Paula Deen Witch Hunt

[BMWSTACK]

Well, for the "witch hunt" part, I named it that.......

I do not remember it coming from her. But you have your opinion and I have mine.

I haven't totally decided WHAT exactly I believe, still looking at all the evidence. From the start, I couldn't believe it to begin with. Then I googled the transcripts so I could be better informed.

If you have reading material that could enlighten me, please post a link.

Thank you

Its been called a witch hunt in the media a few times, so not necessarily saying you are credited with starting the term.

Paula Deen did play the victim card a few days ago. And she or her family may have referred to it as a witch hunt but either way that's the way the Deen's portrayed it.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and who knows you may never know what to believe, but I would assume that you made up your mind when you posted the petition asking people to sign it in support of her.

The evidence is already there IMO. She said the word and people can go on and on about whether its racist or not. But the fact is she is a public figure and it is unacceptable for that to slip out. I don't doubt she is a racist based upon plenty of incidents that have come to light. Even giving her the benefit of the doubt she did wrong. She said the word and now she should be the sacrificial lamb to teach people, especially the kids that hear about this, that racism and racist words are not acceptable. Again she has handled this poorly and maybe thru certain actions like not trying to play the victim, continually apologizing, and starting a youth for unity group, maybe she would gain forgiveness.

You can find tons of sources if you just google it. I have seen lots since it occurred.

 

[Jasminebed]

I think this may have given one of more of her endorsers an "out" out of a relationship they wanted out of anyway.

With serious issues facing this world, signing a petition to help a wealthy woman is the last thing on my list of things to do.

Her home and assets were not seized. She lost contracts. She can self publish and people can still buy cook books. She can open a restaurant, start a blog or open a casino. Sing on street corners for all I care.

Even 27 years ago, that was not an acceptable word. It wasn't acceptable 50 years ago when I was a little girl.

 

[dionysus]

Good lord, she's a celebrity. She'll proably end up selling more books

 

[pmutts]

You always have such an incredible way of putting it . . .

I think this may have given one of more of her endorsers an "out" out of a relationship they wanted out of anyway.

With serious issues facing this world, signing a petition to help a wealthy woman is the last thing on my list of things to do.

Her home and assets were not seized. She lost contracts. She can self publish and people can still buy cook books. She can open a restaurant, start a blog or open a casino. Sing on street corners for all I care.

Even 27 years ago, that was not an acceptable word. It wasn't acceptable 50 years ago when I was a little girl.

in a NUTSHELL! I love reading your posts Jasminebed.

 

[vinylweatherman]

So 27 years ago she used the word in the privacy of her home where her husband heard it.

So, how on EARTH did the media get hold of this

It was unacceptable 27 years ago, but in the 1960's it was actually LAW in some states that Blacks and Whites be kept apart, and being openly non racist could get a white person arrested. It was the law in South Africa for a long time after.

The UK was no better, itself implementing policies based on skin colour in some situations as recently as the 50's and 60's.

The issue is not the use of a word 27 years ago, but the allegations of putting the prejudice into practice now.

Companies are boycotting her because if they do nothing they may face boycotts themselves. It doesn't matter how minor they feel the issue is, they have to act in the best interests of their businesses, and that means keeping customers happy to carry on using them.

If Paula Deen is proven innocent of all claims, she can then sue these companies that boycotted her for damages. They have after all acted on rumour and allegations, not facts proven in a court or tribunal setting.


What she has lost is her pride and standing, not her wealthy lifestyle. ALL celebrities face this risk, and the media often goes looking for "dirt" on the latest celebrities and politicians as this helps their own businesses make money. Even the president is not immune, suffering constant allegations that he was not a natural born US citizen, and thus could not legally be president so should step down.


Her high standing probably made it easier for her to get away with mistreating workers (others in power would see her as "one of us", so would likely protect her), so it would make sense that the story broke in an explosive manner, rather than trickled out. If she was summarily dismissing workers who tried to raise issues, this too would keep a lid on the problem, but of course would ensure that when it blew, it had built up some serious levels of pressure. It seems it was a manager, not a group of workers, that finally "blew" and let the story out.

