Paula Deen fired and Alabama again lives down to stereotypes

[0KidsAndHappy]

I can't believe there is an actual comparison between Yankee, redneck, and the n-word. That's almost as silly as when I hear white people complain about being called cracker or that they are hurt by the lack of White Entertainment TV.

[Patsy]

Bill Maher is kinda trying to defend Paula.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/21/m ... st-a-word/

Ha ha ha of course he is. I can't fucking stand that man.

[Shasta ODonegal]

Thank. God. Someone finally called Maher on his shit. I've never understood why so many progressives champion this guy. He should never work in media again for giving Ann Coulter a platform, much less the fact that he's a douchebag who harassed female interns when he worked in network television.

[JesusFightClub]

Bill Maher is kinda trying to defend Paula.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/21/m ... st-a-word/

As his guest pointed out, it wasn't "just the once". It was loads of times, it was defending racial, sexual and physical harassment in the workplace and also defending outright threats of physical violence. That's even before we get onto the creepy plantation comments.

I think she deserves all she gets.

[apple1]

I am a 60 (gasp!) year old woman.

I have NEVER used the "n" word. Never. And I am the daughter of a born-and-raised-in-the-south dad.

As for the workplace discrimination against a divorced woman: Paula got her start as an effort to support herself and her sons after her D-I-V-O-R-C-E. Can we say hypocrite?

...and FTR, while I realize that "redneck" is generally used in a mildly derogatory sense, the origin of the word "redneck" was as a reference to those who needed to work in the sun for a living, resulting in a red (sunburned) neck, i.e. in my book, an inadvertent compliment. But yes, most who use the word intend it as a mild derogative. But definitely not comparable to the n word.

As for "yankee", really?

[FlorenceHamilton]

I don't condone use of racial slurs but I think this is a ridiculous over reaction. I find it hard to believe that there is a single person in the world who hasn't used a slur or a derogatory word against any group (hispanic, female, male, gay, fundamentalist Christian, black, southern, northern, fat, skinny) in their entire lives.

But this sentence really goes beyond that, doesn't it?

“Well what I would really like is a bunch of little niggers 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 lawsuit claims Deen said. “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.â€

[Arete]

Well, in all honesty, when someone from the South has called me a Yankee, it has always had derogatory undertones. However, the only thing that comes to my mind in one of those encounters is "Stupid redneck." I don't imagine hearing the N word is quite so cathartic to an African American. In fact, I can imagine that some of them may feel immediate physical danger, in addition to anger because someone attempted to humiliate them by referencing a word and a time when they were bought and sold like clothes.

[laura oz]

:popcorn2: I'm just waiting to see how she comes back from this. America loves a good comeback story. Do y'all think there's anything she can do to attempt a comeback from a fuck up as big as this?

[kpmom]

Thank. God. Someone finally called Maher on his shit. I've never understood why so many progressives champion this guy. He should never work in media again for giving Ann Coulter a platform, much less the fact that he's a douchebag who harassed female interns when he worked in network television.

Amen! Several years ago he compared developmentally disabled children to dogs. Something about how they learn about on the level of a dog, or something like that. I guess he thought he was being cute and controversial.

I couldn't stand him after that.

[apple1]

:popcorn2: I'm just waiting to see how she comes back from this. America loves a good comeback story. Do y'all think there's anything she can do to attempt a comeback from a fuck up as big as this?

You might be right. After all, the diabetes thing was "exposed" at the same time that she was setting her son up to have his own show, "Not my mama's meals..." Coincidence? NOT. Additionally, I strongly doubt that Paula's much-complimented weight loss was from reworking her eating habits. Weight loss can also (frequently) be from uncontrolled diabetes. Nobody makes that big of a turnaround and keeps it all that much of a secret for, what was it, 3? years.

I can't believe it took this long for all this to be exposed. Major spin going on there.

[kpmom]

:popcorn2: I'm just waiting to see how she comes back from this. America loves a good comeback story. Do y'all think there's anything she can do to attempt a comeback from a fuck up as big as this?

There are so many people standing up for her on facebook, I'll bet she does come back to a degree. She'll never be on the cover of magazines like Women's Day, or cooking magazines again, but she'll come back somewhere.

