As soon as I heard about celebrity chef Paula Deen being exposed for using the n-word, I figured it was just another case of the electronic media catching a celebrity showing their true self. Maybe another case of someone stupidly blurting out their inner monologue. Maybe another case of someone deservedly losing their reputation and money.
Then the facts got in the way. It wasn't a gotcha moment. It wasn't even a dishonest moment. It was someone under oath who admitted saying something truly ignorant years ago - ignorant meaning they really didn't know any better.
When it comes to Paula Deen, or anyone who's ever used the n-word, people need to factor in the era it which it was uttered and at least try to separate what's intolerant racism from what's ignorant racism. Both are unacceptable, but to different degrees. The intolerant racist is a malevolent hater, while the ignorant racist is a benevolent idiot. Don't tell me they're the same.
We all want to be politically correct and say there's no defending what Paula Deen admittedly said many years ago. But of course, everybody knows it's somewhat defend-able if you factor in what America was like up through the 1960s. It's a cold hard truth that most 60+ year-olds today, across the socioeconomic and political spectrum, used the n-word back then. They are not the problem; the problem is those who never got over using it.
So here we go again with another silly societal litmus test. Am I and the rest of society to shun everyone who ever said the n-word? We'd be excluding a helluva lot of people, including family. Maybe instead we should be just be shunning those who haven't changed. Or perhaps we should just shun any litmus tests that compare one era with another.
I don't know if Paula Deen is a racist, nor does anyone else. I do know that like most people of her age and background, she was once a benevolent idiot about race. Ignorance is no excuse, but let's keep the moral outrage at its appropriate level.
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