Paula Deen racist?

[wiigirl]

Point is, she doesn't really seem to care too much about her public/other people. It's rather an established pattern of behavior at this point.

I think that bothers me the most actually....

 

[Zandy595]

Has anyone read Paula Deen's book, It Ain't All About the Cookin'? I read a few chapters and had to stop because it made me angry. In 1957 her family had a black woman who worked for the them and the woman had a little girl. This little girl had blisters on her hands and Paula had a strong urge to break them. In the book, Paula said she took some kind of bat and hit the little girl with it to break her blisters. The mother of the little girl, who was babysitting Paula at the time, spanked her. Paula went crying to her grandfather and he had the woman arrested and she went to jail.

 

[LisaR]

Has anyone read Paula Deen's book, It Ain't All About the Cookin'? I read a few chapters and had to stop because it made me angry. In 1957 her family had a black woman who worked for the them and the woman had a little girl. This little girl had blisters on her hands and Paula had a strong urge to break them. In the book, Paula said she took some kind of bat and hit the little girl with it to break her blisters. The mother of the little girl, who was babysitting Paula at the time, spanked her. Paula went crying to her grandfather and he had the woman arrested and she went to jail.

What??? She wrote that in her book?? OMG! Please tell me it was followed by, "Now that I am an adult, I see how wrong that was. I wish I could go back in time."

 

[asta]

Black on white hate crime isn't really a thing. There is no history of it in this country.

If you believe this please google Christian Newsom murders. The brutality inflicted on these white college students came from a great well of hatred. They are the worst murders I have ever heard about. It is widely believed here that the national media avoided this case because it is politically incorrect to talk about black hate crimes toward whites.

If these monsters did not act out of hatred I don't know what would cause this type of brutality.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

If you believe this please google Christian Newsom murders. The brutality inflicted on these white college students came from a great well of hatred. They are the worst murders I have ever heard about. It is widely believed here that the national media avoided this case because it is politically incorrect to talk about black hate crimes toward whites.

If these monsters did not act out of hatred I don't know what would cause this type of brutality.

No offense, but one example in a 300 year history? Are you kidding?

 

[Buckalew11]

There might have been outrage there but around here it was barely even mentioned. The big double standard is more about how things are covered in the press. There are a lot of double standards in the press for sure but the way race is addressed is one of them.

Look at how the statement Karen Lewis made was covered. Sure, it made the news for a second but if the role was reversed and some white lady in the same or an equivalent position decided to blame black people for all the problems in a white school district there would be much more outrage and completely different coverage.

You will see crimes committed by white people against black people labeled as hate crimes when the reverse isn't done in nearly the same proportion. This is even the case when it was a crime of opportunity and there is no evidence what so ever that the race of either person had anything to do with their target.

Like I said, it is what it is but so many people ignore that it is happening. Part of the problem is that people in this country can't have a logical discussion about race without being labeled a racist. That is totally absurd.

There is a case of torture and murder in Knoxville that people have wanted labeled as a hate crime but so far it never has been. It happened in 2007 and they're still in court (retrials because the Judge who heard the case was addicted to painkillers at the time, oh bother!) Anyway, 4 black people raped, tortured and killed a young while couple. People feel if it had been the other way around it would have been labeled a hate crime. I have no opinion on that--the case is soooo disturbing to me that I can't get past the details to worry about "hate."

I've thought she was a horrible person since the "I've got Diabetes and here's what you should take for it" debacle. She's older and from Georgia, of course she's likely to spout out racial slurs - possibly without even thinking she's a racist.

Point is, she doesn't really seem to care too much about her public/other people. It's rather an established pattern of behavior at this point.

Do you really think she does not care? Because I think she does. I'm betting she is devastated. She told the truth during a deposition that she used the word back in the 60's. She clearly said that she does not use that word and knows it is wrong but back then, in the South, it wasn't seen the same and she has gotten older and wiser. Heck, I'm from NJ and I heard it all through my childhood. But as the years went by, I heard it less and less and people stopped saying it. I just feel like she is being raked over the coals for something she said over 40 years ago.

Now the wedding was more recent and I am not sure how recent. I just think it was an idea, a terrible one, but one she got from that experience she had from eating at a place that did that. I seriously do not think she meant harm even in those thoughts. It was just a really horrible idea.

