Paula deen going down hill!

[MisterTinkles]

Paula Deen was born in 1947 in Albany Georgia. Just for a little historical perspective, Jim Crow laws were still in effect for much of the south at that time. The South as a whole was DEEPLY segregated and if you were a white person in that environment you were exposed to the word "nigger" in every single facet of your life. That is a fact! The Civil Rights Act was passed in JULY, 1964 for Pete's sake! We forget how recently these things happened! Most Americans over the age of 30 in this country, remember a time when derogatory slurs were commonplace in our society! When I was growing up, for example, we called Brazil nuts "Nigger Toes". And as Mexican-Americans, we also called newly arrived illegal immigrants "Wetbacks", even though my own ancestors were, in fact, "Wetbacks" themselves. In the 70's, white people were "Honkies" to anyone who grew up in Hispanic or African-American neighborhoods. That is just the way things were. Does that make me a racist? Should I be hung out to dry because I used the words "Nigger" "Honky" and "Wetback" in the past? If that is the measure, then there are going to be a whole helluva lot of people who's heads are ready for the chopping block!

But before I get thrown under the bus for stating the truth (which is all that Paula Deen did) you should also know that I am much more than the racist comments of my past. We ALL are! Since the 60's and 70's, I have also been on the frontline of fighting racism as well as sexism and heterosexism. I have marched on DC for Gay rights, have you? I have physically defended my gay brethren against skinheads in a fist fight, have you? I have stood hand in hand with two opposing gang members on either side of me as we shouted down white supremacists at a KKK rally, have you? I have protested in picket lines in support of the Equal Rights Amendment, have you?

The point is this: Nobody... NOBODY should be condemned for language that they used nearly thirty years ago, or even for language used 10 years ago. Unless a person magically KNOWS what is in someone's heart, how can one condemn them? I don't think that anyone has that right.

Personally, I think that Paula Deen is a somewhat ignorant, Southern belle who probably doesn't fully understand what is or is not racist. But I don't believe for a minute that she is malicious. I think that she has been trapped by her own history which is a terrible place to be. But I am really over all of the self-righteous media pricks turning a deposition and a story from the National Enquirer into banner headlines! There are too many SERIOUS race issues to deal with and these blood-thirsty attacks are a complete farce! Matt Lauer is a pompous, pretentious, self-absorbed ass of the first order and so are the rest of the media sharks who have decided to railroad this one woman on a non-issue! Enough is enough.

OH MY FREEKIN GAWD....I COULD HUG YOU TILL YOU TURN PURPLE!!!!!


I was brought up around the same kind of language. To us, back then, it was'nt something bad....it was just a descriptive word. Yes, SOME used those words for evil purposes, but I rarely saw that where I lived.

Of course my sister is a true red-necked red neck...when she says "nigger" she means it in the most hateful way possible. BUT (and I am NOT excusing her for this at all), she ONLY says it when someone black has NO manners or tries to run her off the road when she's driving. Same goes for any other race, as far as she's concerned. If you dont have any manners or respect for anyone elses life or property, you get called what you really are. And she will never change.

"Name calling" will NEVER EVER change. The "names" might change from generation to generation, but they will never stop. As long as there is hate and intolerance in the world, there WILL be "name calling".

If you're going to accuse Ms. Deen of this, then the rest of humanity needs to go down with her.

Whats that bible saying???
"LET HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN, CAST THE FIRST STONE"


And a BIG THANK YOU and HUG for protesting!!!
Ive never been in a "march", but I have my own personal protest methods. he he he

[BellyNel]

I absolutely do not condone the N word. Though I am sure many have used the word once in their lifetime, said in anger or otherwise. Firing Paula Deen from the Food Network - she said so in the PAST. Dropping her from book deals, endorsements, etc... People need to understand that racism and prejudism still exists.

How does anyone know if anyone else doesn't have any skeletons in their pasts that might be dug up and used against them?

Rappers use the word CONSTANTLY. Young people use it with each other. Why not prosecute all the artists. And then what? Arresting all the young people - then what?

[ManicReptile21]

all i can say is the other day i had to pull magazines off the shelf in my store, because they were being recalled by the manufacturers. not because they had anthrax or something severe like that. no. because of this incident. its one thing to talk about it on the internet, but the game changes when i have physically become a part of her demise. I was not happy and actually felt very bad doing this.

[Miles]

"Congratulations, everyone. Our self-serving, faux-indignant, kneejerk crucifixion of this southern white lady for having come clean about uttering a particular pair of syllables in a particular order at a particular time has finally ended institutional racism and substantive inequality in all spheres of life. Pat yourselves on the back, drinks are on me!"

[Wade]

The negative thing about giving such power to a word is that helps actual racists avoid being detected as a racist. Paula Deen admits to using a particular word years ago and the entire country goes ape shit. This is because the word is magical. It gives people a clear indicator of a person we deem racist. And if I had to guess, I don't think she is racist, I think she's ignorant. Racists actively hate people, ignorant people are just people who don't know any better. I'm not excusing her behavior, she's a grown woman and should know better and should not be such a fucking moron, but I still don't think she's a hateful person.

So that happens in our culture. And yet Geraldo Rivera can get on Faux News after the Trayvon Martin murder and say things like "black people and Latinos should not wear hoodies because it makes them look intimidating" and no one gives a shit because he didn't use any of the magic words that we know to associate with racists, even though what he said was a thousand times worse than anything Paula Deen said. That's the danger with giving certain words such power. It makes it easy for actual racists to remain undetected and play innocent.


And by the way.... who the fuck is Paula Deen anyway?