I expect this story will get covered in the UK soon in some depth, something like a Dispatches or Panorama documentary, or even a "one off" investigation. It is, after all, a story about modern racism by the rich and powerful in society.

 

[skiny]

Keep in mind this is a comedy show.

 

[vinylweatherman]

So 27 years ago she used the word in the privacy of her home where her husband heard it.

So, how on EARTH did the media get hold of this

It was unacceptable 27 years ago, but in the 1960's it was actually LAW in some states that Blacks and Whites be kept apart, and being openly non racist could get a white person arrested*. It was the law in South Africa for a long time after.

The UK was no better, itself implementing policies based on skin colour in some situations as recently as the 50's and 60's.

The issue is not the use of a word 27 years ago, but the allegations of putting the prejudice into practice now.

Companies are boycotting her because if they do nothing they may face boycotts themselves. It doesn't matter how minor they feel the issue is, they have to act in the best interests of their businesses, and that means keeping customers happy to carry on using them.

If Paula Deen is proven innocent of all claims, she can then sue these companies that boycotted her for damages. They have after all acted on rumour and allegations, not facts proven in a court or tribunal setting.


What she has lost is her pride and standing, not her wealthy lifestyle. ALL celebrities face this risk, and the media often goes looking for "dirt" on the latest celebrities and politicians as this helps their own businesses make money. Even the president is not immune, suffering constant allegations that he was not a natural born US citizen, and thus could not legally be president so should step down.


Her high standing probably made it easier for her to get away with mistreating workers (others in power would see her as "one of us", so would likely protect her), so it would make sense that the story broke in an explosive manner, rather than trickled out. If she was summarily dismissing workers who tried to raise issues, this too would keep a lid on the problem, but of course would ensure that when it blew, it had built up some serious levels of pressure. It seems it was a manager, not a group of workers, that finally "blew" and let the story out.

I expect this story will get covered in the UK soon in some depth, something like a Dispatches or Panorama documentary, or even a "one off" investigation. It is, after all, a story about modern racism by the rich and powerful in society.

* Black people could also get arrested, but there didn't need to be a reason (you are Black, right - you're nicked), unlike with the whites, so my use of colour there is not racist against whites.

If Paula Deen treated staff differently based on their race, she was racist, and it doesn't matter what words she did or did not use however many years ago.

 

[LaurieJim]

If there is anyone out there who has not thought or said a racial slur in the privacy of their home or to a friend , family member , ect , then there are a lot of lying closet hypocrites out there.



Laurie

 

[dionysus]

Oh I may have said some of those words..I've never said them with hate or malice

 

[swampwitch]

If there is anyone out there who has not thought or said a racial slur in the privacy of their home or to a friend , family member , ect , then there are a lot of lying closet hypocrites out there.



Laurie

You have just made a sweeping generalization. I don't use derogatory words for race, religion, native country, or sexual orientation. Not. Ever. My bile is saved for the willfully stupid and bigoted. But, if you'd like to believe I'm a lying closeted hypocrite, that's your prerogative.

 

[BMWSTACK]

If there is anyone out there who has not thought or said a racial slur in the privacy of their home or to a friend , family member , ect , then there are a lot of lying closet hypocrites out there.



Laurie

That's a very bold statement. There are actually people in the world that will never do certain things that they know are wrong.

I actually think its kind of weird that friends and families would use racial slurs in conversation between each other. It may be common in the area you live or the way you were brought up, but I can assure you its not common for everyone.

I do understand where you are coming from in your statement. The south has always been associated with racism. I have spent a lot of time in the south, and I can tell you from my experience there is far more racism there, and yes indeed people say racial slurs between friends and family like its coffee talk. I have certainly heard plenty of those conversations and I can assure you I have never said anything racial even to try to fit in. Is always the opposite, I get turned off by that talk. I have spoke up a number of times and let people know I didn't approve of that talk. There are other times where I remain quiet. But I will always lose respect for the individual(s) that took part in that conversation.

