Has anyone else had enough of this Paula Dean buisness?

[pocomom]

Sorry I just don't see a lot of "irish" discrimination specifically. I don't see Irish getting lynched, last summer there wasn't a judge refusing to marry couples because one of them was Irish, I haven't heard of all the segregated proms going on that exclude the Irish.

Now maybe I'm a lot more sensitive because my mom was the one that had German sheppards sicced on her for simply wanting the right to vote.

Now Irish may have been sold into slavery once they got here (and I question who many) but please don't insult me by even remotely comparing the two. First let's start with the fact as Flightless pointed out most Irish willingly Immigrated here.

African americans are the only people in this country who were legally labelled as 3/4 of a HUMAN BEING. Your children were not ripped from their mothers arms and sold often god knows where. Black slave children were used as bait for alligator trappers in Florida. Please, sorry I totally agree that the irish had it rough but sorry no other race of people, maybe the American Indian were brutalized, dehumanized and enslaved all legally as were the African americans. your people arrived here on the top of the boat, mine were stuff in the cargo of ships with not enough room the turn for a horrific journey often lying in their own filth.

It maybe "glossed" over as you say because in the grand scheme of things as far as the history of this country it was a very small period of time

So not the same.

Irish were sold in slavery before they came too and for the few that "Chose" to come here there was very little choice... certain death or near death. Many were children. And a lot those that made it got jobs that were to dangerous/deadly/ or demeaning for a slave to do. And I don't think a "small period of time" makes it less important, by that light slavery in the America's is insignificant.... "Your" people... see this is where it all begins.... "your" people, "my" people (we all came from the same people whether you believe in religion or not) and ignorance of history and current conditions and you know what there are millions of people being brutalized as bad TODAY. Try being a poor girl in a lot of the world. Sex slavery is very real. Child slavery still happens on a LARGE scale, and yes there are still African slaves as well.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I think we have expanded the topic, but whatever.

I am curious. If you believe she was not blatant in her racism, does that make it more acceptable? For me, there is not much gray, wither you are racist or you are not. Either you are a bigot or you are not. Kind of like being sort of pregnant. You either are or you are not.

No I don't think that means she is not racist but she was not very blatant about it. She was more passive and mostly allowed others to be and did nothing about it, from what I have read from other ppl on the issue. Like I said I did not read the transcript. I only know of what ppl online have said about it.

 

[Nancyg56]

I know the history of Daga. Same goes with all the Italian and Polish slurs. I just don't care because I choose not to give words power. Words are just words and I still abide by the "sticks & stones" principle, if I don't let words hurt me they won't so I choose not to. I find it quite simple really. Actions, on the other hand, can hurt people.

.

I respect that you don't let words matter to you, but do you use them when you refer to others? I don't get offended by many jokes. I really don't, but I don't repeat many because I know that my own sensibility may not be mirrored by everyone. For instance, a supervisor where I worked drew what he thought was a funny pictorial joke and was waltzed out the door. Within an hour he was gone. He may have been amused and thought nothing of it, but there were two people in the room who were horrified. So, I think I am asking you if you are mindful of your audience if you use those words?

 

[pocomom]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-irish-slave-trade-the-forgotten-white-slaves/31076 and a quote from that article
"During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England.. However, in most cases from the 17th and 18th centuries, Irish slaves were nothing more than human cattle....

As an example, the African slave trade was just beginning during this same period. It is well recorded that African slaves, not tainted with the stain of the hated Catholic theology and more expensive to purchase, were often treated far better than their Irish counterparts.

African slaves were very expensive during the late 1600s (50 Sterling). Irish slaves came cheap (no more than 5 Sterling). If a planter whipped or branded or beat an Irish slave to death, it was never a crime. A death was a monetary setback, but far cheaper than killing a more expensive African. The English masters quickly began breeding the Irish women for both their own personal pleasure and for greater profit. Children of slaves were themselves slaves, which increased the size of the masters free workforce. Even if an Irish woman somehow obtained her freedom, her kids would remain slaves of her master. Thus, Irish moms, even with this new found emancipation, would seldom abandon their kids and would remain in servitude.

