dislike her-she’s a scam artist and there’s nothing genuine about her. Now you can add racist to the list. She’s repulsive.
Somewhere out there, Bourdain is saying “I told you so…”
And AB would be right.
I’ll take my faux chef in the form of Sandra lee. Her cooking show is pretty much about making box or canned sh*t and drinking and she has good taste in men (the gov of NY). Paula is an abomination and the woman who filed that lawsuit deserves every penny of that 1.5 million she is seeking.
@Mort-..and the thing with Sandra Lee is that even though she uses canned and frozen ingredients, she has a focus to her show-it’s all about making food on a budget and most of the recipes are made to accommodate busy people with time-constraints.
Plus she always makes yummy cocktails..lol
😉
I love Bourdain for speaking his mind and being completely right in the comments he made.
Here’s the thing I don’t understand, if she was an athlete, she’d have her endorsement deals revoked. If she was a talk show or radio host, she’d have her show revoked. So why aren’t Smithville Ham and Cooking Channel/Food Network backing away from her. There has been deposition for months. If not for the racist crap, for the fact that she let her racist/sexist predator brother run her restaurants and part of her brand and she’s unapologetic about either of their behaviors. At the very least her endorsements should be dropped and her shows should be widdled down to minimal viewings at really off hours.
THANK YOU.
Disclaimer: I’ve liked Anthony Bourdain for a long time, he is MY favorite, No Reservations and his new show on CNN are both amazing IMO. I’ve never been a fan of Paula’s cooking or her phony persona.
When he was the first to call her out for being a hypocrite, it made me like him even more. I don’t think he was being inappropriate to make his statements because he was asked his personal opinion on it, and that’s how he thinks. He smoked like a chimney before his daughter was born but would never do an ad for emphysema medication while still smoking, you know?
Anyway, this is not the first we’ve heard of Paula being a racist and after so many accusations of a similar nature I just can’t believe she’s anything but a terrible bigot. Slave waiters? WTF?! How is that NOT hurtful or cruel?
I truly hope her sponsors all drop her. I will be very disappointed if they don’t.
I’ve never liked her or her show. I’ve always thought there was something creepy about her, like her “I’m just a nice Southern lady, y’all!” was just a schtick.
When the issue about her diabetes came out and she kept it from the public because she was waiting for an endorsement deal, and continued to cook fatty foods in her show for 2 years after her diagnosis, I knew I was right in thinking she was shady.
Then when it all came to light, she dropped 60 lbs. and went to People magazine to score a cover and an article telling how she adapted to her condition and how she’s changed her lifestyle…after she got her endorsement deals (diabetes medication and cookbooks for diabetics) finalized, of course.
A lot of people defended her during those times.
I bet a lot of people will still feel the need to defend her/sympathize with her and say her usage of the N-word and her racist jokes are the results of being a “product of the times” and we can’t blame her for it. Ugh.
NerdAlert and Sachi, you both said it PERFECTLY.
Also love Anthony Bourdain. So many smart women here.
@Chicagogurl –
It’s possible her endorsements are unaffected because her target audience is not offended.
I love how in Paula’s mind black men in formal wear translates to “slave”. Very odd.
I was duped. I honestly liked her she *seemed* really sweet, but I also just watched the show. I didn’t really take any interest into the gossip. I’ve also enjoyed the few recipes I’ve made of hers.
I am far more offended at her vein-clogging, diabetes stimulating, butter based cuisine than any racial slur she can cook up.
indeed. She is very awful. I dislike her and stopped watching her shows long tjme ago. I’m not a fan of injecting my body with 5lbs of butter but her behavior is just disgusting.
Dear Paula, Thanks! Enjoy the spotlight. Love, Serena Williams and Melissa Etheridge
Love this! (Do you think Serena & Melissa sent her some flowers… – well, maybe Serena not so much….or maybe Serena sent her dead flowers….)
Ha ha..that’s awesome.
*claps*
Haha.
All three need to have a seat. On a hot poker.
Horrid. Wretched.
But Anthony Bourdain is no butthead.
I quite agree with everything Bourdain said about her.
+1,000,000,000
Ditto.
+1
Team Bourdain.
+2 go Bourdain
I agree. He’s very astute and intelligent. He calls ’em as he sees ’em and I like that about him. He also doesn’t kiss ass or pussy foot around things.
I love Bourdain. Always have. He is a real foodie.
This woman is a pig. A filthy, racist pig.
I passed her restaurant in Savannah a few times, but the food looked disgusting through the window. I’d never give this woman a dime of my money or a second of my time. Other than calling her a racist pig, of course.
The biggest difference between the two is AB has respect for the cultures that his food comes from. Whether he is in Romania or Louisiana, he eats at people’s kitchen tables with them. He looks into the “why” of food traditions. Paula is so different.
I HATED how the Deen fans came out in droves to make Bourdain seem like this awful man who attacked this “innocent old lady”. He NEVER attacked her, he simply stated his opinion about her and if you ever read Kitchen Confidential, you’ll know what he thinks of The Food Network in general and some of the other “stars” are not exempt either.
Team Bourdain always and forever.
Also I loved this:
“I think she’s being disingenuous,” the “No Reservations” host told ABCNews.com today. “She’s being very good at playing the victim. Let’s call it what it is. This is big company that rolled out a new product, a diabetes drug, [with someone who was] selling doughnuts to children for years. I thought it was in bad taste, I made some cracks about it, and I walked into the whirlwind.”
One of my favorite books, Kitchen Confidential. It shows how smart and [opposite of racist] he really is. Thanks for posting that quote, too.
All of his books are a breeze to read, very entertaining, they are on a rotation in our bathroom library. My favorite Bordain “victim” is Rachel Ray. I mean that I both love Rachel Ray AND I love how he picks on her “gravel in a blender” voice.
Bourdain has integrity. He used to give Emeril crap but then he met him and retracted because he saw how what a good guy Emeril was and how well he treated his staff.
Yes! Team Bourdain X a million!
I completely agree that Paula’s fans made him out to be a monster when he called her out for being a hypocrite. Read his books, watch his shows. The CNN show is better than No Reservations. He is a real foodie, plus he is cultured and knowledgeable.
She, on the other hand, is a racist and ignorant brat just like the rest of her family. I know the type, all smiles and sunshine on the outside, venom on the inside. It made me sick when certain media outlets and her fans had her looking so sympathetic when all he did was call her out for being the hypocrite with no integrity that she is.
He’s not the monster, she is. It drives me mad how people only know this one thing about him and just hate him for it, while he is miles above her in character and intelligence. UGH.
/rant
I agree, Bourdain isn’t a butthead. Sure he might come off as abrasive, but at least he is honest in what he says and how he acts. Plus, he actually knows what delicious food is! No Reservations is really fun to watch, and his new show is good too.
I guess he and Howard Stern are sort of each others’ homies. Makes me like both of them even more! Who is Paula’s homie, Mayonnaise?? (No offense to mayonnaise.)
Oh Mrs. Peacock! I may love you for that comment alone! Bahahaha!
“…object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior.”
And therein lies the rub. Too many people will use the n-word in casual or even friendly conversations. My cousins can’t even pay a compliment to a black person without using that word. Sadly, like Paula, they just don’t understand why it’s a bad thing.
This ^^. I have relatives like that, too. When you go by their behavior, opinions, etc.., they aren’t even racist. Unfortunately, they really don’t understand that this language is racist.
The very use of that word IS racist. Unless your cousins have the collective IQ of 12, they know this. Oh and tossing that word in a “compliment” COMPLETELY invalidates the supposed compliment, which is probably their intention anyway. They mean to degrade not praise the subject, duh.
