There are many ways to serve up “Paula Deen.” Food Network prefers fried, and Smithfield will take her smoked. No matter how you’ll have it, Deen’s endorsements are going down the drain due to recent allegations of racial discrimination. Her brother Earl “Bubba” Hiers is also being sued for racial as well as sexual discrimination.
Deen has cleared up confusion about an age-old saying: You really can’t have your cake and eat it too. The celebrity chef’s reputation for being the cute little old lady cook with a southern accent has been thrown out of the kitchen window with the sink. Dealing with a racism scandal is no picnic, but if you think that anyone over the age of 50 has never used the N-word, then I challenge you to think again. They may not have used it in the past 20 years, but I assure you it was as common (at one point in time) as Deen putting butter in a dish.
The N-word faces no unfamiliarity in today’s generation either. I went to a high school in the first part of this decade, where I, as a Caucasian female, was a minority. My African-American and Hispanic-American peers used the N-word loosely and profusely.
Despite the loss of her partnership with Smithfield, Deen is hamming it up in front of cameras, posting not one but two videos online, apologizing for what she calls “mistakes.”
Not all partners have thrown in the towel just yet. The Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show is welcoming Deen back as the southern belle of the ball. Deen will be presenting at MetroCooking Shows in Houston, Dallas and Washington, D.C., relishing in MetroCooking’s believing in second chances. Food Network was incredibly quick to pull the plug on Deen, and Deen was quick to defend herself. She made an appearance on the Today Show Wednesday morning where she was politely yet sternly grilled by Matt Lauer.
Deen is continuing to receive tremendous support from her hometown, Savannah, Ga. President of “Visit Savannah’’s tourism organization, Joe Marinelli, tweeted his support for the southern sweetheart under scrutiny, saying, “she’s part of our @Savannah family and I’m here to support her.”
How can Paula get out of her pickle? She should take a page out of Martha Stewart’s cookbook and take some time to herself. I reckon some of her supporters may even welcome her back with a party. Given her fame, there will always be those who want to throw a pie in her face. Let whoever hasn’t made a racist remark cast the first pastry.
Jordan Hellmuth, who attended Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria, Va., is a Virginia Tech student and a writer at the Georgetowner.