 

[Balthazar]

Even 27 years ago, that was not an acceptable word. It wasn't acceptable 50 years ago when I was a little girl.

Can we keep it in context Jasmine? If some low life pulled a gun to my face and someone close to me asked about it, I'd use every derogatory term in the book that would fit the attacker to describe him.

You guys react like she went out on the street calling random black people "f*cking n*ggers". She didn't.

Also, you should be free to say whatever you want in the privacy of your home.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Can we keep it in context Jasmine? If some low life pulled a gun to my face and someone close to me asked about it, I'd use every derogatory term in the book that would fit the attacker to describe him.

You guys react like she went out on the street calling random black people "f*cking n*ggers". She didn't.

Also, you should be free to say whatever you want in the privacy of your home.

Well, if this really was an isolated incident from 27 years ago in "the privacy of her own home", there is no way the media would know about it. She must have repeated, or retold the story, so that it moved from being a one off private matter to something that was well known among those close to her (not necessarily friends), and so when the fuss blew up, someone was interviewed that related the tale, and that's how the media found out.

Besides, the word itself is not really relevant in this case, it's the reported attitude and actions to those beneath her, such as the workers in her restaurants. Did she also not think that designing such a traditional 1800s Southern Style wedding would cause a frenzy of "dirt digging" among the media, who would make a fair bit of money if they found a story that was powerful enough to knock her off the celebrity pedestal.

Far from helping her cause, touting for support is ensuring that more and more people find out the story, and at present it looks like a powerful boss getting away with mistreating her staff for years due to her celebrity status, and now finding that the loss of that status has encouraged her downtrodden staff to rebel, and the media to feed.

 

[Westland Bowl]

At first, like most people, I only heard about Paula using the N word years ago and all these companies ending their contractual relationship with her over it. That seemed like a very fast and extreme action those companies made. Didn't make sense to hammer someone about a mistake made years and years ago. People change. If that was all to the story (and the media made it out like that in the beginning), then people are willing to give Paula some slack as we all make mistakes and it appeared Paula didn't use the N word since. I've read more than one person (including weesie's here) who said they read the disposition and while the use of the N word by Paula was mentioned, it was the only racist thing in there.

But then other people, like the Black attorney I posted about earlier said, no, it is more than that. It was persistent racist attitude she had over the years. He pointed out that these other racist actions and attitudes were in the disposition. What? Is there another disposition somewhere? Or did the Black attorney just make things up? If true about these other persistent racist actions and attitudes from Paula, then yes, that changes the picture of her. But why did weesie and other people did not see in the disposition these other actions mentioned by the Black attorney? Wrong disposition?

[tin foil hat mode] Seems like the whole Paula Deen story is not reported accurately. Intentional? [/tin foil hat mode]

Now today I read this by a certain Willie Smith on Facebook:
"I've tried to keep quiet about the Paula Deen situation, but I've seen so much "dirt" being tossed around, I figured I might as well shed a little light.

I've worked at Ms. Deen's restaurant for close to nine years and I'm as "BLACK" as they come. I was never forced to enter through the back door. It's a rule that ALL employees enter through the back door so we don't disturb guest while they're eating. I'm currently a waiter there, which is about as front house as you can get. I didn't have to beg to be a waiter. In fact, I was ASKED to be one. Many of her staff in the front house are black. Young black kids in college. Bathroom usage is for ALL employees, but we(ALL EMPLOYEES) only use the back of the house restrooms during service so that we don't disturb guest. One of Paula's longest working employees, an elderly BLACK woman, was invited to be a guest at Paula's house after this lady had surgery. Paula looked out for her. The restaurant looks out for ALL OF US by providing health and dental insurance and 401 K plans. Not too many restaurants doing that. We're also allowed paid vacation. As a BLACK man who has been with the company for some time now, I'm simply saying don't believe all accusations you're hearing....cause they're just that. Accusations. And no, I'm not just saying this to brown nose my employers. I'm saying this as someone who doesn't believe in casting stones at an individual for making a mistake.