Yeah, no, if they think using a dehumanizing word offhandedly is no big deal, because hey, it doesn’t hurt them, they are racist.
So in agreement with you. My grandparents, who I loved very much would use the word in casual conversation without malice or rancor, and it made me cringe that otherwise wonderful people wouldn’t see the problem. They came of age in the segregated south, and really never overcame their upbringing in that respect… although the few times I actually pointed it out I got the, “but I have a black friend” line, as if that excused the behavior.
Paula Deen is fairly close in age to my mother, who was born and raised in the south, and I’ve never heard her use the word at all. I’ve never heard her express a racist thought either. Deen really has no excuse (c’mon, the 80s weren’t that long ago). Both she and my mother came of age during the Civil Right’s era, guess the message was lost on Deen.
And dancing waiters in white suits? I can’t. Just can’t.
This. My parents are in their 70’s and have lived in the south all their lives. I’ve never heard a racist remark come from either one of them. So her age and background is certainly no excuse. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tries to spin it that way though.
That is disgusting! Who on earth uses that term at all anymore?
Besides racists.
You may not have heard it…yet. I thought that about my parents, too. They are the same age as this woman, and we’re from south Alabama. I had absolutely no, none, zero idea the extent of their racism until my niece (both her parents died so she lives with my parents) started dating black boys. It got ugly. Saying it got ugly is a huge understatement. They went so far as to put her in a home for wayward teens, and even told me they’d rather she end up with some no good redneck boy that beat her ass daily than with a well educated, respectful black boy (only they didn’t say black boy). I am extremely close to my parents, but boy did this really make me hate them on a certain level for their such blind hatred. I can hate blacks too, but I can also hate whites, Latinos, Asians, or anyone else…based on who they are in the inside. I’m of the mindset that people in general suck.
Well Katrina, your family is completely racist.
I watched a documentary last week and I HIGHLY recommend it. The Loving story, about a interracial couple in the 50s. They were chased out of states, were told their children were less than human and he was told to divorce his wife.
This brave man stood up for her and his family and they finally won in the Supreme Court. It was a beautiful story of real love, me husband and I were riveted to the TV, blown away by the racism so prevalent in this country during that time.
Racism of any kind sickens me. We are all of ONE race. The human race. The end.
I get tired of this question when I’m talking about a situation involving a stranger, say a bank teller that irked me or a cashier: “Was he/she black or white?” As if that makes a damned bit of difference! And yes, I’m sitting my chunky little butt right here in the middle of Mississippi as I type this.
Oh, another thing that irks me–comments like these: “That black woman who lives down the street has some gorgeous new peonies planted.” Why? Why can’t we just reference the WOMAN who lives down the street and her pretty new flowers? Drives me batshit!
ToT, they are, and they don’t make excuses or apologize for it. No amount of reasoning or trying to explain their backwards way of thinking to them makes a Damn to them. They are well educated, smart, loving, giving people until it comes to their granddaughter dating outside the white race. When it comes to that, they become backwoods, uneducated, rednecks. They believe in the way they think to their very cores, as do so many of the people down here. Interestingly enough, it does go both ways. I’ve seen black families feel the very same way for their offspring dating “crackers.” Racism is alive and well only must people like to pretend they aren’t part of it. I call bullshit. People in here can pretend to be offended all day long, but we’re all guilty of it at least occasionally…just hopefully not to the extent of others.
@Thiajoka Don’t you think you’re taking it a wee bit far? Race or skin color, just like hair color or height or what have you, is a distinct way we identify ourselves or others. I would love to live in a “colorblind” world where people are treated perfectly equally based on race, but I would never want to live in a world that we have to suppress our unique racial identifies.
I think the key is not pretending not to notice differences, but to acknowledge these differences and embrace them.
@Katrina, just so you know, I moved to the States from a different country (from a very international community) and I was shocked by the racism in American society. I still, to this day, don’t get American stereotypes. Ppl would tell me about fried chicken and watermelon and back people and expect me to laugh. I had no idea what the joke was.
I totally agree that most ppl are racist and really just don’t recognize it about themselves. Sorry, UKers, but I am finding this more and more often to be true with ppl from the UK especially! My inlaws are from the Southern US, and I am often shocked by what they say. They don’t have a clue. And yes, there’s just the casual racism of “Obama won because black people voted for him.” RACIST, you fool.
On the one hand, you can’t get too worked up about other people’s idiocy. On the other, the blindness to casual racism is infuriating to me. I think it’s a social illness that will bring nothing good to American life.
@ Barhey
You clearly don’t live in the South. I know exactly what Thiajoka is talking about here and find it equally disturbing. It isn’t a harmless descriptor. It is a way of classifying the otherness of ‘those’ people and it is not done in a ‘celebrate our differences’ spirit.
No @Barhey, I don’t think I’m taking it too far. If you understood what I meant, you’d know that it is code-speak racism. From people who might not come right out and use racist words, but who nonetheless do consider us against them, even if the lovely “black” lady down the block has some gorgeous peonies. Basically, what @Mich said is spot on.
Omg my family is like that…
I think it should be noted that there’s a perceived difference between the slang N-word ending with an ‘a’ and the old school N-word ending with an ‘er.’ Masque, I’m guessing your cousins are young, and use the one ending in ‘a,’ like some black people do (the “we’re reclaiming the word and making it our own version”). I have heard young (non-black people) use it without malice, but I still hate the word in any form.
Paula Deen (and anyone her age), on the other hand is old. The version she and her husband and her brother likely used ends in an ‘er’ and that’s the version that is historically associated with…well, nothing good.
I grew up mostly in the south and my extended family is black & urban, so I hear and see the slang version a lot more often than I’d like to (which is never). It’s hard to separate your emotion for the word and the person who says it from your overall opinion of said person, but I’ve had to learn to do that. Otherwise I would have hated almost everyone I grew up with (between that and the Confederate flag).
Offensive words aside, Paula Deen lost me with the diabetes/endorsement f*ckery. I admit, the grandmotherly image, accent and liberal use of ‘y’all’ drew me in. I liked her. But after she pulled that mess, I was done.
that´s just wrong and disgusting on so many levels.
her mouth is scary
Yes! Nevermind what goes in or comes out of it.
Gameshow host ghoulish. They’re just too too. You know?
This doesn’t surprise me at all.
And if you’re being robbed and the first thing you can think of to insult a person of color is a racial slur then yes you are a racist, Paula.
I wonder how she feels about fat jokes.
Good point. Had she been robed by someone white, would she then hate white people? Her by Bedhead
makes no sense. I’m no longer a fan.
She needs to take her racist ass and her butter fried food and disappear
I’m absolutely disgusted at her behavior. To think that this mess came out on Juneteenth, no less.
At least I had the #PaulasBestDishes trending topic on Twitter to placate me.
Those are good. Did you ever see her English Peas “recipe”? Not only is the recipe hilariously simple, but when you scroll down and read the comments they will keep you laughing for hours.
Have fun:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/english-peas-recipe/index.html
Thanks for that. Honestly, I don’t follow her at all, but that left me speechless.
Needs a video tutorial. Haha!
Priceless, thanks for sharing!
IKR! I think I saw that at least year or two ago on another site before I knew she was a racist. I thought the recipe and the comments were freaking hilarious.
What the hell is going on with all these women and their mouths. I mean everyday there is another one. I don’t give them any more slack then we would if a man had spouted off the ignorant shit coming from all of them. And man the cover the gambit:
health/cancer
racism
rape victims
damn what will be next?
The full text of the deposition is out, and honestly, it’s even worse than was originally reported.