Dr. Laura found her way back on XM radio. Paula will find a niche again.

[laura oz]

But this sentence really goes beyond that, doesn't it?

“Well what I would really like is a bunch of little niggers 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 lawsuit claims Deen said. “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.â€

:pink-shock: Never mind my previous question. There's no way she's going to be able to make a come back after saying that. Shame on you Paula.

[Coconut Flan]

TMZ has some survey questions up about the Paula Deen incident. What I found disturbing was the roughly 60/40 split on most of the questions - in Paula Deen's favor.

tmz.com/2013/06/22/paula-deen-you-be-the-judge/

[Becket70]

My gut tells me that Food Network had been looking for an excuse to phase her out and then this situation fell into their lap. I have enjoyed watching her shows over the years but lately she has come across to me as cartoonish and with an exaggerated accent. It felt like an "act" and was getting on my nerves. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if she turned up later on the Cooking Channel, which I believe is owned by the same company that owns the FN.

[lizziesmom]

TMZ has some survey questions up about the Paula Deen incident. What I found disturbing was the roughly 60/40 split on most of the questions - in Paula Deen's favor.

tmz.com/2013/06/22/paula-deen-you-be-the-judge/

My own bias is probably coming in to play here, but look at the south and the number of red states, and 'there you go'. Is it broken down by state at all in the results. (Sports polls usually are). Also, I wonder how many of the people supporting her know anything about the lawsuit or have read the complaint. Use of the n word got Mark Furman fired so why shouldn't Paula suffer the same fate?

[laura oz]

My own bias is probably coming in to play here, but look at the south and the number of red states, and 'there you go'. Is it broken down by state at all in the results. (Sports polls usually are). Also, I wonder how many of the people supporting her know anything about the lawsuit or have read the complaint. Use of the n word got Mark Furman fired so why shouldn't Paula suffer the same fate?

Don't forget Furmen had a sort of come back with the Martha Moxley case and had some success rehabbing his image. Hell, they even made a TV movie about him solving the case.

[Peas n carrots]

So dissapointing in Bill Maher. I just saw him recently, and if I had known he defended Paula Deen I would have sold my tickets. There is justno defense of what she said and did.

[JenniferJuniper]

So dissapointing in Bill Maher. I just saw him recently, and if I had known he defended Paula Deen I would have sold my tickets. There is justno defense of what she said and did.

I saw the show and got the impression Maher didn't know the whole story. He seemed to think she was fired just because she admitted to using the word sometime in her past. As someone who was fired from a show for something he said, he may have been automatically sympathetic to her. I thought his African American guest straightened him out very well.

[GolightlyGrrl]

I just got done reading the deposition. I think I'm going to be sick. Paula Deen et al are truly horrible people.

[DifferentGurl]

:pink-shock: Never mind my previous question. There's no way she's going to be able to make a come back after saying that. Shame on you Paula.

So the reason she didn't want to do the wedding wasn't because she knew it was immoral....but because the media would be all over her on that? :pull-hair: :wtf:

[Lillybee]

FN pulled Paula's show that usually airs at 9am on Saturday. It looks like they are done with her.

[PennySycamore]

When I asked my Food Network-loving mom what she thought, her response was, "I don't know. She's from a different time."

I wanted to say to her, "Mom, she is from the same time as you and you don't use language like that."

Heck, my mom and dad would be in the 80s (dad, 85 and mom, 83) and they would never have used language like that.

[FreeJosie]

But this sentence really goes beyond that, doesn't it?

“Well what I would really like is a bunch of little niggers 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 lawsuit claims Deen said. “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.â€

That statement says it all about her attitude. She wasn't saying "But we can't do that because it's horribly racist and I shouldn't even be entertaining the thought," she was saying "But we can't do that because the media will jump on me and I'll lose my career."

[gilora]

Is she still shilling for Smithfield? Nothing like a large dose of racism to accompany the holiday ham.

[Loveday]

Is she still shilling for Smithfield? Nothing like a large dose of racism to accompany the holiday ham.

No word yet. But Smithfield was just sold to a company in China and are still dealing with the public opinion on that, so I'm not sure they've had time to address the Paula Deen issue yet.