Paula Deen #2

One of the more forgiving comments about Paula Deen's (unintended) expression of racism came from a 36 year old African-American woman, Nicole Green, who was standing in line to eat at Deen's Savannah restaurant (quoted in the AJC).

"I get it, believe me.  But what's hard for people to understand is that she didn't mean it as racist.  It sounds bad, but that's not what's in her heart.  She's just from another time."

Yes . . . but . . .

That's the problem.   It's not in her heart.   Or rather, I would say it's not what's in her head.   But it is in her bones -- born and bred there through generations of accepting the supposed inferiority of the darker races, and infused with lingering prejudice and wishing to defend our ancestors and put a more benign face on slavery.

But that doesn't make it right.  It's there in the depths of all of us who grew up in that time and place.   But we must recognize it with our heads and let them over-rule such spontaneous, blind expressions that demean and hurt other people based on the color of their skin.

Having never paid much attention to Paula Deen before this, I watched her video clips of apology and an earlier interview about race and the South.    She is a woman who just blurts things out, with no censor between her thoughts and her tongue.  Should we then judge her less harshly than someone who proclaimed such an attitude in a prepared speech?

Perhaps it is going a bit far for her to have to lose her entire television cooking program.   But it is good that this problem is being discussed openly.

Ralph