Okay, I'm a little bit blown away by this one: Paul
Friederichsen, a successful PR Specialist went on record to say "Paula
Deen needs to engage the black community to clean up her soiled image after
admitting she's used racial slurs," and went on to suggest that "she
really needs to speak with Oprah".... Excuse me?! What the
"H-E-double hockey sticks" does that mean??!! Do you think that
African Americans believe that Oprah is some form of demigod in which ALL Black
people listen to and are influenced? Granted, in advertising and marketing ---
even within investing, the word "The Oprah Effect" describes Oprah
Winfrey's power of persuasion in purchasing (or boycotting), supporting (or
rejecting), as in CNBC Carl Quintanilla’s 2009 report, and now even ways to
live a more enriching life through Oprah's
Life Class. However, to assume and furthermore suggest that Blacks don't
have their own thoughts, opinions, likes, dislikes and dreams without external
influences is asinine -- and quite honestly, offensive.
We have Paula Deen, a celebrity chef
and TV personality of Southern roots with many accolades to her accomplishments
of the same -- 14 cookbooks, a TV show, restaurateur, and the face of the
"Paula Deen Magazine". And then there was "The N word" --
I'll say it -- "Nigger" -- and then all hell breaks loose, along with
her sponsorships. These sponsorships include, but are not limited to: Novo
Nordisk, Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Sears, The Food Network, QVC, KMart,
Smithfield Foods, Caesars Entertainment and Random House's Ballantine Books.
Wow, a pretty impressive dossier!!
She stood to lose a lot; some may even
call it "her empire". Her loss was based on one wrong move, and as we
know "the media will love you when you're up, and kick you in the back,
then turn you around to kick you in the face when you're down".
Q Okay. Have you ever used the N word yourself?
A Yes, of course.
Q Okay. In what context?
A Well, it was probably when a black man burst into the bank that I
was working at and put a gun to my head.
And then there's Lisa Jackson, one of
her former restaurant managers, alleging the following statement from Deen when
responding to the desired attired for the wait staff at her brother Bubba's
wedding:
“Well
what I would really like is a bunch of little niggers to wear long-sleeve white
shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days,
they used to tap dance around.” …“Now that would be a true southern wedding,
wouldn’t it? But we can’t do that because the media would be on me about that.”
Remnants of slavery and racism are
still everywhere -- So why all the hoopla? Paula Deen simply said how she felt
according to "her truths" -- point blank. Now granted, her admission
of using the word "nigger" aka "the N word", occurred over
20 years ago prior to her becoming the celebrity chef guru of today. According to her accounts, it came at a time
of extreme duress -- a bank robbery. Being empathetic, let's place ourselves in
her position, where "life and death" are one of two imminent
realities as a gunman holds a loaded weapon to your head -- what would be your
thoughts? Your feelings?
Let’s move past Paula for a moment and
examine other celebrities who have made racist statements -- some
wholeheartedly appeared to be remorseful while some have never apologized for
their actions:
Back in 2010, John Meyer stated in a
Playboy interview (yes, there's more content than just the pictures) “If you
really had a hood pass, you could call it a nigger pass”. Or Former MLB Pitcher
John Rocker -- Michael Richards aka "Kramer" -- "Dog the Bounty
Hunter" -- and who can forget Don Imus' "nappy-headed hos". Or
how about Laura Schlessinger aka "Dr. Lauara"? I know my mother and
countless other African American women tuned into her radio show listening to
her shelling out advice. In one particular on-air call, Dr. Laura was speaking
to a Black female caller who was sharing her issues and expressing her concerns
with her racist in-laws. Here's what the beloved Dr. Laura had to say: "If
you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't
marry out of your race", and not without accusing the caller of having a
"black think" mentality. Sure she would quickly apologize, but truth
of the matter is -- that's how she felt. These sentiments are
echoed time and time again with other celebrities caught "vocalizing what
they truly feel in their hearts" -- wake up America!! Does it make them a
racist? subjective; should we disassociate ourselves with them and their brand?
Objective.
Candidly speaking, this has more to do
with two completely separate issues. One is the issue of "White
Repentance" -- slavery is part of America's history, it was cruel and it
was wrong; there is simply no other way around this fact. It has forever
changed the face, plight and even acceptance of who and what African Americans
are in this present day and will be in the future -- in the workplace, in society
and even within their homes and families. White people are and will forever be
"guilty for slavery" and considered "unrehabilitated" and "unrepentant" for every act
of racism.
Secondly, and probably the bigger issue
-- the infamous "bottom line". Economics 101 teaches us one of the
basic principles as to why a business is created: to gain a customer. Simply
put "money is green" and the hands that hold, conduct and transact
business with it come in all colors, and businesses recognize this. They're not
ignorant to the fact that there is power in in Black consumerism. Just take a
look back to the 1965 Montgomery Bus boycotts -- yes, the Supreme Court ruled
the segregation of the transportation system unconstitutional, but prior to
that white business owners felt "the pinch" of the loss of Black
consumers who no longer would not only ride the buses but also were no longer
their customers. Is Walmart really willing to compromise the revenue stream of
their Black patrons -- certainly not; neither is Kmart, Target or Home Depot.
Even Novo Nordisk whose Victoza is
one of their top-selling drugs within their portfolio, treats a portion of over
4.9 million African Americans affected with Diabetes. And it will continue to
be about money, because I dare to say that these corporations don't give a damn
about Black America -- only their money. Just take a quick look at some of
these Paula Deen defectors -- what does the face of their executives look like?
Well, according to a search of Walmart's website conducted today, of the 38
executive profiles, only two -- that's 2 -- "dos" (Spanish) --
"deux" (French) -- "due" (Italian) -- "zwei"
(German) and "twee" in Dutch are African Americans, and zero are
African American women -- go figure. So what am I saying? Well, I think I've
said it or maybe I haven't: "If Paula Deen's corporate defectors want to
TRULY DEMONSTRATE their offense to her racial epithet(s), they can start with a
solidified commitment to augmenting the face of their executive management
teams to mirror one that embodies the beauty of the various spectrum of
American cultures".
Personally and quite honestly, Paula
Deen is a "zero factor" in my daily thoughts and I surmise the
thoughts of countless others -- if a product is zero, then one or all of the
factors are zero as well. While true, a zero will always serve its purpose,
that is, until the next number comes along. Then it's as if it never existed.
So no, Paula Deen doesn’t need Oprah Winfrey – she just needs to talk with God.
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