This is someone who admitted to loving the professional look of a slaves in a ante-bellum way. The woman’s green bean casserole might be fantastic, but nope.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/06/paula-deen-racial.php
Wow. I watch a lot of food network too and she was one of my favorites and to think the whole time she would dress me as a slave if she could…
I’d like to dress her as the pillsbury dough boy and repeatedly poke her in the stomach.
LOL!! Too funny.
Just don’t call her fat in a cruel way when you’re doing it. Only fat jokes.
This thread is hilarious. 😀
Doesn’t look like this idiot will be invited to the White House anytime soon. God, she needs to keep her big mouth shut. Shove some Crispy Crème Donut hamburgers in that trap of hers to keep it shut!
I hope there is an uproar and she is fired from the Food Network.
Even without the casual usage of the N-word, this woman thinks it’s lovely for black workers to dress up as slaves! This is 2013! It’s NOT acceptable. She is definitely a racist, and the kind who thinks of herself as some kind of benevolent dictator. GTFO!
Hillbilly racist. How would she like some fat jokes thrown her way? Go stuff your face and keep quiet!!
I can’t stand Paula Deen. I’m hoping that that her Butter Empire melts.
This. Hope this is her downfall once and for all.
Sadly, I think this will redouble her business. For as far as we have come, there are still people who bear malice towards others based on arbitrary distinctions.
Archetype of the over the top sickening sugary sweet nicey-nicey person phony baloney on the outside, with a rancid inner core.
Would it be okay if she said this about jews? And how she dressed up jewish people in holocaust clothes, You know, those stripey pyjamas things, and served the guests pretending to be nazi’s or Germans?
Oh my Ugh. No!
I only read the People part about the robbery earlier and thoughtthat it was gross but not enough for a lawsuit, but holy fuck did they make the piece pg-13 or something? The detailed piece here is a demonstration of utterly revolting behaviour. Paula Deen just made me lose my appetite.
I have a question.
I’m not trying to be funny or else just a clarification.
She saw a restaurant staff dressed in white jackets with black bow tie. Is this combo a sort of house slaves uniform? I didn’t understand that. Because otherwise it sounds normal.
I don’t like jokes based on race, colour, nationality or else but just the other day my mother-in-law made a joke about Scots and the Schwaben being thrown out of Scotland for excessive stinginess.
My point is jokes are based mostly on belittling s.o.- blondes, jews, blacks, romas ets. and there will always be people to find jokes funny and others to find them offensive.
I think part of the problem with the dress code she wanted was that it reminded her of the Civil War era, where the black waitstaff were black.
And not in defense of her (because she’s still awful), but the depo goes on and she says she decided not to have the waitstaff dress like that at the wedding. Unfortunately, it was because the media would lambaste her, not because she actually thought it was wrong.
Thanks, I was wondering.
I was confused too. To me, white jacket is what you’d wear while sipping champagne on a yacht… black slaves were definitely not the first thing that sprang to mind!
According to the full transcript (that L linked above), what she’s accusing of saying was: “Well what I would really like is a bunch of little n****** to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around. Now that would be a true southern wedding, wouldn’t it? But we can’t do that because the media would be on me about that.”
I’m still vague on how long sleeves and shorts equals slaves (I’m not American, I’m probably some context here), but even though I don’t know exactly what she’s talking about I can EASILY tell that she’s being racist. (Even without the N word, it still reeks of racism.)
It’s so unreal how ignorant she is it’s laughable. She is dumb and insensitive.
She didn’t even know to lie about this stuff in the deposition. Right or wrong most people with common sense would just lie and deny if backed into a corner. R. Kelly pissed on a teenage girl on video and still denied it even going so far as to say it must be a look-alike regardless of the fact that the teen girl in question was his artist’s niece.
Whoever Paula’s team is can’t stand her because the advise to just be herself in the depo was not in her best interest considering that she is an ignorant, sloppy inbred redneck who pisses and sh*ts bricks of butter.
First it was the men. Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods, etc that were being exposed and their careers crumbling around them. Now the women not to be outdone by men. I hope Beyonce joins this crowd because I’m tired of her and her stans.
Hi Micki 🙂 *waves*
The problem (one of MANY with this lady) is that Deen is basically romanticizing an era in American history that was nothing short of a horrific nightmare for black people, without any sense of remorse. This shows some really deep-ceded racism–I mean that shit is way down in there–to the point where she doesn’t even recognize it, which leads me to think that she’s probably been racist for a long time and never really thought there was anything wrong with her way of thinking.
I’m sorry, I get that some people are ignorant–my 100-year-old grandfather who passed a way a couple years ago said the word “colored” all the time and I’ve heard him say the n-word twice. He also voted for Obama in ’08. I never gave him a free pass on that shit though and the guy was 100 and living in seclusion.
Paula Deen, on the other hand, is a very public figure who is working in the entertainment industry and likely has made plenty of cash from black folk who bought her shitty cookbooks and watched her terrible show. She’s going to blame her racism on it being a “different era”?
The truth is, even based on her statement about the Civil War era, she just doesn’t care to understand or empathize with black people and what they endured. She simply doesn’t GAF.
Also, those racist “jokes” are NOT funny (to me at least) they’re lame and offensive to many. I don’t know anyone who would laugh at a racist joke..I know I sure wouldn’t.
She doesn’t give understanding, so she deserves none in return.
CAN.NOT.STAND.HER.
Well explained @ Original Kit.
Hi Kitten!
* waves back*
Thank you for the clarification. As European I don’t have a clue about many US TV channels and shows. I can’t juge their tone and general direction. So most of the time I just read and keep my mouth shut.
I understand better now why people take offence and must say on my turn that KZ jokes will be morifying for me even that I’m not jew.
I guess that both topics (slavery, genocide) are not closed topics and won’t be for a very long time.
As long as human answer for a problem is WAR on YOU the “liberte, egalite, fraternite” will limp on crutches behind I’m afraid
Yeah, that was a house slave uniform.
Yes that was a slave uniform, at least that’s what’s depicted in books and movies.
I’d also add that people still make blanketed jokes, and some of them are harmlessly funny. Most people know the difference. However, due to the extremely sensitive history of slavery and what black people have and still do go through in the US, using that word OR glorifying that era is a huge no-no. That was not even the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.
There is a lot of controversy in the south because a lot of people still fly the confederate flag, despite its racist undertones. A lot of those who fly it will tell you that it’s not a symbol of racism, just of pride in the south. Should be pointed out, I’ve yet to see a black person have anything to do with the flag, despite there being quite a lot of them in the south.
To sum it up, she hails from the tensest (racially) area in the country with a lot of bad blood and strong opinions still very, very present.
I read Michael Moor’s “Stupid white men” about 10 years ago. Somehere in it he gives a graph and references to the still exisitng diference in salaries and such between black and white at present time.
Roughly he says there’s a modern slavery and the black comunity experiences lots of disadvantages.
In this light I think glorifying that era is seriously bad taste and it also makes me wonder how thick her skin isbecause US seems to be for political correctness (in my mind)And a lot more so than Europe(I think)
a lot of people still fly the confederate flag, despite its racist undertones
The Confederate Flag doesn’t have racist undertones. It has racist overtones. It only exists in the first place because of the enslavement of black people in America, and the desire of slaveowners to keep racial slavery going.
Revisionist Southern historians post-Civil War made up this Southern myth and pretended that the South seceded over anything but slavery. It took another hundred years for historians, with black historians in the lead, to be able to call that out for what it is: complete falsehood. The South’s secession was a decision by rich white slaveowners — men who liked to rape female slaves then sell the children into further bondage. They knew slavery would die if it wasn’t allowed to spread throughout the U.S. When Lincoln was elected on the promise that there would be no more slave states, the slaveowners saw the death knell for their obscene profits, their ability to rape with impunity, their ability to force other people to do hard labor, and their aristocratic status.
