Paula Deen used to be known for her down-home Southern cooking and her excessive use of butter, but that has all changed in recent weeks. Recently, it has come to the attention of the media that Deen has been, for the past decade or more, using racial language and treating certain employees in her businesses discriminately. The recent hubbub over Deen and her sworn deposition that she has used racial slurs in the past has ignited a flurry of press, leading to the Food Network severing ties with the celebrity chef (Dobuzinskis, 2013).
Many press outlets are reporting Paula Deen’s termination with the Food Network as the result of her use of a racial slur, but this is not, in fact, the reason that the Food Network terminated its relationship with Deen. In fact, Deen is the subject of a lawsuit that alleges that she and her family discriminated heavily against their employees, causing their employees trauma and suffering (Dobuzinskis, 2013). According to CNN (2013), “A former manager at Deen's restaurants in Savannah, Georgia, is suing her and her brother for sexual and racial harassment. Lisa T. Jackson's lawsuit alleges that Deen and Bubba Hier committed numerous acts of violence, discrimination and racism that resulted in the end of her five-year employment at Deen's Lady & Sons and Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House eateries in Savannah” (Duke, 2013). Essentially, Paula Deen and her brother’s racism affected their employees’ ability to maintain a proper work environment.
The national press in the United States is always covering scandals like this, and that press coverage is understandable. Exposing celebrities for their faults (like extreme racism) and bad behavior is one of the time-honored traditions of the national media. However, this type of media coverage should remain firmly in the gossip section of the newsrack: Paula Deen’s racism, alleged or otherwise, has no bearing on national politics.
Deen’s racism is ethically and morally wrong, and to argue otherwise does a disservice to everyone involved. Tolerance of racism, sexism, homophobia, and so on should not be accepted as the norm in American society. However, it does do the American people a disservice when Paula Deen’s racism, scandal, and subsequent firing from the Food Network becomes national news and a politicized issue.
There are many fundamentally important issues facing the American people at this time, and the American government has some major policy questions to answer in the coming years. There are issues that must be addressed for the country to move forward as a whole. but the racism and the racial slur usage of a B-list celebrity like Paula Deen is not one of these fundamentally-important issues.
Some argument can be made for the idea that racism in American society is the cause of many ills. This is true; racially segregated society and socio economically segregated society carry many harmful effects. However, people like Paula Deen are not the cause of these problems in society-- they are merely the symptom of them. Bringing Paula Deen and her brother down for their bad behavior is important, but it is not and should not be politically important news for the American people.
One way this case is important for America as a whole is because it functions to start a conversation about race and racial attitudes in the United States. Paula Deen and her brother created an environment that made their employees feel unsafe, and this is completely unacceptable in the world of business. Using this case as a springboard for discussion about the different ways in which working environments can be made more inclusive and friendly is a positive way to use the publicity surrounding this particular case. However, in the long run, minimizing the effects of celebrity scandal on American political discourse can only be a positive thing for America as a whole, as it will allow the American people and media to focus on more important issues, such as corruption in government, and the growth of the American economy.
References
Dobuzinskis, A. (2013). Food Network to drop Paula Deen amid racial slur controversy. Reuters, June 21.
Duke, A. (2013). Celeb chef Paula Deen admits using 'N word'. CNN, July 3.
Riley, R. (2013). Rochelle Riley: Paula Deen furor misses the larger issue. Detroit Free Press, July 7.
