Let me confess. I don't watch Paula Deen a lot, even though I love food and cooking. Also, I think that carbs (such as deep-fried cheesecake, fried chicken with Crisco shortening, and mac-and-cheese pies) were the real cause of Paula Deen's heart attack rather than butter or heavy cream.
Now, I will comment on the alleged racism of Paula Deen. Here is the case as it goes: Deen is under fire for admitting that she used the N-word thirty years ago to describe a black person who held a gun at her head. The Daily Mail reports that she lost millions of dollars from Home Depot, Walmart, and Caesars Casinos, even as her empire was collapsing with the end of her contracts with Food Network. Also, a lawsuit was filed against her for her alleged discrimination against black employees, which also revealed Deen's use of racial slurs and her desire to have a "plantation-style" wedding for her brother. The lawsuit also revealed Deen's admission to wanting black men dressed as slaves. A sobbing Paula Deen, however, claimed in her interview on The Today Show to have used the N-word only once, and that hurtful lies are destroying her reputation in a worse way than any loss of money. She also denies that she is racist and that she would never hurt anyone. She even calls for a sinless person to stone her and wants to "meet [the stoner]."
Now for my comments. Apart from my disappointment in her for saying unwise things, I am severely disappointed in the media and the cultural Marxists for their lambasting of an apparently broken and contrite woman. They smeared her as a self-pitying woman who had no concern for those she hurt. That may or may not be true. She may have shown self-pity. She may have repented of these sins. However, the media treatment was so bad that even the Rev. Al Sharpton (or Not-So-Sharpton as the conservative talk show host Mark Levin called him) admonished the media not to judge her for old racist comments. Before judging Deen for her words, the media should follow Jesus's commands and be careful to remove the plank from their eye before removing the sawdust from Deen's eyes. The problem with the media is not so much a genuine confrontation of Paula Deen and the flippant use of language; rather, as the libertarian columnist Ilana Mercer pointed out in her recent column, many in the media harbor a resentful attitude against Old South culture per se (not so much because of flaws such as slavery and other abominations), while neglecting the good parts of that culture. Mercer says, "Blaming Old-South culture – as the prototypical knaves of conservatism are doing – is, moreover, unlikely to help exculpate Ms. Deen in the minds of the morons who judge her for her words, rather than for her deeds. The bad Old South macro-narrative is as ineffective in mitigation as is pointing out that Deen misspoke because of a near-death experience. 'A black man [once] burst into the bank that I was working at and put a gun to my head,' recounted Deen. 'I didn’t feel real favorable towards him.'"
Now, I will comment on the alleged racism of Paula Deen. Here is the case as it goes: Deen is under fire for admitting that she used the N-word thirty years ago to describe a black person who held a gun at her head. The Daily Mail reports that she lost millions of dollars from Home Depot, Walmart, and Caesars Casinos, even as her empire was collapsing with the end of her contracts with Food Network. Also, a lawsuit was filed against her for her alleged discrimination against black employees, which also revealed Deen's use of racial slurs and her desire to have a "plantation-style" wedding for her brother. The lawsuit also revealed Deen's admission to wanting black men dressed as slaves. A sobbing Paula Deen, however, claimed in her interview on The Today Show to have used the N-word only once, and that hurtful lies are destroying her reputation in a worse way than any loss of money. She also denies that she is racist and that she would never hurt anyone. She even calls for a sinless person to stone her and wants to "meet [the stoner]."
Now for my comments. Apart from my disappointment in her for saying unwise things, I am severely disappointed in the media and the cultural Marxists for their lambasting of an apparently broken and contrite woman. They smeared her as a self-pitying woman who had no concern for those she hurt. That may or may not be true. She may have shown self-pity. She may have repented of these sins. However, the media treatment was so bad that even the Rev. Al Sharpton (or Not-So-Sharpton as the conservative talk show host Mark Levin called him) admonished the media not to judge her for old racist comments. Before judging Deen for her words, the media should follow Jesus's commands and be careful to remove the plank from their eye before removing the sawdust from Deen's eyes. The problem with the media is not so much a genuine confrontation of Paula Deen and the flippant use of language; rather, as the libertarian columnist Ilana Mercer pointed out in her recent column, many in the media harbor a resentful attitude against Old South culture per se (not so much because of flaws such as slavery and other abominations), while neglecting the good parts of that culture. Mercer says, "Blaming Old-South culture – as the prototypical knaves of conservatism are doing – is, moreover, unlikely to help exculpate Ms. Deen in the minds of the morons who judge her for her words, rather than for her deeds. The bad Old South macro-narrative is as ineffective in mitigation as is pointing out that Deen misspoke because of a near-death experience. 'A black man [once] burst into the bank that I was working at and put a gun to my head,' recounted Deen. 'I didn’t feel real favorable towards him.'"
Even when they point out Paula Deen's alleged racism, the cultural Marxists and the media, as Tom DiLorenzo points out, "are paternalistic racists who believe that black people can never, ever, make it on their own without special help from them" and "can never admit any of [the problems of statism] because they have championed [the war on poverty, the welfare state, the war on drugs, government schooling, and the welfare state] over the past decades." As I said before, the media neglected to deal with their own problems before picking on Paula Deen.
Now, having said all this, what should Paula Deen do? Simple. Repent of her actions, apologize, and make reconciliation with those whom she has hurt. She should also watch her words next time, and she should recognize the dangers that a big "empire" could bring to the "emperor."
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