Here is what that flag means. Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederacy, had this to say in his “Cornerstone Speech”:
The new Constitution has put at rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institutions—African slavery as it exists among us—the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution…
Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas [than of equality the founders of the U.S. believed in]; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition.
The founders of our country knew that slavery was the poison at its heart, but they left it in anyway. We’re still suffering the effects of it. Anyone who flies the Confederate flag is pretending that poison wasn’t really poison and that slavery wasn’t completely evil. It may be a pretty little myth to the white people who want to believe it, but lots of poisons taste good.
Thanks, Micki and Emily C.!
I was hoping someone would come and elaborate on my point in an eloquent manner. I know a lot about a few things and a little about a lot of things, so I appreciate when someone who’s studied it more lends a hand. I admit, I was also a little worried someone would come and defend the people who fly the c-flag and we’d have a brawl.
Anyhow, well done.
Thank you for posting that, Emily. I hear people say that “the civil war wasn’t about slavery, it was about state’s rights!” all the time.
Pretty hard to make that claim when the VP says, “…the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution”
For anyone who wants to learn more, Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson is a good starting point :).
Just downloaded it, Emily C. Thanks for the recommendation!
i think it is ok to say paula is likely a jerk (the best tv i ever saw was when she was drunk on qvc)
but can someone explain to me how the white girl suing her was damaged to the tune of $1 Million?
Hostile work environment. She claims she was forced to view pr0n with Bubba, witnessed employees being violently shaken, along with the stream of racist dreck spewing from Deen and her brother.
thank you
the idea of watching pron w bubba makes my insides all shrively
And I just got ill…
Never watch The Food Network anymore. I used to love it, but everything that appealed to me is gone. Now it is just a bunch of narcissistic, egocentric “stars” that I just can’t listen to.
Too much reality competition made me lose my appetite for the network. I never watch it anymore. Wouldn’t care if the entire thing disappeared.
I agree, I can’t stand the competition shows. I loved the network when it was all about recipes. It is kind of like when MTV stopped playing videos and became all reality shows…why bother watching anymore if it is just going to be about trumped up drama? Placing arbitrary time and ingredient constrictions on people doesn’t do anything for me as a viewer.
The only thing I can stand on it anymore is ‘Chopped’
I know right! Chopped is awesome. I do still watch Iron Chef though.
Everything else sucks a lot.
I watch No Reservations with A.B. but he’s not on Food Network.
Chopped is the only reason why I know The Food Network exists. I don’t have cable but I get so excited when I’m on the treadmill at the gym and Chopped is on.
Now THOSE people are real chefs-you have to be to be able to make an entree from octopus, cinnamon candy, and pickled herring 😉
Chopped, Iron Chef and Diners Drive-Ins and Dives are the only shows I watch on FN. I have a love/hate relationship with DD&D in particular because I cannot stand Guy Fieri and how he’s always sticking his hands into whatever’s being made and interrupting the people making the food while they’re talking. I’ve actually gotten some great recipe ideas from that show. Including one for a salmon burger that was freaking delicious.
My boyfriend is quite the home chef and we like to “play” Chopped at home. I get to pick out three unrelated things from the grocery store, pantry or fridge and he has to make dinner with it. Then I get to eat and judge, only I usually can’t find any complaints. It’s my favorite game!
Have you heard Michael Smith talk about them? He used to be on TFN Canada, but he moved to another network.
He said that shows like the ones they air discourage people from cooking because they’re all style over substance. People think that it isn’t worth it because their food won’t come out looking perfectly. He wants people to get messy and make mistakes (taking a cue from Miss Frizzle, obv)
I love you for making a Magic School Bus reference.
“I’m finished with this guy!” ~ Vinny Gambini from My Cousin Vinny 👿
Bless your soul for quoting the great Vincent Gambini. Don’t even get me started on how much I loved the grits/court scene.
I put down my book to catch up with celebitchy while in Europe on holiday. The book “Devil in the Grove” by Gilbert King is about Thurgood Marshall and a HORRIBLE string of civil right abuses in Florida in the 50s. To then read this about disgusting Paula Deen and her “good ole boy” ways makes me physically ill. If this type of behavior continues to this day in America, then I’m out! (This is an incredible book and I highly recommend, by the way.)
This type of behavior continues in America, and worse. A black person is way more likely to go to jail for a long time for minor drug offenses (or likely anything, but I don’t know the stats) than a white person. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
When I first read this, I thought, this can’t be real, right? Because it was so outlandish, it sounded like something someone would make up.
But she ADMITTED to it?
Holy crap. I just can’t even . . .how do you admit to something like that, and not see how it is?
Hope nobody ever buys her stuff or watches her again.
I had to laugh (not in an amused way) at her nonchalance. Oh, everyone makes jokes about blacks, Jews, rednecks, right? No they don’t. And it’s not okay.
This reminds me of my grandfather’s stories of coming to America in the early to mid 60’s and traveling to the South and seeing “No blacks, Jews, or dogs” allowed signs.
if you sound like a racist – it makes you a racist. That is how it works
The part where she is asked if she has ever said the “N” word and her answer is “of course!” WTF
Of course? Really?
Why because you grew up in the south? No you were raised in ignorance.
I grew up in the south and I was like 35 before I understood what a WOP, Kike (sp) etc where.
Yes I heard the “N” word nut MY mother told me that no matter how ugly other people might act, no matter what words others used, I was to act in a nice manner because it’s better for everyone.
I was also told trashy was trashy and it comes in all colors …..chose good people not trshy ones.
Well, well, well…..
I grew up in Ga. and I am appalled by her behavior.
Since when was is OK, to use an ugly word to describe someone or to put them in a demeaning position for profit.
So she admitted it, ok she’s smarter than Serena Williams in that area and is protecting her “brand” better.
Still an A$$hole.
Ugh, I hope she’s done and she puts a fork in herself. So many here at CB excoriated Bourdain last year and took the side of the good ole girl, elderly diabetic, blue-eyed butter queen. She was as fake as the stuff she’s shilling as Southern food. And simply rotten.
I was one of those people who defended her against Bourdain, and I don’t take that back. Bourdain jumped on her for making fatty food, and basically accused her of being responsible for the obesity and heart disease epidemic in America. I- as someone who, by the way, am very thin and fit– really had a problem with that, because Paula was not trying to present her food as health food (I think; never saw her show).
I think it’s okay to indulge in butter/cheese etc. once in a blue moon, and I see no problem with having a niche in that area. I still maintain that it’s really condescending to act as if overweight people are really stupid and don’t know that butter, etc. are bad for them, and they need someone like Anthony to save them from Paula.
Paula being a gross racist has nothing to do with her cooking style. She could be a fit purveyor of super-low-fat cooking and still be just as awful for the things cited here.
So obviously you took her side without knowing anything about him, and made a lot of assumptions.
Bourdain eats cheese, sausage, all of that. It’s been part of his job for over a decade. He eats it in moderation, he walks everywhere and doesn’t get fat. He also smokes, but if he ever got diagnosed with emphysema, he wouldn’t be shilling a drug for it while still smoking. That is the point he made. He did NOT say she was responsible for the obesity epidemic, but pointed to her as a really good example of the things that cause it. He said it in a way that was facetious, but a lot of people thought he was being literal. It’s pretty clear to people who weren’t Deen apologists at the time.
