Merged Paula Deen: Use the N word, get the axe

[Cleon]

Apparently at one point she wanted to make "Sambo Burgers" on her show, and the producers told her "no."

 

[Piggy]

Apparently at one point she wanted to make "Sambo Burgers" on her show, and the producers told her "no."

Reminds me of the guy who made the "Don't Re-Nig in 2012" bumper stickers. He said -- and I have no problem believing his sincerity -- that he "didn't mean it in a racist way".

I see from that article that Deen is from Albany. (Cleon, you and I already know this, but for those who don't, that's pronounced ALL-binny.) Now things become clear.

 

[AlBell]

I just wonder which food network competitor will give her a show.

 

[Cleon]

I just wonder which food network competitor will give her a show.

CBS (Confederate Broadcasting System)? Maybe TNN (The Nazi Network).

 

[Piggy]

CBS (Confederate Broadcasting System)? Maybe TNN (The Nazi Network).

She may be reduced to setting up a food truck in the parking lot at Skrewdriver concerts, serving neuremburgers and feuhrer fries.

 

[Molinaro]

So she has racist tendencies. Fine. But can she cook? It's that latter bit that should determine whether she is employable on a cooking show.

So what's next? Do I get to fire someone because I don't care for their opinion on Obamacare? Poor, or even offensive opinions shouldn't be the basis for firing someone.

If the guy who drives the school bus is a Creationist, or thinks reptilians have taken over the major corporations, should I push to have him fired?

Racists: Mock them, pity them, debate them. But fire them? Now who's discriminating?

Not exactly a firing. They chose not to renew her contract that is ending at the end of June.

Also, tv personalities are in fact hired based on their appeal to the audience. So an issue like this is in fact 100% relevant to their value as an employee.

 

[NoahFence]

http://www.deadline.com/2013/06/nyt...ula-deens-contract-after-racial-slur-dilemma/

"The Food Network did issue a statement on the matter early on, saying the channel “does not tolerate any form of discrimination and is a strong proponent of diversity and inclusion. We will continue to monitor the situation.” Today the Food Network did not say why Deen was dropped. But a media frenzy mounted over the revelations in that deposition for the lawsuit filed by a former manager of one of Deen’s family restaurants. In the document, Deen admitted that in her past she used racial slurs in her family life and tolerated racist jokes in the workplace, all of which ran counter to her beloved image. It also sparked a national debate about what constitutes ”acceptable” old and new Southern attitudes towards race."

Karma is a *****

Unless I'm misunderstanding what happened, she said she used it either to or in regards to a person who held a gun to her head. -->IF<-- that is indeed the case, I don't blame her one bit.

 

[Ts4EVER]

I used that wotrd a lot in my youth, without ever refering skin color.

We had a sweets called ******-head (tête de négres). It was a black extern chocolat humongus thing with soft creamy meringy sugary things inside. It is only much later when people looked at me bizarely and explained me what the word ALSO meant that I stopped using it.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whippet_(biscuit)

Haha yes. IIRC these things are called "Negerkuss" (negro kiss) in some parts of Germany and "Mohrenkopf" (moor's head) in others. The company producing them thought those names were politically incorrect so now they call them "Dickmanns"

 

[Molinaro]

Unless I'm misunderstanding what happened, she said she used it either to or in regards to a person who held a gun to her head. -->IF<-- that is indeed the case, I don't blame her one bit.

Actually she said that is one specific instance she remembers. She does not remember the circumstances surrounding the other times she said it.

 

[Babbylonian]

Unless I'm misunderstanding what happened, she said she used it either to or in regards to a person who held a gun to her head. -->IF<-- that is indeed the case, I don't blame her one bit.

So racial slurs are cool if used in reference to someone who has wronged you? Good tip.

 

[Alareth]

Of course my dad would never make a hamburger sandwich with donuts either.

Hamburger sandwich?

Do you also wear a jacket coat?

 

[NoahFence]

So racial slurs are cool if used in reference to someone who has wronged you? Good tip.

Hell yes they are. If someone has wronged you like THAT? Put a gun to your head??? ANY slurs are cool, racist or otherwise. If you don't like it, don't put a gun to someone's head.

Easy.

 

[Piggy]

It's interesting that I can freely post the term white trash, despite it being an unambiguous slur, but I can't type the so-called "n word" without it being censored, despite it being used among friends every second of the day in the US.

That is completely irrational.

 

[SezMe]

Piggy, I don't know that cultural norms have ever been rational.

 

[Travis]

Hamburger sandwich?

Do you also wear a jacket coat?

You never just fry up a hamburger patty and eat it without a bun?

Anyways around my house there is a distinction.

 

[Roger Ramjets]

It's interesting that I can freely post the term white trash

Perhaps the censor only recognizes single words?

I can't type the so-called "n word" without it being censored, despite it being used among friends every second of the day in the US.

The 'n-word' only has one meaning, and it is unambiguously racist. 'white' and 'trash' are neutral words that may be considered racist when used in certain contexts.

That is completely irrational.

Unless you know what criteria the censor uses, you cannot rationally make that claim.

I hate being labeled by skin color, wealth, class, gender or culture. None of these things should make any difference to how you treat people or think of them, and you shouldn't corrupt words by making racial slurs out of them.

White: free from color.

Trash: something worth little.

'White Trash': pejorative term referring to poor people who aren't 'colored'.

This shows that 'white trash' is an implicit slur against people with dark skin. Why? Because the term 'black trash' is (in the minds of racists) redundant.

 

[Stomatopoda]

Personally, I don't think any less of Paula Deen for being a racist, because my opinion of her was already at rock bottom.

 

[NoahFence]

The 'n-word' only has one meaning, and it is unambiguously racist. 'white' and 'trash' are neutral words that may be considered racist when used in certain contexts.

Then why do they use it when talking to each other? Is ending it in an "a" somehow more acceptable than the traditional "er"??

I call baloney.

 

[iangoeswest]

Reminds me of the guy who made the "Don't Re-Nig in 2012" bumper stickers. He said -- and I have no problem believing his sincerity -- that he "didn't mean it in a racist way".

I have no way of knowing if you're serious, although your next posts suggests that you are, but at risk of taking the bait, how could he have meant that other than in a "racist way?"

Not that I don't find it clever. I do. But if you're gonna have the conviction of your racist jokes, then have the conviction of your racist jokes.

Everything about that deposition was unflattering to Paula Deen, and the handwringing of those who bemoan why, oh why, WE can't use that word but THEY can, or that WE are subject to racial slurs but THEY aren't is tiresome. As if, against the backdrop of the racial history of America, this is the part of the issue we need to be putting our energy into.

I don't know why it's OK that white trash is acceptable and the other word isn't. Why is it acceptable that we enslaved a huge swath of people, denied them their language and history, built a nation on their labor, and never made reparations to them? I don't have an answer to THAT one either, but it seems somewhat higher up the ladder of racial injustice than my lack of freedom to use slurs with impunity.

That being said, I detest the phrase "the n-word." I think the word can be used in its appropriate newsworthy, legal, and historical contexts without our ears burning off. We're not kindergarteners; we don't need to spell it.

 

[Monketi Ghost]

All things being equal, it would matter less.
Are all things equal? There are many obvious criteria by which we may conclude that things are not.