Paula Deen's use of the "N"-Word

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by StealthMode

SN: I've been meaning to see "Dark Girls" for awhile now. I tried to see it a showing at a conference but it was sold out both nights. However, I could do without the "Darker is better" and "I hope my children are dark like pharaohs and queens because you can't look like royalty being light as hell" comments. Um we all descended from the same royalty so back up off my lite brite. But that's for another thread entirely.

It is a really good, but tremendously sad, documentary. It makes me think of things from my childhood and things from my adulthood.

The documentary is not about "darker is better" (but of course humans tend to operate on extremes and have a difficult time balancing. Of course, people will think it makes sense to combat "black is ugly" with "black is beautiful" and eventually "black is the ONLY beautiful thing."). The documentary is about why most African-Americans have a social-psychological struggle with this. One girl said she used to come home and wash her skin to get the "black off." She used to hate her father because she has his skin complexion. A woman said she used to beg her mother to put bleach in the bath tub so she could whiten her skin everyday. Unfortunately, there are people around the world who bleach their skin, including Reggae artist Vybz Kartel and Sammy Sosa.

This documentary also speaks to why various races, ethnicities, and cultures around the world have struggled with issues of skin complexion, hair texture, and body features. Some European ethnicities have also struggled with this.

ETA: StealthMode, they just showed the part of the documentary in which two Black men said they preferred darker Black women. One man said he wants his children to be darker like pharoahs and queens. Then he said "I'm being real ignorant right now" so he knew he was talking crazy. LOL.

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Have you read Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential"?!

Random: I love Bourdain's CNN show.

[Missouri Ivy]

Especially with the rather distinctive name she used in her very first post. It seems like an odd alias, so it's probably real.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Missouri Ivy

Especially with the rather distinctive name she used in her very first post. It seems like an odd alias, so it's probably real.

I agree...why make up a name when you already have a username?

[SWTXBelle]

Given the p.r. mess occasioned by the Maryland e-mail, I imagine most chapters would very much like to avoid pledging new members who don't have a firm grasp of what constitutes appropriate communication, be it via e-mail or in a chat group.

[PiKA2001]

This post is in regards to the allegations against Paula Deen-

After seeing some clips of her interview and reading more articles about this story I'm still unsure if Paula Deen is the worst racist of 2013 or if this is just character assassination from a disgruntled former employee. I've been waiting for all of the other people who've been around Deen to come forward with their own experiences of her racism and so far..crickets. It still seems to be she said/she said. If this was all trumped up just so she could win her lawsuit, I feel bad for PD..but of course if what is being alleged is true, actions have consequences and PD is going to have to live with them.

[FSUZeta]

Here is a thoughtful, thought provoking, open letter I read on Facebook:

http://afroculinaria.com/

[TonyB06]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

Here is a thoughtful, thought provoking, open letter I read on Facebook:

http://afroculinaria.com/

I thought it was a bit overwritten, his "points" too hard to decipher. Read about the first third and then gave up.

[DrPhil]

I think there is enough stuff posted in this thread out of Paula Deen's own mouth. Even her joke about her Black friend's Blackness will not be found funny by everyone. People who do not find it funny have every ability to be pissed. It is certainly not the first time that people respond to other people (comedians included) for making jokes that seem more driven by an uncomfortable belief system rather than "rough humor." Such is life.

I would be interested to see how this would go if this was about Paula Deen talking about another group of people--let's use LGBT as an illustration. If Paula Deen admitted to using a gay slur in the heat of anger or was taped making jokes with a homosexual friend that not everyone found funny; Paula Deen ranting about how homosexuality is traditionally frowned upon in the Deep South therefore she is an innocent and mindless product of her environment; and Paula Deen saying that she doesn't see what's wrong with HER USE of gay slurs because some of her chefs who are gay use them around each other (she said that about the racial slur). Yeahhhhh...I would love to see the LGBT community (as a collective, not individuals) say "haha...you're hilarious...have fun!!" Yeahhhhh...I would love to see people TELL the LGBT community that it was innocent and mindless fun on the part of an older white woman from the Deep South...therefore...there should be no negative opinions and potentially no negative consequences. I would also love to see companies underestimate the purchasing power of the LGBT community and the supporters of this community and say "nooo, we're keeping Paula Deen...but don't take this to mean that we are making a statement against you...."