Pretty hilarious for you to jump on me for taking sides and making a bunch of assumptions when you just did that exact thing to me.
You didn’t read my post at the time, or the exact quotes that he and she made at the time. For the record, I’ve never once watched her show or cooked a recipe of hers, so I’m not taking her side. But he made some very personal, unprofessional, nasty comments about her that were unwarranted.
Why do his comments get the benefit of the doubt of being “facetious,” when he never indicated anything of the kind? Because you’re a Bourdain “apologist?”
And again, people are using her racism to vindicate Bourdain, and one issue has nothing to do with the other.
LOL Okay. I’m not an apologist, I don’t think there SHOULD be an apology for what he said. I agree with what he said. Deen is a disingenuous hypocrite, and her food IS the kind of thing that fuels the obesity epidemic. You didn’t understand it, hear it, or you took it differently. Okay, understood.
I don’t know you and I’m not supposed to. This is an anonymous comments forum. Bourdain is a public figure, you are not. He was asked his opinion, you were not. You offered it freely, in text while his was given verbally. Almost anyone can detect facetiousness from tone and inflection. I’m sorry you cannot, but that is all I can really apologize for.
As for Bourdain, I only jumped in when the blogger and others mentioned it. As I stated before, I think the reaction to his statements–making it out to be a vicious attack–was ridiculous. He called her out when she deserved it.
They’re both foul. My hatred for Bourdain knows no bounds.
Hi guys, and my take on Bourdain: First, I feel sorry for bringing it (the feud) up, because it clouds the more serious topic of Miss Paula’s nonchalant racism. Nevertheless, the ugly allegations were popping up at the same time when people were gushing about her against the CIA-trained, heroine whore Bourdain.
The latter: I like him, but from afar. He’s cold and with limited compassion, but with an inclination for truth and misanthropy. He himself eats a lot of unhealthy stuff, but he’s lucky to have the constitution of a single- humped camel (and he pretty much looks like one).
He never raged against Deen shilling fatty crap; he grumbled against her for doing that AND getting plum endorsements for medication.
Wow, Paula. Just. WOW.
Why am I not surprised? Some Southerners are still fighting the Civil War in their heads. I’ve heard the phrase “the South will rise again” an inexplicable number of times and Confederate flags adorned more places than it should be (and I’m from Ohio so these accounts are just from visits)! As a Black woman it’s EXTREMELY offensive but even if you were to take race of of the equation, how can it be “American” to celebrate or reminisce about the most divisive time in our history? Do Southerners realize if they had won there would be no “America” as we know it? I will simply never understand not do I care to. As for Paula, I hope her career is over; however, she’s already made millions and lives where this behavior is acceptable so I don’t she’ll really be hurting too much.
I don’t understand it either. I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and a lot of people are really, really ignorant due to the fact that I’m probably one of three black people that they will personally see and talk to in their life, if they stay here.
And my English teacher received a flyer from the (I’m assuming) local KKK to join them a few years ago. She was horrified.
And you also wouldn’t believe how “popular” and “cool” it is for the sixth graders to hang around outside the school calling each other the n word. God knows what they say by themselves at home.
I am amused by this story
Two wrongs don’t make a right-she was wrong to use racist words, tell ethnic jokes, etc-but Anthony Bourdain is not vindicated for his cruel assault on Paula Deen in my opinion. You dislike her recipes, personality,etc don’t patronize her restaurants, or her cooking shows,cookware,etc. she is in her 60s-it was a cruel,racist culture and mindset she was a part of-not excusing it but in CONTEXT a vast majority of whites in the Jim Crow era behaved this way. Do we punish any/all the elderly former racists? If she continues to behave this way then the lawsuit should cost her dearly. I work with elderly patients and occasionally they refuse any minorities to care for them-awful,inexcusable but still happens. My own parents when I was growing up used racist language-wrong then, wrong now but they are human and if they were to make those comments now I would call them out-their attitude changed with biracial great-grandchildren-people can change-sincerely hope she learns how wrong she was
What “cruel assault”? Seriously????
He said this: “The worst, most dangerous person to America is clearly Paula Deen,” Bourdain told TV Guide. “I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it’s OK to eat food that is killing us. Plus, her food sucks.”
…sounds like his own (and to me, correct) observation. Sure, Bourdain’s known for being blunt and at times, cantankerous but the underlying message is an important one.
You don’t think a Diabetes patient who gives a recipe for fried chicken dipped in butter or a burger patty on two donuts has ANY level of responsibility in encouraging the obesity epidemic in this country? You don’t see ANYTHING disingenuous about that? Sure, she’s not forcing food down anyone’s throat and we can all make decisions for ourselves but she’s not only ENDORSING it and saying it’s completely fine to eat unhealthy foods (really, ALL her recipes are unhealthy), but making shit tons of money off of it.
It would be like a person who has throat cancer getting paid money to shill cigars on TV. NOT ok, guys.
I mean she actually SUFFERS from a disease caused by her unhealthy eating. The truth is, she just wants to make money, she doesn’t much care about anything beyond that. It’s morally reprehensible and I agree with Bourdain-her food DOES suck.
+ 1000000
I’m in love with you today, Original Kitten.
Hi would you like to be friends 🙂 LOL. Love all of your points and yep I agree with A.B. her food does suck. As someone who watcher her show throughout the years I could not stand her show and when her son started appearing it drove me crazy.
Some of her recipes are seriously just get the food whatever it may be and either fry it i butter, lard, and sprinkle $hit on it.
But Bourdain lost people by coming across as judgemental and mean. Sure, the point he was trying to make was a good one, about eating in a healthier manner. He’d have done far more good if he made it in a better way.
Honestly – Paula Deen the most dangerous person in the entire country? Really? More than murderers, rapists, child abusers and so on? I didn’t care for her Southern belle schtick either, but she’s hardly the only tv cook who uses loads of butter, salt and so forth. He convinced noone, and whipped her fans up into a frenzy defending her.
Unfortunately, people completely dismissed what he meant because of the way he said it. You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, right?
Thanks, Nerd Alert and Starry 🙂
But Another Ann-that IS the essence of Bourdain-he is full of hyperbole and he delivers it in a comedic manner. People made it seem like he “singled” out Deen but he has said many similar things about other chefs. He reminds me a lot of Stern where he speaks off-the-cuff a lot but on the flip-side, he’s the first person to poke fun at himself—egotistical, this man is NOT.
If you’ve ever read his book or seen his show, this is HIS STYLE-he’s had kind of a rough-and-tumble life and he’s always been a wise ass. Personally I respect and appreciate his authenticity. I love that he’s true to himself and doesn’t create a manufactured image for TV. He doesn’t pretend to be this saccharin-y sweet person, you know, like PAULA DEEN does.
After the first round went down between he and Deen he tweeted this:
“Resolved. Next time I’m asked (for the millionth time) who the worst chefs on The Food Network are, I’ll just shut up. Who cares?”
He was asked a question and he gave his HONEST opinion. I’m not going to vilify the guy for that.
I honestly think that the people who got the angriest were fans of Deen and people who know NOTHING about Bourdain. Those of us who have seen his show, see what a genuinely nice, respectful, and funny guy he is.
EDIT: I sound like a total Bourdain fangirl on this board and I do like him a lot but I hated Deen WAY before the controversy with Bourdain.
*Raises microbrew at Original Kitten*
Here, here.
I’m so sick of people pretending to take that statement literally just to defend Paula Deen. No, not really worse than murderers and rapists. Does anyone really, honestly think he meant that literally?
