There is an assumed perversity in diversity when you attempt to sanction, shut down and muzzle an individual for something that they said 20 years ago. In the case of Paula Deen, political correctness has turned the basic aim of diversity into a tabloid headline that has nothing to do with what diversity is: the inclusion of diverse races and cultures into society, commerce and education.
Diversity to some is a shield and not a doorway. Poor Paula Deen.
Here is a woman who evangelizes high-fat ingredients as the nexus for dishes that can potentially kill you. Her casserole should have a Surgeon General Warning on it. Then, when the cover was blown off her Type 2 Diabetes condition, she pulls in her horns and starts to shill diabetic paraphernalia while continuing to hawk the exact food regime that is one of the single most virulent killers in the United States.
Also see video: Paula Deen: 5 Golden, Butter-Drenched Moments
Obesity often leads to diabetes which = diabesity. For that reason, Deen should have been run out on a rail, but no … she is being censured for admitting to using the “N” word almost 20 years ago.
Wake up. This woman grew up and was doing business in Savannah! Just what the hell do you expect? She also had the balls (no doubt dredged in flour and deep-fried) to admit to same during a deposition. She has made her mea culpas, albeit somewhat clumsily at the hands of her PR hacks. So where do we go with this?
The Food Network decided to dump her and her show. This is the same network that had problems back in 2008. After promoting a chef named Robert Irvine, it was discovered by the St. Petersburg Times that he had "padded his resume." No record he graduated from the University of Leeds, worked on Princess Di's wedding cake or cooked for President Bush, a claim former White House executive chef Walter Scheib flatly dismissed.
According to Irvine's Wikipedia page, "Irvine had impressed financial backers with the claims he was a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, had a degree in food and nutrition from the University of Leeds, had worked on the wedding cake for Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and had worked as a White House chef."
Was Irvine “chopped” for being a total douchebag by allegedly misrepresenting himself in order to generate revenue. Isn't that fraud? How come he still gets a show and Deen is trashed like a plate of burned risotto on Gordon Ramsay's pass (that's restaurant talk).
Also read: Paula Deen: 'I Beg for Your Forgiveness' for Using N-Word
And how about this guy, Geoffrey Zakarian. A diminutively snarky cretin who filed for personal bankruptcy in 2011 in response to a class-action lawsuit brought against him by his former employees. Again, according to his Wikepedia page: "The employees allege he engaged in repeated and gross violation of labor laws and are suing for back pay. Two of Zakarian's partners in the related restaurant support the workers’ claims, but Zakarian's publicist denied the charges."
They made him an Iron Chef. Unbelievable.
Admittedly, we all can't be like Bobby Flay, but in the absence of righteousness, we strive to be human. The same Food Network that advertises and advocates an admitted shyster who bilked investors, and a gonnif who took money from the pockets of his own employees while lavishing food and service that were comp'd to his friends, is coming down on a working woman who spoke the truth in a deposition.
I wonder if he or Irvine ever used the “N” word. Ever? Give me a break. What about Emeril Lagassè — he grew up in New Orleans.
Of course they have. So have you. I have. If you haven't used it, you've thought it. If it's not the “N” word, then you were slagging off some Mexican, maybe a Jew or an Italian, maybe someone who is gay or — maybe your preference might be using the word “retard” for the mentally handicapped?
Also read: Paula Deen's Next Show? 8 of the Best Suggestions on Twitter
Whatever it is, look into yourself, and ask if you should be persecuted for that utterance. Especially if you grew up in a region where use of the word was a part of a daily lexicon that was as much about ignorance as it was about hate. Do you think there is one goy who works in New York City that hasn't uttered an anti-Semitic remark? Try to find one. They are as rare as tofu in a Deen recipe.
I won't even get into the rap that urban slang of the “N” word has rendered it meaningless. That argument fails miserably every time it's used. Again, ignorance is a trait shared by all races. Now we're talking real diversity.
We have become a society of politically correct idiots who preach the “don't do as I do, do as I say” routine that my dad used to parrot. This isn't what diversity is about. Because of the decision of the Food Network to jump on the PC bandwagon (and now their reasoning is the feeble apology that Deen made at the behest of her PR hacks), there will be people laid off or fired from her restaurants, college funds depleted, more people on unemployment, and another woman who raised herself up to be a success stamped down by The Man.
As her star fades, others do too. The maple syrup that oozes down her Cheese and Sausage Soufflé isn't the only trickle down theory at play. We are a society of idiots brought up on vacuous standards that we fail to follow, yet foist upon others.