Signed,
A happily employed and thankful young man."

If you have Facebook, here is the link to the above

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

He seems to be a legit person with a real FB account.

So it seems like the truth is getting mangled out there about the Paula Deen situation.

 

[weesie]

Hi again West,

Thank you for the FB link, I have been reading the comments from respondents to Willies original post. It has several other employees saying pretty much the same thing.

Interesting read, if a person is following the case.

 

[LaurieJim]

That's a very bold statement. There are actually people in the world that will never do certain things that they know are wrong.

I actually think its kind of weird that friends and families would use racial slurs in conversation between each other. It may be common in the area you live or the way you were brought up, but I can assure you its not common for everyone.

I do understand where you are coming from in your statement. The south has always been associated with racism. I have spent a lot of time in the south, and I can tell you from my experience there is far more racism there, and yes indeed people say racial slurs between friends and family like its coffee talk. I have certainly heard plenty of those conversations and I can assure you I have never said anything racial even to try to fit in. Is always the opposite, I get turned off by that talk. I have spoke up a number of times and let people know I didn't approve of that talk. There are other times where I remain quiet. But I will always lose respect for the individual(s) that took part in that conversation.

I stand by my statement , the world is full of crazy people who do not care what they say and show little respect for their fellow human beings , it is sad but true, it is all around us and it is hard to tune it out while it plays in our music and everyday life events , that was what I was trying to state in my" General Statement".

I have always been proud to be from the south and yes we have had our share of racism but this is all over the world my friend , watch the world news , it is going on all around this globe not only in the south.

Laurie

 

[skiny]

If there is anyone out there who has not thought or said a racial slur in the privacy of their home or to a friend , family member , ect , then there are a lot of lying closet hypocrites out there.



Laurie

Can we keep it in context Jasmine? If some low life pulled a gun to my face and someone close to me asked about it, I'd use every derogatory term in the book that would fit the attacker to describe him.

You guys react like she went out on the street calling random black people "f*cking n*ggers". She didn't.

Also, you should be free to say whatever you want in the privacy of your home.

One of the reasons racism still exists is that people seem to believe there are such things as justified racism or situational racism. "If someone pulled a gun on me I would denigrate his entire race" as if every black person in existence is to blame for the offense. A person who uses a racial slur in the privacy of their own home is still a racist. The fact that they've learned they can't do this in public changes nothing. People don't stop being racists just because they've left the house and they don't start being racists once they get home and close the door.

It seems ludicrous to sit here trying to think of scenarios when it's acceptable to be a racist. Even if you live in the inner cities where the population of immigrants is dense and crimes perpetrated by black or ethnic groups is high, that's still not a race problem. If it was middle and upper class black or ethnic people would be perpetrating the same crimes and these crimes wouldn't be perpetrated by white people. It's an economic and social problem and adding racism to the mix only makes it worse.

Personally, I think the woman is a racist even if she was nice to some of her black staff.

She told a story in an interview about how rough it was for one of her ancestors after the civil war because he lost his 30 something slaves. "He didn't know how to deal with life with no one to help operate his plantation."

They weren't helping. They were slaves.

She continued by saying "I feel like the south is almost less prejudice because black folks played such an integral part in our lives. They were like our family."

They weren't your family. They were a race of people with no rights being bought and sold like cattle and being forced to work in chains.

Just because your ancestors had slaves doesn't make you a racist. But if you want me to believe you're not, stop acting like it was ok to own people regardless of where or when it happened.

 

[Sovietsky]

If there is anyone out there who has not thought or said a racial slur in the privacy of their home or to a friend , family member , ect , then there are a lot of lying closet hypocrites out there.



Laurie

With racial slurs can we also add in whites, asians and semetics?

I do use words like white trash, fag, rednecks, pajamas people, yellow people and such (it's mostly with sense of humor). I discriminate all races and their beliefs.

Whites it is more or less okey to insult but the N word is a big no-no.