“she is in her 60s-it was a cruel,racist culture and mindset she was a part of-not excusing it but in CONTEXT a vast majority of whites in the Jim Crow era behaved this way”
It has been 48 years since Jim Crow laws ended! She was 18 at the time. She has lived more of her life post-Jim Crow than during it. She is only 66 years old! It isn’t like she is a 90 year old woman who is suffering from dementia. I knew people that told racist jokes when I was a kid, but even as a 9 year old I knew that was wrong.
Yes, she was 18 when Jim crow “ended” but do you really think someone hit a switch and all the cruelty ended? No. That’s not how the south is. These people just held on to the same contempt for blacks, and continued to hate, they just stopped murdering blacks through lynchings and so forth. Understand that people didn’t change, they still keep trying to thwart blacks based on the idea that they’re only part human and nowhere near as good as a white person. SO, you have two kids of post-jim crow whites, the ones who romanticize the slave filled south and ignore the atrocities for blacks, or the ones who openly hate blacks and blame them for everything. Look at the Trayvon Martin trial, read people’s comments. People will post ” well, I think Trayvon brought it on himself, and don’t forget those blacks in Wyoming, or Idaho who committed crimes… that means that all blacks everywhere are violent, so free George ZImmerman! he’s a hero!”
America is a toilet. Someone needs to flush it out, and start again.
Using such horrible and demeaning language isn’t the worst of what this lawsuit is about. According to TPM, “The complaint alleged “racially discriminatory attitudes pervade” Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House where Jackson claimed African-American employees were required to use separate bathrooms and entrances from white staffers. Jackson also said African-Americans were held to “different, more stringent, standards” than whites at the restaurant and that [Paula’s brother] regularly made offensive racial remarks.”
Her brother also forced employees to watch pornography with him in his office.
REVOLTING.
P.S. The woman who brought the lawsuit is white. Why in the world did the African American employees but up with the illegal and horrific treatment? It boggles the mind.
I guess they really needed their jobs, but I had the same question. In this day and age, surely there would have been a slew of lawyers, advocacy groups, and EEOC/government officials lining up to help them the minute they reported some of this stuff.
Yeah, I agree that people who work in restaurants as waitstaff, busboys, delivery guys, etc., are a lot less likely to complain about that sort of thing. Partly out of fear because they need their jobs and partly because they’ve probably experienced that kind of treatment often and it’s not new or shocking to them. I wouldn’t be surprised if Latino restaurant/kitchen workers experience the same kind of mess.
“African-American employees were required to use separate bathrooms and entrances from white staffers”
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Horrible! AGH! I can’t believe someone would treat other human beings this way!
My thoughts exactly!!
Is is a shame that so much of the discussion is being focused on her filthy, racist mouth when she is allegedly guilty of something MUCH more despicable (and truly illegal).
I am sickened & disgusted by this. Me guess is the surface has just been scratched. We all do & say things we regret, I don’t believe she does. She hasn’t apologized for anything. As far as Ina Garten goes.. loved her? I read recently that she turned down a terminally ill child twice for his wish. Food Network found out and several other chefs stepped up for this child. His mom talked him into swimming with dolphins instead.
several chefs stepped up for this child. Hi
s mom talked him into swimming with dolphins.
Oprah is gonna be pisssssssssssssssed.
Who cares what Oprah thinks? She isn’t relevant anymore. Paula did horrible things, Oprah couldn’t have known any of this. Do we really know anyone?
it was meant to be funny. (your taking this all too seriously I think.)
hahahahaha
The only way that I even know who Paula Deen is is thanks to Oprah. She always had Paula on her show. Guess she didn’t realize what names Paula was using to describe her behind her back
I will be VERY surprised if she manages to keep her show
Some people may want to cut her some slack because it was “a different time,” but I don’t accept that. My mother was raised in Virginia and had distant family who had a restaurant that segregated black and white patrons. She never understood it, and never had anything negative to say about black people. My aunt from NY traveled to the south in the 60’s with her family and they refused to be seated in a restaurant ahead of black people who had been waiting before they got there. It’s about decency. Paula Deen is a douche.
Hats to the women in your family!
”off”
Wave buh bye to her career. Dunzo.
I wish her empire would come crushing down on her but it won’t happen. Unfortunately there are a lot of people with the same mindset. She’ll have plenty of support from those people, but it would be lovely if The Food Network took a stand and canned her a$$.
My housemate said the same thing.
Knowing TFN, they’ll stand behind her in the name of freedom of speech.
I keep hoping that this isn’t an official transcript and that somehow this isn’t true.
And over and above her racism:
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/2011/08/bruni_culinary.php
Check out the following paragraph:
“Deen, for all of her folksy, I’m-just-cooking-for-all-of-y’all-who-can’t-afford-microgreens charm, has made many millions thanks to her partnership with Smithfield Foods, the pork producer and processor that’s made headlines for abusing unions, animals, small farmers, and the environment. (It’s also given plenty of campaign contributions to the GOP, that bastion of fairness to the working class.) Deen is no less a member of the culinary aristocracy than Bourdain — they just belong to country clubs with different rules.”
Yes, nailed it. One thing I could NEVER stand about her was how she thickened her accent once she got really popular. She played the folksy, down-homer to the point of parody. She was never as mewl-y before.
she’s pathetic, must admit..not surprised..
I cannot stand Paula Deen, but please don’t call her “elderly”–66 does not qualify as elderly.
66 doesn’t qualify as elderly? Then what does? 100?
Yes.
Nobody’s old in their 60’s any more.
I always use 75 as my elderly mark. 45-60 are “middle aged” and 65-75 are “older,” (aka. an older gentleman).
But that is just me.
Not to defend her, but was this not debunked as an old fake story?
No, this is new information. It’s a second lawsuit and this is a very recent and recorded deposition. There’s really no denying it, she admitted it already.
Yikes. Gettin’ my hate on, then.
Wow…just wow. smh
No surprise here. This woman is the lowest of the low. How can someone who promotes that type of eating especially when she herself knows firsthand how it can kill you, not be a money-grubbing, two-faced, racist? She really needs to take her millions and go away now.
I did it! I complained to FoodTV and said she was racist–pull her shows and her sons’ shows.
Oh, and her full transcript runs about 150 pages!
All that butter has damaged her brain.
I never could stand this woman, a complete phony
Exactly.
These last few days of public figures saying absolutely incredible things – is this some kind of trend? I have to remind myself the celebrity persona is carefully constructed by publicists, editors, etc. I wonder if you get used to being in the public eye, and lose your sense of “private” – maybe they feel they are so adored nothing that they do or say can affect them.
I am disturbed by comments elsewhere that say things to the effect, “well, what else do you expect from a southern white woman?” That said, I relocated to New Orleans (pre-Katrina) and lived there for a few years, and was baffled by some things that are embraced there, specifically the allure of plantations. The plantation tours are very popular; why is this an era to glorify? People dress in “Gone with the Wind”-inspired gowns and play act at being gracious hostesses in the “Old Southern Style”. I find it weird that people would want to celebrate this, especially since such a celebration may be a bad memory for a huge part of the population.
I have to remember that the civil rights era wasn’t really that long ago – many people from both sides are still alive.
I used to like her. Until I read her autobiography. Then I just didn’t feel the same way about her. I saw her on Oprah promoting the autobiography and telling the story of how she had mental issues and didn’t leave her house for years. But instead of feeling inspired by her recovering from her mental problems, the book made me feel disgusted that she would live in a filthy pig pen full of cockroaches. When the diabetes thing came out, it wasn’t a surprise, but she seemed like more of a phony. And those things were nothing compared to this. I really dislike her now. The 80’s were well after the civil rights movement, and I give her no credit for it “being a long time ago.” It’s pretty obvious she’s a callus person. And it sounds like her brother is pretty much a dirtbag. So I’m really thinking the accusations in the lawsuit are mostly true. I doubt she really cares that much anymore. She’s a multimillionaire and even if her career and businesses collapse, she can probably still live in style, unfortunately.