In time, the English thought of a better way to use these women (in many cases, girls as young as 12) to increase their market share: The settlers began to breed Irish women and girls with African men to produce slaves with a distinct complexion. These new mulatto slaves brought a higher price than Irish livestock and, likewise, enabled the settlers to save money rather than purchase new African slaves."


and I'm pretty sure some WW2 era Jews have a few complaints as well....

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-irish-slave-trade-the-forgotten-white-slaves/31076

and I'm pretty sure some WW2 era Jews have a few complaints as well....

Actually if we are going to have a contest on who had it the worst I would have to cast my vote for the Jews. There were what, 6 or 7 million of them murdered? I think hands down that is the worst atrocity in history.

I don't think slavery compares to that at all. But slavery was a different kind of atrocity.

 

[FireDancer]

I respect that you don't let words matter to you, but do you use them when you refer to others? I don't get offended by many jokes. I really don't, but I don't repeat many because I know that my own sensibility may not be mirrored by everyone. For instance, a supervisor where I worked drew what he thought was a funny pictorial joke and was waltzed out the door. Within an hour he was gone. He may have been amused and thought nothing of it, but there were two people in the room who were horrified. So, I think I am asking you if you are mindful of your audience if you use those words?

It is a fine line, isn't it? It really depends on where I am and in what context I am speaking. Work is also tough and unless I know exactly who I'm talking to I act like a politician. I hire for my department and one of the many things I concentrate on is getting people in who fit in with the way we are and our sense of humor. I know there are things I can say in front of my staff that I wouldn't say in front of anyone else in this building and it makes for a much more laid back environment. For example, Opie and Anthony are on every morning in here but when anyone else comes in they are turned off until they leave.

It would just be a lot easier if people didn't get all wambulancy over words or jokes.

 

[phorsenuf]

Actually if we are going to have a contest on who had it the worst I would have to cast my vote for the Jews. There were what, 6 or 7 million of them murdered? I think hands down that is the worst atrocity in history.

I don't think slavery compares to that at all. But slavery was a different kind of atrocity.

But since it didn't happen in the States, I'm sure some will feel this argument isn't valid.

And as far as the whole Irish thing, I was just comparing the whole 'can't see them' and how it's viewed differently by people. It had nothing to do with the Irish in general.

 

[Nancyg56]

It would just be a lot easier if people didn't get all wambulancy over words or jokes.

Sure it would, but then words and jokes are often times used as tools, aren't they? My DH works for a construction company and up until recently, there were very few women working there. One young girl was hired as a dispatcher, and she was warned about the boys will be boys talk, and asked if she was okay with it. Sure. She has a brother and a father, goes out in crowds and has been in school, she heard it all.

Well, from a distance, the talk was fine, but then some of the contractors who came through made it a little personal, and it was not fine. I told DH that none of should have been allowed in the first place, and there never would have been a line that got crossed. You would have thought that grown men would have known better, but nope. Jokes and comments at someone else's expense are not funny if that target is not laughing.

 

[dansamy]

Actually if we are going to have a contest on who had it the worst I would have to cast my vote for the Jews. There were what, 6 or 7 million of them murdered? I think hands down that is the worst atrocity in history.

I don't think slavery compares to that at all. But slavery was a different kind of atrocity.

The Jews have been in & out of slavery & persecution & mass genocide for at least a couple millenia. If we're having a weiner contest, I think they're the biggest winners/losers.

 

[Nancyg56]

Actually if we are going to have a contest on who had it the worst I would have to cast my vote for the Jews. There were what, 6 or 7 million of them murdered? I think hands down that is the worst atrocity in history.

I don't think slavery compares to that at all. But slavery was a different kind of atrocity.

