The Paula Deen bandwagon

Today Atlanta mayor Kasim Reid just made it official. Everybody and their brother is taking shots at Paula Deen. Reed went on Meet the Press and declared that her past use of the "N" word was "very unfortunate" and "totally unacceptable." The Food Network already fired her. Even my least favorite political cartoonist jumped on the bandwagon, this time associating celebrity cook Paula Deen with the Ku Klux Klan. And yes, the cowardly Mike Luckovich once again left the comment section closed. I don't own any of Ms. Deen's cookbooks, but I might have to buy one on general principle, even though I have no plans to use it. The politically correct have spoken unanimously to condemn Paula Deen for an apparently unforgivable sin. I loathe political correctness. I only care about fairness and justice. Now when I was a kid, growing up in Savannah, I'm sure that I heard the "N" word a quite a few times. I'm also sure that I've used it in the distant past myself when I was very young and foolish, before I understood the insult it represented. Since I can't remember when and I'm not sworn under oath, I won't be apologizing for any specific incident, or for being stupid when I was younger. I will say that I'm sorry that I've ever used the word. Mea culpa. Now, I'll politely ask you to get over it. It's not like the "N" word has been scrubbed from our culture. In fact, the last time I heard the "N" word used with alarming frequency was when I watched a Quentin Tarantino movie called Pulp Fiction. The "N" word is also very popular with rap artists. In … [Read more...]