I knew she was racist when she had Albert Pujols on her cooking show. She made a comment about “HIS PEOPLE MUST LOVE HIM DOWN THERE”.. I thought well that’s a odd comment. Its no different then telling a black person YOUR PEOPLE. she’s an idiot.
As a sixty-eight year old black woman, who grew up in the south before we could ride in the front of the bus, or sit at Woolworth’s counter I am glad Paula uses racial slurs in a way not meant to hurt anyone. I USED TO WATCH HER SHOW.
I don’t know if you saw my post above but, part of the lawsuit she was being deposed for alleges that African American employees in some of the restaurants she owns had to use separate entrances and restrooms.
She deserves every bit of hate she is getting.
WTF?!
Honey, I’m also black and I remember the segregated lunch counters in Woolworths. There is no such thing as using racial slurs in a way not intended to offend anyone. Racial slurs are offensive, period.
I think (hope) Charl was being sarcastic.
Vile woman. Completely unacceptable.
(From a cynical angle, you’d think that even if those were her views, she’d try to conceal them in order not to tarnish her brand.)
Thats what I thought also! That at least she would try and deny/hide it to save face, its not like people dont lie is depositions everyday. That just proves she really finds nothing wrong with it. Wow Anthony Bordain was right about her! She is vile, trash!
I think your post says more about yourself than it does about Paula Dean.
“Paula, your honor is worth more than your career. Keep on telling those jokes and don’t give in to the bastards.”
If she had honor she wouldn’t be making those jokes in the first place. She wouldn’t make black employees use different entrances and bathrooms. There is a whole lot she would do differently if she had any honor.
I know the South takes heat for its racism, but let’s not forget that there’s plenty of racism in the north too. I’m guessing some of the slur apologists here aren’t southern.
Truth! I grew up in a northern state and a southern state and I’ve seen that kind of ugliness in both places.
I’m in Southern California and there is plenty of racism here too.
A lot of my family are pigs when it comes to this. Right wing conservative christians. I hear equally about Blacks, Mexicans, Gays and Muslims. I refuse to talk to any of them about politics or religion because they are so hateful.
I always knew it was wrong and I was always so embarrassed.
See, this is why I’m worried Paula Deen’s not going to suffer for her vileness. She may lose some endorsements and etc., but she just got a big boost with racists, and there are enough of them, with enough money, that I think she might even gain from this. Ugh.
TEAM BOURDAIN!!! *glares @ Kaiser* He’s an (admitted) a-hole but he’s an honest a-hole.
I have so many thoughts on this that I cannot fully clarify them. Therefore,
TEAM BOURDAIN! 🙂
Honest, forthcoming and genuine. Not to mention able to make fun of himself.
Team Bourdain!
She really doesn’t get it. Paula, your bank was not robbed by a n…… It was robbed by a guy who’s black. There is no reason ever to use that word. She seems to think that we’ll understand it because, you know, robbery.
Few things disgust me more than blatant racism. I’m sorry, “I’m an equal opportunity offender!” is not an good excuse. I get that people can get too uptight about what is supposedly “political correctness”, the type of people who act like you should never acknowledge things like race, ever. Yes, that is silly. Race is a thing in our culture, it can be one of the things that make us interesting as a species and does affect things socially and medically. So pretending it SHOULD NEVER BE TREATED LIKE SOMETHING THAT EXISTS OR MATTERS EVER is silly. But the backlash to political correctness is so, so much worse. “Oh, me saying the N-Word is just me being a crusader for free speech and not buying into that PC crap!” No, it’s you being a disgusting bigot and trying to pretend it somehow makes you enlightened. Sorry, but political correctness is just a euphemism for basic human decency. I don’t mind the occasional ethnic joke, but there’s a difference between having some fun with ethnicity and being downright derogatory. There is simply a line you don’t cross. Calling someone that word is one of them.
I’m sure at some point someone is going to go, “Black people use it, why shouldn’t white people be allowed to?” Here’s the thing: a derogatory term and the reclaiming of it is complicated issue. I’m not black, nor am I an expert on African American history/culture, etc and as such I don’t consider myself qualified to off the best explanation of it. But the fact is, a person should have enough respect for cultural boundaries, to respect a community’s decision that, sorry, isn’t something like, say, female circumcision, or cutting off people’s hands for stealing, that is incredibly brutal. And sorry, until you are one of those people who have had that word directed at them and others members of their people in such a derogatory and violent way, who have had to fight tooth and nail against all the injustice that word represents, or at least have a deep, intense knowledge of that group’s history and cultural aspects, then I don’t think you have enough understanding of a word like that to have a valid opinion of the reclaiming of that word. That doesn’t just apply to black people. I am a Polish-American Ashkenazi Jewish woman. I have my own personal beliefs on the idea of reclaiming slurs like the K-Word, H-Word, “slut” and “Pollack.” But slurs against other races like the N-Word, G-word, F**got, Sp*c, Ch*nk, etc? That I believe is a boundary I should not cross. I’m not going to tell other cultures or judge on their feelings on words like that. Sorry, but your life is not going to be seriously impaired if you’re not allowed to use the N-Word without consequences. Yes, you have free speech and are free to use the word, but the rest of us are free to talk about what a disgusting, insensitive bigot you are if you do.
The fact is, Paula Deen, with her bigotry, is not only perpetuating ignorance and insensitivity, but creating a hostile work environment. I feel so sorry for her poor employees! People in food services have enough issues to deal with, this sort of shit just makes it so much worse. This sort of thing makes me feel so awful. I mean, I’d be horrified if someone I worked for made me wear a giant false nose or a Star of David on my uniform and/or suggested I draw a number on my arm and ask all my tables for a big tip or some shit.
And not only is she being horrible to her workers and people of other races, she also harming her own culture, perpetuating damaging stereotypes of Southern/Country people as she is wallowing in stereotypes of Black people. There are so many extremely sophisticated, intelligent, welcoming, wonderful Southern people who enjoy lots of aspects of Southern culture and would never, ever, in a million years act so racist, backwards, and disgusting. Quite a few people in the south are actually really hyper-sensitive in that area because of that stereotype and their really worried about people thinking they’re not welcome because they’re a different race. And yet, thanks to Paula Deen’s bullshit, the stereotype of the ignorant, racist Southerner is perpetuated.
I’m going to enjoy watching Deen burn for this, though.
“Oh, me saying the N-Word is just me being a crusader for free speech and not buying into that PC crap!” No, it’s you being a disgusting bigot and trying to pretend it somehow makes you enlightened.
VERY WELL SAID. The N word should NEVER be used by anyone, ever, period.
i dont like her or her food
but people come and go in restaurant jobs pretty quickly. im curious about the validity of the case. why didnt she quit and how did she come up with $1 M in damages?
Ugh this is just disgusting. I hope she does get dropped from food network or whatever show she’s on. I think she’s playing dumb…how does she not know that it’s offensive and a she could and did get sued for it. Really?
My ninety year old neighbors don’t even use that word, and we live in the middle of nowhere…although they do say colored. I’m going to put that down as their age/ignorance, as one of their granddaughters is married to a black guy and Mr. Caspary just loves him. They also just had a baby too.
Anyway, I don’t want to even think about this much more…it’s just disgusting.