Has anyone read Paula Deen's book, It Ain't All About the Cookin'? I read a few chapters and had to stop because it made me angry. In 1957 her family had a black woman who worked for the them and the woman had a little girl. This little girl had blisters on her hands and Paula had a strong urge to break them. In the book, Paula said she took some kind of bat and hit the little girl with it to break her blisters. The mother of the little girl, who was babysitting Paula at the time, spanked her. Paula went crying to her grandfather and he had the woman arrested and she went to jail.

What did it say after that story? Did she say she felt smug that she had that lady put in jail? Or did she say she was ashamed at those actions or surprised granddaddy could actually have that much power to have someone who spanked her thrown in jail? I'd really like to know what her next thought was because that'd make a difference in what I thought of her, I'm sure.

All my clients in their (age) 80's had black women working for them when they were raising children. One, from SC, had a lady take care of her when she was a little girl. One of my best friend's mother (black) worked for a family here when he was a little boy. Evidently, that was very common around here back then. Of course, when I moved to the Smokies in the 70's, black people could not even safely stay at our motel. Times have changed and people have learned a lot.

 

[Buckalew11]

If you believe this please google Christian Newsom murders. The brutality inflicted on these white college students came from a great well of hatred. They are the worst murders I have ever heard about. It is widely believed here that the national media avoided this case because it is politically incorrect to talk about black hate crimes toward whites.

If these monsters did not act out of hatred I don't know what would cause this type of brutality.

Oh, you beat me to it!!

No offense, but one example in a 300 year history? Are you kidding?

Are you serious? You think this is the only case? If this one was avoided, I'm sure there are more.

 

[asta]

No offense, but one example in a 300 year history? Are you kidding?

When the crime is this horrific I pray to my God that nothing happens like this again. Once every 300 years is too frequent.

And no I am not kidding. Nothing about these sadistic hate criminals is funny in the least.

If the media has kept this quiet, just imagine how many other black on white crimes are not publicized. To keep something this horrific out of the national media would mean it is easy to keep other hate crimes relatively quiet.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Oh, you beat me to it!!



Are you serious? You think this is the only case? If this one was avoided, I'm sure there are more.

No, I don't think it's the only case, but that has nothing to do with the fact that hate crimes are overwhelming targeting Black people in this country. Please, think about your privilege when you say things like that.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I am not shocked by her words. Racism is still alive and well all over the world. It may be more prevalent in the south where Paula Deen lives and was raised.

My dad is 72 years old and is very racist. I have had to live with his racist crap my whole life. He says the N word almost every chance he gets and he knows it bothers me so I know he intentionally says it around me. I call him on it every time too.

I told him how ignorant it makes him sound. I guess he thinks he is one of the good ole southern boys who is racist and doesn't care who knows.

My husband has a sister who (is white) was married to a black man and has 4 half black kids. And yet my dad still thought it would be ok to say the N word in front of my husband.

My dad would be one of the first ones to speak up and say "Why isn't there a WHITE history month" or "Why isn't there a WHITE Miss America pageant or a White college fund" I have heard it all.

I will say this. It's not just white people who are racist. I have known just as many black people in my life who are just as racist against white ppl. Just nobody seems to care about that or nobody says anything about that.

I also agree that if saying the N word is considered offensive then ALL races of ppl should not use it. Don't be a hypocrite and say it's ok for some ppl to say it but not others.

I don't use the N word. Never have. My children have never heard me use any type of racial slur and never will. And they better never let me hear them say one either. I didn't raise them to be racist.

But I think Paula Deen will probably have some repercussions from this.

Like I told my dad...Paula Deen might have thought that guy was an N word when he was robbing her but I bet her sorry butt doesn't think he is an N word when he is buying a $50 meal in her restaurant.

People say words don't make you racist. Yes they do. Actions make you racist too. And speaking a racial slur is an action. A racist action. If you're being robbed and the only thing you can think to say is to call the guy an N word then that is what you think of black ppl. You don't ever call someone and N word unless that is how you view them.

As for dressing up a bunch of black men in white jackets with bow ties for a wedding...I would have never picked up on that being anything to do with racism. I must not know enough about racism to understand how that equates to dressing ppl up as slaves. I never knew slaves wore white jackets and bow ties. I guess you learn something new every day.

 

[Zandy595]

What did it say after that story? Did she say she felt smug that she had that lady put in jail? Or did she say she was ashamed at those actions or surprised granddaddy could actually have that much power to have someone who spanked her thrown in jail? I'd really like to know what her next thought was because that'd make a difference in what I thought of her, I'm sure.