Yeahhhhh...I won't hold my breath waiting for things like this to happen.

Whether or not Paula Deen is racist would depend on whether her prejudices are manifested into actions that negatively impact other people. Annoying people, angering people, not being considered funny, or hurting people's feelings are not the crux of racism. That is why diversity trainings and rainbow pissing ponies designed to get people to smile at each other don't work.

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

Here is a thoughtful, thought provoking, open letter I read on Facebook:

http://afroculinaria.com/

I did not understand much of what this culinary writer was saying. But, I gather that this writer is saying "I understand...it's how things happen...let's get together."

I respect that writer's opinion but some of us can multitask. We can talk about Paula Deen and tackle larger issues regarding the structure of racism. Yes, there are people of the African diaspora who were and still are consumers of Paula Deen. I was not and still am not among them but I enjoyed seeing her commercials.

[SWTXBelle]

I didn't realize Paula Deen might have been referencing an actual specific restaurant: http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2..._nostalgia.php

"I knew immediately which restaurant she was referring to -- Pittypat's Porch, named for the slave-owning Gone With The Wind character, which claims to be the longest continuously operational restaurant in Atlanta. It opened in 1967, and hasn't changed much in the intervening decades. It aims for "an atmosphere similar to an old plantation."

I always associated waiters (black and white) in white dinner jackets with older restaurant traditions (since I have family from New Orleans, my main experience was with Galatoire's, Brennan's, Antoine's, The Court of Two Sisters, Tujaques) but not with slavery.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I didn't realize Paula Deen might have been referencing an actual specific restaurant: http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2..._nostalgia.php

"I knew immediately which restaurant she was referring to -- Pittypat's Porch, named for the slave-owning Gone With The Wind character, which claims to be the longest continuously operational restaurant in Atlanta. It opened in 1967, and hasn't changed much in the intervening decades. It aims for "an atmosphere similar to an old plantation."

I always associated waiters (black and white) in white dinner jackets with older restaurant traditions (since I have family from New Orleans, my main experience was with Galatoire's, Brennan's, Antoine's, The Court of Two Sisters, Tujaques) but not with slavery.

That really doesn't help her cause. I don't think she was into it for the camp factor.

http://clatl.com/atlanta/pittypats-p...nt?oid=1958129

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by KDCat

That really doesn't help her cause. I don't think she was into it for the camp factor.

http://clatl.com/atlanta/pittypats-p...nt?oid=1958129

Oh, I didn't note it to "help her cause". I found it interesting that there was a specific restaurant she might have been "inspired" by when planning her brother's wedding. The fact that the restaurant apparently has bad food is decidedly unsouthern.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Oh, I didn't note it to "help her cause". I found it interesting that there was a specific restaurant she might have been "inspired" by when planning her brother's wedding. The fact that the restaurant apparently has bad food is decidedly unsouthern.

Yep.

My grandma was from Arkansas. "Southern" was the first thing I learned to cook.

So. much. good. food.

[AlphaFrog]

I might stop in more often, now that DrPhil is back.

And, as to not derail the thread....butter.

[StealthMode]

Don't worry--"It's handled."

Paula Deen Hires Smith & Co., Inspiration for ABC's "Scandal."

Paula Deen has hired D.C. crisis firm Smith & Co. as she faces backlash and loses sponsorship deals amid allegations that she has used racial slurs.

Ms. Deen's management team reached out to the firm a few days ago, an executive familiar with the matter said, after she had already canceled her planned Friday appearance on "The Today Show" and issued a pair of poorly-received YouTube videos instead.

Smith & Co. CEO Judy Smith, who served as the inspiration for Kerry Washington's character on ABC's "Scandal," declined to comment.

In what was likely a first move by the new PR team, Ms. Deen rescheduled her interview with Matt Lauer on "The Today Show" this morning. She broke out in tears as she said she had only used the "N" word while being held at gunpoint.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Thanks.

So, does this writer fail to see how all of this may be intertwined?

No, I don't think he fails to see it. I think his style of writing may be such that it's a little hard to follow, but I think he gets that. I think it's more of a focusing on the use of the N-word and the like is missing (ignoring? avoiding?) the bigger picture.


So did others see that Paula Deen has also enlisted the help of Jesse Jackson?