See, we cannot compare this kind of thing. How do we compare atrocities? Does one supersede another? I bet if you looked back in history, you would find some pretty nasty occurrences and when you compare population vs numbers of persons affected, you would have your comparison, so perhaps it is better to discuss why these atrocities occurred.

Incidentally, my DH mother insisted until the day that she died that there was no Holocaust. It was propaganda by the Jews. She also would have been very comfortable with PD and that wedding.

 

[FireDancer]

Jokes and comments at someone else's expense are not funny if that target is not laughing.

Some of the funniest things I have ever heard are at someone's expense, even mine. Turn on any late night television show from Letterman to John Stewart and the biggest laughs are almost all at someone's expense. I just think a lot of people who are more than willing to laugh at jokes at someone else's expense are not willing to have the tables turned.

I've had the discussion on humor here before and it never ends well so I'm going to just leave it here.

 

[pocomom]

Incidentally, my DH mother insisted until the day that she died that there was no Holocaust. It was propaganda by the Jews. She also would have been very comfortable with PD and that wedding.

I find it interesting that you can say something like this, and we all get a very clear picture of who this woman was....
but when someone says
"Now Irish may have been sold into slavery once they got here (and I question who many) but please don't insult me by even remotely comparing the two." This doesn't make anyone batt an eye.... (bold are mine to point out offending statements).
It's bigotry plain and simple to ignore, downgrade and doubt the documented suffering of hundreds of thousands of people ... no different to me then denying the holocaust.Slavery was brutal, and still is, regardless of whether the person's skin color was white,black, or brown.
To those that keep referring to the joke referrence - although I find it distasteful and just not in my character to use the "n" word in a joke I do understand that a lot of jokes are made at the expense of other people and there are people too sensitive to that kind of thing...... but that is not the whole picture here with Ms. Deen... it's not a one time use of one horrible word. It's an "off course" I've said it, and the wedding and the whole picture....and honestly the whole diabetes thing too.... she's sold herself as warm and fuzzy and the n word is just not warm and fuzzy.....

 

[Liberty Belle]

I live in the south (at least according to me and most people). I know many people like Paula Deen seems to be. Yeah, it's racism. It's often subtle, but it's definitely there.

And, Americans have a love affair with the Irish now. I think that makes a big difference. I think that picture is funny, but I don't think PD's comment about the black backdrop was funny and I think it's because there's still so much racism and discrimination against black people.

It's not about a word she said 30 years ago. It's about a hostile work place and her general attitude.

 

[Nancyg56]

I find it interesting that you can say something like this, and we all get a very clear picture of who this woman was....
but
"Now Irish may have been sold into slavery once they got here (and I question who many) but please don't insult me by even remotely comparing the two." but this doesn't make anyone batt an eye....
It's bigotry plain and simple to ignore, downgrade and doubt the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people ...

To those that keep referring to the joke referrence - although I find it distasteful and just not in my character to use the "n" word in a joke I do understand that a lot of jokes are made at the expense of other people and there are people too sensitive to that kind of thing...... but that is not the whole picture here with Ms. Deen... it's not a one time use of one horrible word. It's an "off course" I've said it, and the wedding and the whole picture....and honestly the whole diabetes thing too.... she's sold herself as warm and fuzzy and the n word is just not warm and fuzzy.....

I am not at all sure how much of your quote was directed at me. My MIL was a disagreeable woman, impossible to reason with, and never once let her opinion get swayed by a fact. If that is the picture you got of her, it was correct.

For the rest of your response, I don't think anyone can really compare atrocities, and then try to determine whose ancestors got treated worse. I certainly was not attempting to do so. I do think that as a society, we should be aware that certain groups who came here were not well treated, and use the knowledge to prevent the hatred from continuing to the next in line for targeting.