In the book she wrote,

All this time it's bothered me.
It was me who deserved to be sittin' in that jail for breaking a little black girl's blisters in 1957.

She wasn't sorry right after she did it though. She said, "It was pretty satisfying."

This is a book though. Her people read it before it was published. No one would let her say that she felt smug about it.



It's not looking good for Ms. Paula or her brother.

It was alleged in a lawsuit against Deen that "In the presence of Ms. Jackson and Uncle Bubba's restaurant manager and a vendor, Bubba Hiers stated they should send President Obama to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico so he could n***er-rig it."
According to the court documents, the plaintiff stated that she was appointed by Deen to handle the catering and staff for Bubba's wedding in 2007, and she asked Deen what the servers should wear; "Well what I would really like is a bunch of little n***ers 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," the plaintiff alleged Deen told her. "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."
In the case Lisa Jackson has brought against Deen, Deen stated in her deposition that she has used the "N Word" at times, saying "Yes, of course" she did, and also acknowledged making racist jokes, though she claims she is not racist. "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.

 

[MickeySP]

For your information to all black people it is not FINE. It is used, I'm told, in the hip hop world like the negative word for a female is because, guess what, it's for SHOCK. And that word is NOT acceptable, either, by decent people. Just because "hip hop" crossed over with it and made ignoramuses millionaires does not make it acceptable behavior.

I'm sure no one dragged your daddy out of bed and called him a honky or a redneck and made laws to make him part of a person. I'm sure that never happened to your daddy. But hey, it's just a WORD.

Not so long ago NINA - look it up. It wasn't law but it was still allowed.

Sorry, no. There are absolutely degrees to which one can perceive racism, but there is very little about calling someone a "n****r" that's not racist.

She didn't call anyone the N word, she used it as a descriptor. If you are gonna use "degrees" to make a call than use that one right.

Black on white hate crime isn't really a thing. There is no history of it in this country.

I'm not ignoring the fact that it exists. I'm saying if you look at the history of this country, hate crimes against Black people outpace hate crimes against White people to an unbelievable amount.

So the one with the most hate crimes wins?

Is she racist? Who knows but I am betting with this remark the floodgates will open and every person with a grudge against her will be on air somewhere spouting she is.

Frankly she is a cook, so in the grand scheme who cares? She makes no public policy, she sponsors no laws - so she really is a non-entity.

BTW the N with a is the most commonly used in rap, it infers a friend. So debate N with the er or N with the a. My DS when in music school had many a discussion about the use of "words" in music.

I grew up with the word, it was sooo common around here.. Racial animosity was so prevalent here it was disgusting.

 

[Buckalew11]

In the book she wrote,


She wasn't sorry right after she did it though. She said, "It was pretty satisfying."

This is a book though. Her people read it before it was published. No one would let her say that she felt smug about it.

Well, I think you should have included all her thoughts when you told that story. She may have not felt bad when she did it as a little girl but as her got wiser she knew better and obviously felt badly--

I seriously doubt she felt smug. Geez...let's just hang her in the town square.

I think the DIS is full of the most judgmental people I have ever been around. They'll point fingers and say "Don't judge, don't judge" but first chance they get, they will only hear/read what they want, there is no listening and really hearing. Twist and turn things into more and worse than was said. OK, you dislike her, maybe always have disliked her--fine. But I cannot believe that anyone who reads the deposition cannot see that this is all in her past.

I'm out. I do not think any of it was right but I also understand she wasn't going around last month saying these things. It is no wonder she turned the Today Show down. People will hear and believe what they want.

She said in the book...'All these years it should have been ME sitting in that jail..." That means she knows it was wrong and feel bad for her actions. Yet, even though she said this, what she REALLY meant but her publisher would not allow her to say was "I felt smug." Give me a break!!

 

[asta]

A person who believes that black on white hate crime is no big deal because there isn't enough of them is more of a racist than Paula Dean and is a much more dangerous individual.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

A person who doesn't believe that black on white hate crimes is no big deal because there isn't enough of them is more of a racist than Paula Dean and is a much more dangerous individual.

Yeah, okay, I never said they weren't a big deal. I said they were nowhere near as common.