“Colored” was the polite term when they were young. They likely aren’t on the internet at all, and it gets tougher to change as one gets older — they probably still think it’s the polite term. However, I think in these situations, someone close to them should tell them that’s not what we say any more.
They’re practically homebound; Mrs. Caspary has a bad hip and uses a walker-the only time she leaves the house is to go to the hospital, and Mr. Caspary goes out once a week to do the shopping.
I’m pretty much the only other person that they see on a weekly basis, besides their daughter; all the rest of their family comes up a few times a year.
If you’re the kind of person who only tells “jokes” about people who are less privileged than you, you are a total a*hole. That Paula Deen admits it, and thinks this is normal — wow.
A woman of contradictions..
She’s diabetic on meds but cooks and still eats greasy, fattening foods and tells America to do so too
She ‘appears’ to be a down-home friendly Southern type, but is a racist at heart. I watched her show from time to time but now I’M DONE WITH THIS SOW!
All week, reading these stories, I’ve had to check the calendar on my wall periodically to see what decade – sorry, century – I’m living in.
Who even thinks about asking someone to dress as a slave?
She is and always has been sooo clueless. I put up the hand when I found out who she was and saw her advocating putting butter all over everything and having a doughnut cheeseburger. Horribly irresponsible. Bitch please …
A cook should be teaching people how to make healthy meals taste great, not how to die young of heart disease because you’re a flipping pig, ffs.
I think there is still time that she may suffer some repercussions with the outcry about this.
I’ve just been waiting for things to settle-down a bit but I just wanted to add that I haven’t cared for her since I read her autobiography.
She, “wrote”, it and she admitted to several things like carrying on with a married man for 10 years who stole from her and still carrying on with him while she was also involved with her current husband, etc. and I’m not being all Judge Judy but this woman has been a mess for a long time.
I ate at her first restaurant in Savannah before she was famous and it was BLAND.
I love Southern cooking and it is rather basic but it’s delicious and it shouldn’t be bland and the few of her recipes I’ve tried were pretty bland too.
Also, I’ve said all along that her accent isn’t natural.
I’ve lived all over the South and I’ve never heard anyone else speak quite like that. It’s put on.
There have been some blind items in regard to one of her close family members who seems to be gay but is terrified of coming out because of the fall-out he/she would suffer from his/her own family.
I think I cleaned that up and made it as ambiguous as possible because I feel a little sorry for him/her and it’s not my place and I agree that she does act like a horny, old woman and although Michael seems to be okay with it, I think it’s disrespectful.
I would NEVER use that word in any context AT ALL. It is never appropriate. It is an ugly, ugly word as are any denigrating terms referring to people’s ethnicity. I don’t find this amusing and would have a difficult time believing her if she says otherwise. The way she idealized that restaurant is just ridiculous!
Apparently, Paula Deen is the last to know that she’s a repellant douche and that racists don’t get to set the bar on appropriate behavior.
Maybe Paula should have planned that wedding with those couples who chose hobo and colonial Africa themes since they seem to share the same level of tact.
This is the same woman who showed the world how to cook obesity-causing meals while already diagnosed a diabetic…but didn’t publicize because of endorsments. She’s scum. Racist scum.
Anthony Bourdain saw through that phony bitch from the start!
Love Paula Deen!! I have always wished I had a Mom like her. Since she voted for Obama I doubt she is a racist.But even if she was ..this is not a crime. Geeze. Where I live blacks rob banks and jewelry stores around here not the white folks. No sympathy here.
Well you would be a great daughter since your a racist as well.
And do you really think someone who has separate bathrooms and entrances for black people is not a racist??
I’m not giving Paula Deen a pass for using the N word. It’s not a word that should be used by anyone–blacks, whites, yellow, purple, green, blue, what have you…
But she does come from a different generation. She was young during the Civil Rights’ Movement and she experienced segregation (especially in the South where it was especially bad). Whatever her parents taught her is what she believed and it’s really hard to change that generation’s mindset (trust me on this–my French grandmother is very racist towards Arabs/Muslims and nothing her grandchildren say will change her mind). Most of us did not grow up during segregation and don’t understand what that kind of world was like. My American grandfather (who has passed away RIP) used to refer to black people as Negroes all the time. Not the same as using the N word but calling black people Negroes has also become frowned upon.
He also used to refer to Japanese as “Japs,” not a term that is okay nowadays either (besides the term has now come to mean Jewish American Princess). But then he was a WWII vet and experienced our country fighting the Japanese.
I don’t support Paula’s racism, but to her there is a logic to her behavior. It may not seem logical to us but from her background and her perspective it is completely logical.
Nope don’t buy it, there are tons of people from that age and background that would never say that or have separate bathrooms for black people.
She is a racist and a douche and there is no excuse
She is 66 and I get it from the older generation of people who grew up when racial humor was acceptable, where times where simpler, ethnic people where more in there places, gays where closeted, gender rolls where strictly followed and people related to the theme song of “All in the Family’s” “Those Where the Days”. Probably most of us who are young have elders that speak openly on these things and cling on to their ignorance and fears and say I miss the “good old days” .
This whole thing that she did and using the N word is totally aberrant. This is not a PC matter and I think that people who use the PC argument in this matter is just making mere excuses for what she did.
I do understand what people are talking about when people say “How come when black say the “N” word it is acceptable
and when white people use the “N” word it is wrong. I think it is wrong for all people to use the “N” word but when white people use that word it is particularly egregious, it is not the mere perpetuation of ignorance it is the hatred and subjugation of a whole race.
As a 34 year old person from Southern California, I am a product of my environment and I have a view of the world and country in a nuanced way and I also know that some things are black and white, right and wrong. I think Americas best days are still ahead of her not behind her stuck her in the era of the “good old days”.
Yes, times have changed and so have generations but no matter how old she is age is no excuse for blatantly raciest language and behavior.
Put aside the N word for a sec and that argument… She and her brother had separate bathrooms and entrances for black people!!!
I just can’t get over that
Paula Deen was supposed to be on TODAY this morning. She called and talked to Matt Lauer yesterday and asked him what questions she would be asked. He told her it would be a no-holds-barred interview.
She flew to New York last night and this morning “her people” called TODAY and said she was exhausted and would not be doing the interview.
Guess it got too hot and she had to get out of the kitchen. 🙂
Like, Bubba’s his real name? Is that a joke?
We have people in politics who use/have used that word (Some I’m sure who still do.) Why is everyone so hard on Paula Deen? She’s had numerous Blacks on her show that she’s known for years. Some who have worked for her/some who are just friends and some who own their own restaurants. Why are some people so hell-bent to demonize Paula Deen? I’ve seen Paula “kiss/hug/feed and cook with” many blacks she’s invited on her show. If anything, she’s paid a price for her affection/love for all ethnic groups.
ATTENTION: MOST Black people do not go around calling each other the N word. You see a few black idiots who do and suddenly we all do? You hear a few black fools say it doesn’t bother THEM, so suddenly it doesn’t bother any of us?Stop using this piece of crap excuse!
very good,you dont have to love and tolerate everyone.She’ll do what she wants!
Why is it such a big deal when someone other than a black person uses the n-word. I hear african americans dropping the n word on a daily basis so what makes them exempt to being told they are sick or wrong for using the n word its a word not a nice one when referring to ones race. You people act like you have never laughed at a racist joke or ever told one be it about blacks, Jewish people or even Muslim people I think most of you need to get off your high horse and come back to reality racism is still running rampant it is just more hidden.
give her a break. Lady grew up during different times.
No. That’s ageist. She is capable of learning.
He who hath never said the “N” word in their life, step forward. Especially the executives that fired Paula Deen! Stones and Glass houses!