 

[BMWSTACK]

One of the reasons racism still exists is that people seem to believe there are such things as justified racism or situational racism. "If someone pulled a gun on me I would denigrate his entire race" as if every black person in existence is to blame for the offense. A person who uses a racial slur in the privacy of their own home is still a racist. The fact that they've learned they can't do this in public changes nothing. People don't stop being racists just because they've left the house and they don't start being racists once they get home and close the door.

It seems ludicrous to sit here trying to think of scenarios when it's acceptable to be a racist. Even if you live in the inner cities where the population of immigrants is dense and crimes perpetrated by black or ethnic groups is high, that's still not a race problem. If it was middle and upper class black or ethnic people would be perpetrating the same crimes and these crimes wouldn't be perpetrated by white people. It's an economic and social problem and adding racism to the mix only makes it worse.

Personally, I think the woman is a racist even if she was nice to some of her black staff.

Good post. Your exactly right, how can anyone try to justify the use of a racial slur?

 

[Jasminebed]

When I was a small girl, I was taught a little "Eeny meeny miney moe, catch a tiger by a toe" rhyme by my mother.

The only time I can remember using that N word myself was when I came home and asked my mom what kind of animal a "N" was. She told me that it was a dirty word for coloured person (early 60's) and nice people didn't say it. While I didn't speak up when it was used in the schoolyard, I didn't use it myself.

Still don't, and now I usually speak up if I hear it still.

Granted, growing up where I did, people of colour except Asians were very rare. But we did have TV and books back then.

 

[rockycatt]

observation = some people here ,trying to get into heaven

 

[skiny]

observation = some people here ,trying to get into heaven

Some people here are atheists and don't need a god or a church to tell them right from wrong.

 

[Nifty29]

I stand by my statement , the world is full of crazy people who do not care what they say and show little respect for their fellow human beings , it is sad but true, it is all around us and it is hard to tune it out while it plays in our music and everyday life events , that was what I was trying to state in my" General Statement".

I have always been proud to be from the south and yes we have had our share of racism but this is all over the world my friend , watch the world news , it is going on all around this globe not only in the south.

Laurie

I think the South has had WAY more than its "fair share" of racism, and from what I read and hear, much of it still exists simmering under the surface, which is not surprising given that these racist attitudes were/are passed down through the generations.

Just because it exists in other places too does not make it OK.

 

[Janek12]

She continued by saying "I feel like the south is almost less prejudice because black folks played such an integral part in our lives. They were like our family."

They weren't your family. They were a race of people with no rights being bought and sold like cattle and being forced to work in chains.

I remember reading somewhere about a survey carried out still in the 20th century among very old African American people who actually experienced the era of slavery in the south; there were roughly 1,000 respondents in that survey, IIRC. A surprisingly huge percentage of them (regrettably, I do not remember the exact figure) reminisced about the era of slavery as very good old times. They said their white masters took care of them, gave them work, housing, food, even some education, health care, etc. Also, black nannies were taking care of the white children, so the two races became interpersonally intertwined. The respondents went on to say that after slavery was abolished, they were on their own; I am paraphrasing but I recall the impression of something like being thrown out to the cold world without having the resources of the white masters behind them (of course it was the system's result that the black people mostly probably had no capital at all to start their own businesses, etc.).

So I think I understand what she was trying to say - that the southerners knew that black people were fine because they lived with them every day side by side. While others from the north might be paradoxically more prejudiced because they did not have any personal experience with them and might have been afraid of them as of unknown, different, strange, enigmatic people...

The impression I got from the survey was that it was a symbiotic relationship in the south, not always fraught with cruelty, inhuman treatment, etc. Also, I think it is fair to say that the white race at that time was undeniably more advanced technologically and intellectually.
But of course I agree with you, skiny, that slavery was and is unacceptable. And I think it was despicable that white people took advantage of their technological superiority and abused the black people the way they did.