 

[mhsjax]

Well, I think you should have included all her thoughts when you told that story. She may have not felt bad when she did it as a little girl but as her got wiser she knew better and obviously felt badly--

I seriously doubt she felt smug. Geez...let's just hang her in the town square.

I think the DIS is full of the most judgmental people I have ever been around. They'll point fingers and say "Don't judge, don't judge" but first chance they get, they will only hear/read what they want, there is no listening and really hearing. Twist and turn things into more and worse than was said. OK, you dislike her, maybe always have disliked her--fine. But I cannot believe that anyone who reads the deposition cannot see that this is all in her past.

I'm out. I do not think any of it was right but I also understand she wasn't going around last month saying these things. It is no wonder she turned the Today Show down. People will hear and believe what they want.

She said in the book...'All these years it should have been ME sitting in that jail..." That means she knows it was wrong and feel bad for her actions. Yet, even though she said this, what she REALLY meant but her publisher would not allow her to say was "I felt smug." Give me a break!!

Deleted. Got confused. lol

 

[Wishing on a star]

I am not so sure that a few comments, in the past, make one a racist.
You've got to show me a LOT more than that.
Too many people, probably of either race, are all to quick to be able to play the race-card.
You really have to wonder and question.

But, as some have said...
There are those who are going to hear, read, and see, what they want to....
So, whatever... Nobody here is going to change anyone else's mind.

Anyhow, I just wanted to throw this out here...
Something I have been seeing in my community, with young kids.
Without even realizing the gravity of what they are doing, kids, like pre-teens and young teens, are going around using the N-word to be like silly or cool or whatever. (we do live in a community with very, very, few black people - They do NOT seem to be doing this out of any real racial tension or racism.)

It is like, just to be silly/cool/whatever... my son has heard guys going around saying things like "S'up my n***"

My DH and I have really discussed this with him, and tryed to convey the gravity and the level to which this is not appropriate, and could actually be a danger!!! But, I am not so sure we have really gotten all the way thru to DS about this. Not that he, himself, would ever really go out and say anything like that himself, in public... but... the whole situation...

 

[FireDancer]

How old were you in 1984?

I was 6. I'm basing my opinion on speaking to people who were adults at the time and how it was covered. It came up in a conversation about this topic I had with some friends and I decided to ask around and see how it was covered at the time. The majority of people I asked about it that were adults at the time didn't even know it had happened. The few who did said it was mentioned in a blurb and that was it. No long drawn out national calls for boycotts and apologies like you see in similar situations. Michael Richards comes to mind.

That was just one example though. Contrast just two cases, the Zimmerman one and the 2007 case mentioned above, and you can see the huge difference in coverage both in amount and in tone. The race card is being thrown all around the Zimmerman case even though there is no evidence that race played any part in that night.

All hate crimes are bad no matter which race is responsible and which is the victim but at the same time every single time one race commits a crime against the other it is not a hate crime. Sometimes it is just a crime.

Like I said though, it is what it is.

 

[chobie]

I was 6. I'm basing my opinion on speaking to people who were adults at the time and how it was covered. It came up in a conversation about this topic I had with some friends and I decided to ask around and see how it was covered at the time. The majority of people I asked about it that were adults at the time didn't even know it had happened. The few who did said it was mentioned in a blurb and that was it. No long drawn out national calls for boycotts and apologies like you see in similar situations. Michael Richards comes to mind.

That was just one example though. Contrast just two cases, the Zimmerman one and the 2007 case mentioned above, and you can see the huge difference in coverage both in amount and in tone. The race card is being thrown all around the Zimmerman case even though there is no evidence that race played any part in that night.

Like I said though, it is what it is.

Well talking to a few adults about what happened or didn't happen 30 years ago surrounding a comment hardly proves your point. Did these adults regularly watch news and/or read newspapers?

In your research did you do a search of how many times it was monitored on newspapers, magazines and or tv news shows?

I was in high school in Seattle and I remember reading/hearing about it at the time and it seemed like a big deal IMO.

You are discussing and researching it 30 years later, everyone pretty much has heard of it, it gets brought up a lot 30 years later, so I'm thinking that tends to support it being big deal.

Remember 30 years ago there was no Internet where is someone makes a racist comment millions of people know about instantly. Back on the day you would have had to read the paper, or watch broadcast news to find out about Jessie's comment.

 

[chobie]

And remember 30 years ago we didn't have the Internet where billions if people find out about something at the same time and its all over the place.