Chalkboard Blues

The fact that Paula Deen is a racist should come as a surprise to no one. Just last year during a televised interview with the New York Times the Food Network host and self-described Belle of the South pulled the “some of my best friends are black” card stating there was a young man she considered “just like family”…wow look at me I’m White and accepting, ain’t I magnanimous. According to her the young man was “black as a chalkboard” but she didn’t see color at all. She had him come out to be introduced and asked him to move from in front of the chalkboard so people could see him…crickets chirping. Now some may find this funny, I don’t, but if she’s comfortable making these jokes on TV why wouldn’t she feel comfortable making the same racist comments she’s accused of in the lawsuit filed against her and her brother. The lawsuit alleges sexual harassment and a workplace environment where racial slurs were allegedly tolerated and described as quite common.

In an ill-conceived attempt to defend herself, Ms. Deen stated that of course she has used racial slurs as she was raised in the South over 60 years ago when such language was not only accepted but was the norm for the times…apparently she and her family were unaware of that pesky old civil rights movement taking place at the same time. So this woman who was born in 1946 and went through her teenage and formative adult years during the 1960s and early 70s, felt it was ok to use racial slurs because of where she was from even though there were huge changes happening all around her. Perhaps her family simply felt all that freedom riding Martin Luther King, Jr. bus boycotting nonsense just didn’t apply to them. Look if she wants to use the N word and other racial slurs fine, but own it. Don’t use the, everybody else was doing it excuse. And to be clear, she’s not being sued for using racist terms in the past she is accused of creating and tolerating them currently in her business. Also of note, the woman suing her is White. Apparently Paula felt comfortable thinking she was with one of her own and could speak freely. Unfortunately for Paula the woman who filed the suit has African-American in-laws and felt extremely uncomfortable.

What I find even more disturbing than her need to place a pound of butter or lard in every single one of her recipes, no matter what she’s cooking, is that this old broad nostalgically refers to slavery as the good ole days. She wanted to have an old “Plantation Style Wedding” for her equally racist brother, replete with Black men serving the guest dressed up in their finest colonial slavery clothing. She said she wanted it to be like the Shirley Temple days when they used to tap dance around. She also tearfully tells the story of how her great grandfather committed suicide because the south had changed and he was going to lose the 30 workers he had on the books. Uh Gramps, those weren’t workers, they were slaves and what changed the south was the Civil War buddy. Wouldn’t it have been easier to simply make them sharecroppers and then bleed them dry for rent, supplies, food & clothing like all the other racist former slave holding plantation owners were doing?...just saying. Is it scarier that she tells black chalkboard longing for the days of slavery stories or that the idiot has no idea how offensive they are? Paula says she doesn’t tell “racial” jokes herself, although she’s sure members of her family have told jokes that contained the N word and her husband “is constantly telling me jokes.” When asked whether she was offended by her husband’s jokes she replied, “No, because it’s my husband”. So to be clear she stated in her deposition that she doesn’t tolerate racist jokes and degrading slurs but if it’s her husband and family its ok…my head hurts. Paula says the last time she can remember using the N word was when she was mugged by a Black man and related the story and his description to her husband. You know the same husband who’s so fond of those hilarious racist jokes. To be honest, I’m not sure if she thought it was ok to use the word because she had been mugged and was upset or because she really felt that was a valid feature of the man’s description.

Thankfully the Food Network acted swiftly and canned her fat grey haired old ass before she could continue her ignorant racist crusade further. Of course the “we’ve all made mistakes” and First Amendments Rights zealots were quick to defend her and to condemn the Food Network but here’s the deal. There’s no mistaking about anything she’s said and as I stated before I don’t think she’s even smart enough to know how offensive some of her statements were. A person who claims to not be racist yet acts otherwise is probably more dangerous than one who is blatant. Ms. Deen has the right to her opinions, racial slurs and offensive jokes and she has the right to make them public if she wants. But if the Food Network decides her exercising those rights could negatively affect the brand they’ve created, then they’ve got the right to terminate her employment…y’all.