Apparently,
as many of you reminded me, I posted a semi-defense of Paula Deen without full
knowledge. The use of the “n” word came out in court testimony, when she and her
sons were sued by a black former employee. I am suspicious of such cases—maybe that
former employee saw a chance to make some money. Give Paula credit for telling
the truth under oath.
But
there is more damning evidence—the remark about black waiters in white shirts
was made as recently as 2007. No excuse for that. And there is more I won’t
detail here.
A
friend told me when she moved to Texas from California fifty years ago, she was
appalled at the racial epithets and slurs. But, she added, when you haven’t
lived in southern culture, you don’t understand how pervasive that attitude is.
Unfortunately we still have it today: as evidence, I offer the unreasoning hate
for President Obama.
But
back to Paula Deen, I leapt before I looked—or researched (who has time to research
for a daily blog?). If I knew I didn’t have the full story, I would have backed
off. And I won’t exactly leap back to her defense again, except to say that I
think she’s been heavily punished, perhaps too heavily, for what she did… and
said. She’s become the symbol for a lot of resentment that has nothing to do
with her. And I wonder if there’s not an element of star revenge involved. Don’t
some people like to see successful people fall?
The
celebrity chef world will survive without Paula Deen…and, bruised ego and
scarred feelings aside, she’ll survive on the money she’s earned (if she was a
wise investor). Indeed, she may yet rise again, like a yeast-rising dough. But
I think we should all learn a lesson from this “scandal.” At the least we should
learn to look at ourselves before we criticize others.
As
for me, mea culpa. Apologies and a promise to try not to post when I don’t have
all the facts.
As
for Wendy Davis, her star continues to rise, and following it will be fun. I
only saw one of her TV appearances this morning, but she was composed, sure of
herself and her views, and determined. Go Wendy. More people are behind you
every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment