I find the coverage of Paula Deen troubling. Take this CBS News piece as an example. It reports that Ms. Deen’s new cookbook has been dropped by her publisher despite being ranked number one on Amazon due to pre-orders. The article also mentions that Ms. Deen’s contract isn’t being renewed with The Food Network and that she has lost a host of sponsorships and business relationships. But what is the reason for all this hostility to Ms. Deen?
Deen has lost many of her business relationships following revelations that she used racial slurs in the past.
The New York Times piece on the same subject is little better. While it notes that she was deposed in a civil case, it provides little more information.
Since last week, the Food Network, Smithfield Foods, Walmart, Target, Caesars Entertainment, QVC and the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk have decided to suspend or sever ties with Ms. Deen after her admission in a legal deposition that she had used racist language in the past and allowed racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic jokes in one of her restaurants. Ms. Deen was deposed on video as part of a discrimination lawsuit filed last year by a former employee.
But the allegations in the civil suit go far beyond the use of the ‘n’ word. The allegations include racial discrimination in the workplace, sexual harassment, and physical intimidation. As for the ‘n’ word, it is alleged that Paula Dean wanted the caterers at her brother’s wedding to be “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…” They include the allegation that Deen’s brother said they should send President Obama to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico so he could “n***er-rig it.”
I don’t know if these allegations are true, but they help explain why businesses are running away from Ms. Deen. You can’t responsibly report on these severances of business relationships without explaining what the controversy involves.
You mean they should practice REAL journalism?
Why in the hell should they start now? I have almost completely given up on major television media to do anything except highlight the most emotionally charged or salacious parts of any story. I find it frustrating talking about a story with someone whose sources of information are television and the 5 minute news breaks at the top of every hour that you hear on the radio. Having an informed discussion of current events is simply impossible. We are, by and large, a very ignorant society when it comes to being informed. And I think many like it that way.
I have almost completely given up on major television media to do anything except highlight the most emotionally charged or salacious parts of any story.
Which is exactly what the news has been reporting!! When does a show on a major network ever go in-depth on anything? #Uppers when Chris Hayes was doing it? I’m following Twitter this morning and people are talking about the new #Uppers show and they’re talking about Texas. They aren’t even talking about why Wendy Davis did what she did!! And they don’t even have anyone from Texas on!!!!! They don’t even take the easy way out and have Jim Hightower on.
Let me guess…they’re talking about her pink sneakers.
Congratulations, Mike. You are well on the way to freedom from media control.
Yup.
But…why is this the case?
Yup.
And who are these “many people?” Follow the money. Follow the power. Who owns the media? Massive corporate interests own them. And who owns the government? Ditto. These interests want an ill-informed public because it is simply more profitable for them in the long run. This may not be.,..if fact, it is most likely not…so much a conscious corporate conspiracy as it is simply what the short-term, quarterly competition for the almighty dollar has produced through the upper echelons of the corporate system. However, there are also elements of the PermaGov…elements that are probably at least equally power-driven as they are profit-driven… that have awakened to the natural fact that the American public is totally driven by media, and they have quite successfully used this fact to control our political processes as well. The difference between selling Cheerios and presidents if quite small except in terms of potential profit, so why not go whole hog and build a military that makes trillions in profits for itself and its arms makers instead of millions or even billions? And who holds the most power in a capital-driven system? The people who control the most capital, of course.
And here we jolly well are, aren’t we, with a recycled PermaWar Preznit in a brand new, more modern, better-looking box than were the old ones.
NIce.
Keep going in that direction, Mike.
You be bettah off.
You know how to tell when the media is lying?
When it is saying something.
Anything.
Bet on it.
Welcome to the WakeUp Club.
Only by parsing the lies can you find the truth.
Whatever is not said?
There’s where the truth really lies.
Bet on that as well.
Later…
AG
It’s journalism’s version of lite beer. Tastes great/less filling, considerably less filling as it were. Actual substance, not so much.
Speak for yourself, but light beer doesn’t taste like much of anything, much less great. False advertising, etc…if you’re going to drink beer, there’s going to be carbs. Might as well enjoy real great taste instead of watered-down crap.
I Guess that would have made Edward R Murrow on a nice IPA for example?
I don’t think anyone is really surprised that someone of her race and age used the “N-word.”
I know I wasn’t.
What’s surprising, is her honesty in admitting it.
As many other have done, and will continue to do, she could have lied under oath, and made this a ‘white she-said v. black she-said, situation.
For her honesty, and willingness to admit it, I applaud her.
But let’s face some facts, even though she’s made a ton of dough over the years, she’s about as sharp as warm bread dough.
As for her, and her family, “We banish thee! Get thee to a trailer-park!”
As you rightly point out, the issue was workplace discrimination and harassment. You can’t exactly tell either one of the bosses not to talk like that in front of you. Some people’s free speech is more equal than others’.
Plus there is the issue of Paula Deen essentially appropriating African-American culinary art without attribution and with the use of demeaning drama and speech. What distinguishes Southern cuisine from the cuisine of the southern counties of England comes from either Africa (gumbos, deep fried foods, heavy black pepper and spices, beans and peas, yams) or the various Native American cultures of the Southeast (grits, peppers, squash, frybread-cornbread).
Very well stated
I have noticed the selective reporting on this case as well and I can’ t tell if it’s laziness or intentional but clearly it has largely shaped public opinion. When I read other blogs I find that a lot of her supporters are saying what’s the big deal, she said this 30 years ago, minorities are always complaining etc.. Its frustrating to watch it all play out but I believe that there is even more that will come to light than we already know.
I have noticed the selective reporting on this case as well and I can’ t tell if it’s laziness or intentional but clearly it has largely shaped public opinion. When I read other blogs I find that a lot of her supporters are saying what’s the big deal, she said this 30 years ago, minorities are always complaining etc.. Its frustrating to watch it all play out but I believe that there is even more that will come to light than we already know.
to sour on this creature.
Why am I amazed?
Because her food…and the various approaches/ingredients she uses to cook it…SUCKS!!!
It is so blatantly artery-clogging as to be an ongoing joke, and so heavy/badly assembled and produced as to be nothing much more than a high-end Denny’s chomp-fest.
I hate the “N” word dance just as I hate the rest of the censorship of language, and I won’t play it. She said the word “nigger” in public? My Lord!!! She “niggerized” the wonderful cooking of the south..black, brown, tan and whatever other skin colors produced it…for I don’t know how many years. Please. It’s minstrel show-level cooking.
Forget about her. She’s just another dinosaur, unwillingly being driven into the
grease pitstar pits by her own lack of intelligence.And good riddance.
What’s for dinner?
Not her shit, for sure!!!
AG
like working with her and took the opportunity to dump her.
Could be. Even the level of craven corporate executives evolves in this living universe. Her fate is just the one of the many visible evidences of the tarpit fate awaiting white supremacists the world over.
So it evolves.
Slooooowly…
SO slowly.
AG
The 400lb. gorilla in the room is the working conditions that led to the lawsuit that the deposition was being taken for, conditions which these companies cannot be seen as having any sort of tacit endorsement of by having a business relationship with Deen. None of them want to open that can of worms. So the media, which is owned by the same interests, flog the “n” word instead of talking about the case itself.
Ask yourself how many of that list would squirm if they were made to explain every single detail of their working conditions? Particularly the ones with overseas divisions, which pretty much is all of them?
I went to Stonekettle Station, to see if Jim Wright had something to say on the whole Paula Deen brouhaha, and yes, indeedy, he had a lot to say:
http://www.stonekettle.com/2013/06/a-certain-kind-of-hate.html
The man’s a national treasure, so he is.
Priceless.
All those people not concerned about the NSA domestic spying because they “think” they aren’t doing anything wrong, might want to take note. Few are better than Deen in evaluating their own behavior.
Hadn’t fully noticed the GOP/rightwing’s current efforts at historical revisionism wrt racism — Frank Rich’s article is excellent. But Stonekettle gets right to the point:
Thanks again for the link
You might want to check out Jim’s take on the NSA/Snowden thing, below the Deen article; it’s a far more nuanced look at that issue than most of what I’ve read, coming from someone with far better insight into the agency, its workings, and all the implications and ramifications thereof, than most of the people commenting on it. Whether or not you emerge from the article in full, partial, or no agreement, I think you’ll find it well worth reading.
Hmm — another former NSA guy that never saw anything illegal or questionable. Just like the FBI guys in the days of J Edgar that hid all their COINTELPRO activities — because they too decided they were legal.
“We” didn’t demand anything specific in the days after 9/11 — other than to be led in a practical and rational way. Instead we got fear mongering 24/7 from the WH and most of the ninnies in Congress. Oh, and anthrax letters from Saddam’s WMD factory. “We” were sold “be very afraid” and “go shopping (for plastic sheeting and duct tape) while GWB/Cheney operate in the shadows because ordinary people can’t know what is required to “make us safe.”
Not sure where he’s getting that those most upset to learn of the size and scope of the NSA surveillance were the cheerleaders. The latter have been silent except to demand Snowden’s head for telling us what we unknowingly bought.
He completely misses an obvious component of the story. One that Chris Hayes deftly handles, and well covered in the Scahill and Greenwald speeches at the Socialism 2103 conference.
But thanks for the link — never hurts to read and consider opposing views.
Yeh, I didn’t think you’d buy everything he lays out, but I knew you’d appreciate a well-argued differing viewpoint — and he too says we need to rein in the system as it stands. As to never seeing anything illegal or questionable, well, I’ve been reading him for years, and the vibe I get is that he wouldn’t stand for such things on his watch; I daresay those inclined to pursue such would take care to keep them out of his awareness, if only to spare themselves the grief of him raising a ruckus over it. Call me naive, but I find it quite plausible that not everyone in an organization is involved in or aware of whatever wrongdoing others within it engage in.
Not naive — distributed systems in many organizations make it difficult for most people to put things together. However, mostly it’s people not wanting to know and doing nothing when they do know.
Once worked for a company that crashed and burned and the SEC spent years going after the CEO. As I was in a branch office, I could only sense some sketchy things that may have been going on. What was invisible was that the CFO and outside CPA auditor were either incompetent or fraudulent. The CEO may have been a bit of a crook, but it was bigger crooks that did the company in.
Or I could just give you the damn link:
http://www.stonekettle.com/2013/06/essential-liberty-in-post-911-world.html
YES, thanks for the linky.
Thanks for the clariications. All the TV news said is that she admitted to using the word sometime in the past. Given her Southern accent and gray hair, it would be a lie to say she didn’t. The crucial point is when she said it. Fifty years ago? Or 50 days ago? And does she regret it?
The allegations are horrible and if true the sponsors are right to run away from her. If decades ago, it’s another story. Is there any white person who never said it fifty or sixty years ago? I have. I’ll admit it. I didn’t know any better. I’m ashamed of it now. I venture to guess that the word passed TarHeelDem’s lips in childhood. I have a very good black friend who admits to saying ofay and honky when he was young before he entered the Air Force and met us white people. The military is an awakening experience for many of us. We hear things from adults as children and repeat them like parrots. The important thing is what we say and do now.
The media give the impression that this was all a long time ago. Maybe that’s to avoid offending Republicans.
folks can’t possibly be believing all these companies are dropping her because of something she SAID.
seriously?
have you even read the complaint.
maybe you haven’t, but the legal departments of these companies have…
and they have said to their companies – GET AWAY FROM THIS WOMAN.
in case you didn’t read the complaint..
yes, she’s a racist..
and?
it’s the HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT THAT SHE CREATED.
she had her own modern plantation…
with only WHITES and LIGHT-SKINNED BLACKS being allowed on the floor of her restaurants…
while DARK-SKINNED BLACKS were only good enough to cook in the kitchen..
then, there was the SEPARATE ENTRANCE for BLACK EMPLOYEES.
I wonder if her lawyers ever advised her to settle the case? Because she has lost a lot more than the value of the lawsuit. The only thing that made me think she was a bigot was the “plantation style wedding” phrase. Because for some reason that goes to defining her as a person and what beliefs she may have….like “know your place”