All I am trying to say is that - no pun intended - it is not a completely black-and-white matter; it is more complex.
Look at Zimbabwe - the country fared much better with white people in charge; it prospered, etc. After they drove most white people away, some time after that the country was on the brink of famine IIRC... Once again, the problem I think was that white people, in general, abused their superiorty and were trampling on the natives so the natives were rightfully angered... These cases can be found all over the globe in other more subtle versions... We Czechs have to thank Germans for a lot from culture and technology and advancement in the last few centuries... But many Czechs refuse to recognise this because it came at a price - the Germans were oppressive in the border areas (I mean long before WWII) and, speaking in somewhat naive terms, were sometimes not behaving nicely... etc., etc.

 

[skiny]

I remember reading somewhere about a survey carried out still in the 20th century among very old African American people who actually experienced the era of slavery in the south; there were roughly 1,000 respondents in that survey, IIRC. A surprisingly huge percentage of them reminisced about the era of slavery as very good old times. They said their white masters took care of them, gave them work, housing, food, even some education, health care, etc. Also, black nannies were taking care of the white children, so the two races became interpersonally intertwined. The respondents went on to say that after slavery was abolished, they were on their own; I am paraphrasing but I recall the impression of something like being thrown out to the cold world without having the resources of the white masters behind them (of course it was the system's result that the black people mostly probably had no capital at all to start their own businesses, etc.).

So I think I understand what she was trying to say - that the southerners knew that black people were fine because they lived with them every day side by side. While others from the north might be paradoxically more prejudiced because they did not have any personal experience with them and might have been afraid of them as of unknown, different, strange, enigmatic people...

The impression I got from the survey was that it was a symbiotic relationship in the south, not always fraught with cruelty, inhuman treatment, etc. Also, I think it is fair to say that the white race at that time was undeniably more advanced technologically and intellectually.
But of course I agree with you, skiny, that slavery was and is unacceptable. And I think it was despicable that white people took advantage of their technological superiority and abused the black people the way they did.

All I am trying to say is that - no pun intended - it is not a completely black-and-white matter; it is more complex.
Look at Zimbabwe - the country fared much better with white people in charge; it prospered, etc. After they drove most white people away, some time after that the country was on the brink of famine IIRC... Once again, the problem I think was that white people, in general, abused their superiorty and were trampling on the natives so the natives were rightfully angered... These cases can be found all over the globe in other more subtle versions... We Czechs have to thank Germans for a lot from culture and technology and advancement in the last few centuries... But many Czechs refuse to recognise this because it came at a price - the Germans were oppressive in the border areas (I mean long before WWII) and, speaking in somewhat naive terms, were sometimes not behaving nicely... etc., etc.

You want to be careful what you take from surveys and interviews. Surveys are only as good as the questions they ask and the people who take them and interviews can be hand picked.

There's a phenomenon called Stockholm Syndrome where kidnap victims bond with their captors. It's actually quite common and many long term kidnap victims learn to care for their captors. They empathize with them and even defend them when they're eventually set free.

I'm quite sure there was a select group of relatively "nice" southerners who weren't considered cruel to the people they owned. Most of these people were either originally forcibly removed from their homelands and brought by the shipload or born into slavery. I guarantee you that for every old man or woman who considered these the good ole days there are thousands who didn't like being chained together and forced to work themselves literally to death. These people were beaten, raped and tortured for generations and they were denied any formal education and taught not to think for themselves. Yes, it's true when the slave trade was abolished most of them didn't have the life skills or the knowledge to walk off the plantations and create a healthy, productive new life for themselves but that's not because they weren't capable of it. They were conditioned to believe they were a less valuable, less intelligent, weaker form of human being and that attitude carried on long after the slave trade ended.

That attitude is called racism and it's like a cancer on society. It's sad to think almost a hundred years after freeing these people from slavery they were still fighting just to share a classroom with white students or use the same bathroom. The reluctance to allow this to change and the struggle it took to change it is a black mark that the south just has to live with. They can't defend it but they can move forward and make it right and the only way to do that is to raise their children with the knowledge that the colour of a person's skin means nothing.