Jokes are a double edged sword, and as i said before, I usually do not share them, but that is my choice. I think that the line between laughing at and laughing with is a very gray line, and it si better to be mindful of who you are joking about. JMO.

And you are right, the PD thing is not about a word, it is about a mindset that is certainly not in keeping with the character she sold herself to be. I think that is the difference between her and her marketing of herself, and the Howard Sterns and Don Imuses who manage to go from station to station. There are no illusions in regards to who they are on air. They are shock jocks, and the people who hire them are getting what they signed up for. The companies who choose to spend their advertising dollar on air with them know who they partner with, and that the folks who listen to these guys do so to hear what they spout. That is way different than a company signing on with a warm fuzzy sour cream loving grandma and finding out that Gramdma is a fraud.

 

[TeresaNJ]

Oh my, Paula Deen's new cookbook, which won't even be out until October, is number 1 on Amazon & B&N, and she has another of her cookbooks at number 2 on Amazon. This is not just for cookbooks, but all books! I think "we, the people" are speaking!

 

[Liberty Belle]

Oh my, Paula Deen's new cookbook, which won't even be out until October, is number 1 on Amazon & B&N, and she has another of her cookbooks at number 2 on Amazon. This is not just for cookbooks, but all books! I think "we, the people" are speaking!

How do you feel about her calling a black worker her little monkey or about her wanting to do a wedding with an old south theme, including slaves? Or about her turning a blind eye to the discrimination in her workplace? Do you think these things are ok?

 

[suzannen]

Oh my, Paula Deen's new cookbook, which won't even be out until October, is number 1 on Amazon & B&N, and she has another of her cookbooks at number 2 on Amazon. This is not just for cookbooks, but all books! I think "we, the people" are speaking!

The latest news; her cookbook is now dropped, so I would guess that the Ballantine Books' lawyers actually spent the time to read the entire deposition too.

http://news.yahoo.com/paula-deen-cookbook-dropped-publisher-201528415.html

Paula Deen cookbook dropped by publisher

Paula Deen's upcoming cookbook, currently the No. 1 seller on Amazon.com, has been dropped by its publisher.

In a brief statement Friday, Ballantine Books announced it had cancelled publication of "Paula Deen's New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up." The book was scheduled for October.

Deen has lost many of her business relationships following revelations that she used racial slurs in the past. Sears Holdings Corp and J.C. Penney Co. Friday that they're cutting ties with Deen, following similar announcements from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Home Depot.

Last week, the Food Network said that it would not renew her contract. She was also dropped by Smithfield Foods, Caesars Entertainment stripped her name from restaurants and drug company Novo Nordisk said it was suspending its work with her.

 

[OceanAnnie]

The latest news; her cookbook is now dropped, so I would guess that the Ballantine Books' lawyers actually spent the time to read the entire deposition too.

http://news.yahoo.com/paula-deen-cookbook-dropped-publisher-201528415.html

Paula Deen cookbook dropped by publisher

Paula Deen's upcoming cookbook, currently the No. 1 seller on Amazon.com, has been dropped by its publisher.

In a brief statement Friday, Ballantine Books announced it had cancelled publication of "Paula Deen's New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up." The book was scheduled for October.

Deen has lost many of her business relationships following revelations that she used racial slurs in the past. Sears Holdings Corp and J.C. Penney Co. Friday that they're cutting ties with Deen, following similar announcements from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Home Depot.

Last week, the Food Network said that it would not renew her contract. She was also dropped by Smithfield Foods, Caesars Entertainment stripped her name from restaurants and drug company Novo Nordisk said it was suspending its work with her.

Wow. What's left? Her restaurants?

 

[bananasplitkids]

Well if the rumors are true hopefully Judy Smith can help her out (the real Olivia Pope for Scandal fans)

 

[JoiseyMom]

I think the entire thing was blown out of proportion and is crazy. I am not a huge fan, but I am tempted to buy something of hers. Lets just toss that baby out with the bath water why don't ya!