Chafed and chastened chef Paula Deen is taking the offensive against allegations that she’s a social and workplace bigot. Late Monday evening, the Deen Team of lawyers charged that the manager of one of Paula’s restaurants who brought the initial lawsuit against her is not eligible to benefit from any court remedy. That’s because the plaintiff is white.
Paula’s been all over the place of late swearing on a stack of her cookbooks that she is not guilty of racist name-calling, joke-telling and discriminatory workplace practices. She swears that if she has offended any race, color, or creed, it happened years ago and is the result of her deep-fried Southern upbringing. But the Food Network, Smithfield Hams, Wal-Mart, Novo Nordisk, QVC, Home Depot, Caesars Entertainment and four casino buffets, Sears, Kraft Foods, J.C. Penney, and many other sponsors just don’t believe her. The big guys aren’t just piling on. They conduct their own individual investigations and focus groups, so there may be more capitalism here than humanitarianism. Witnesses are ready to testify that the use of the “N” word is just the tip of the Deen tongue. Where there’s smoke, there’s a grease fire.
Tens of thousands of Paula’s ardent fans in St. Louis and across the nation were ready to whip out their credit cards and checks to make Paula’s upcoming cookbook a bestseller. The book shot up to No. 1 on Amazon, even though it wasn’t scheduled to come out till October. But just last Friday, Paula’s publisher stunningly scuttled the entire publication. This tailor-made lesson in race relations for the Georgia-born celebrity chef might be among the most expensive in history. If she, in fact, has been drawing down a reported annual salary of $17 million or more, she may have to go on a diet of humble pie and try to scrape by on a mere three or four million in the coming year(s). Less, if her brother, “Bubba,” doesn’t shut his crusty pie hole.
I took my own personal, non-scientific poll on the stew in which Paula finds herself. I was, quite frankly, surprised at how much support she has out there. In my own circle of friends, neighbors, and associates, here’s a sample of what I’ve heard:
“Oh, Jules, you oughta get off that poor old Southern white lady’s back. She can’t help the way she was brought up, and she didn’t invent those now-nasty words people around her taught her to use.”
“The lame-stream media is just piling on her in a mean-spirited domino effect. Even Jimmy Carter says she deserves mercy now.”
“Black people call each other the ‘N’ word. Why can’t we use it?”
“Aw, this will only boost her name and make her more popular. In a few weeks, she’ll be back to laughing all the way to the bank.”
“We’ve all screwed up from time to time. Let he (or she) who is without sin throw the first cream pie at poor Paula.”
Here’s what jumped out at me after hearing comments like these. In their own way, all of the preceding statements have some merit—some more than others. But ultimately, the statements represent the main reasons there is still such a racial divide here in St. Louis and around the nation. Rather than address specific remedies for racism generated by all races, we seem more comfortable throwing a sidestep to any discussion that could lead us out of this quagmire of bipartisan racism. Alfred Hitchcock called this diversionary tactic to throw us off the main track in his films a “McGuffin.” Look for the red herring—or McGuffin—in Hitch’s greatest suspense and mystery flicks. And look for it in future talks you are in about race relations.
What I’m hearing the former Paula Deen sponsors corporately saying is that they’ve tasted the political pudding and found there is proof the public’s taste for ethnic, racial, and gender intolerance has changed drastically. Paula’s language and antebellum attitudes were leaving a bad taste in the mouths of a majority of the purchasing public.
I don’t think Paula needs a 12-step program. I do think a first step, though, involves her acknowledging that she was caught in the act. Then she should tie an imaginary cheesecloth bandana around her neck that she can slip up over your mouth to strain out “N” words and derogatory ethnic jokes. And then, when she slips up, she has to wash her mouth out with something other than red-eye gravy. Next, Paula should give herself a daily spelling test with the word R-E-S-P-E-C-T first on the list. Next, fire that dadgum crisis management team. They are not helping her. Too many cooks are spoiling her life. I urge chef Deen to be ecumenical, and even though she is Baptist, she should try a deep-dish serving of good old Catholic mea culpa!
I, for one, am trying to figure out just what the heck was on her mind a week ago today when she gave Matt Lauer and five-million TODAY Show viewers a statement that fell like a flawed soufflé. Paula gave her reason for the whole mess getting started, and told us what she planned to do about it. Here was Paula Deen’s verbatim declaration:
“I is what I is, and I’m not changin’ …”
Amos ’n’ Andy couldn’t have said it more eloquently.
Commentary by Julius K. Hunter
