Paula Deen's No Rebel Flag, But She's Not Worth It Either

A good friend has taken to Facebook to stand up for Paula Deen and her son Jimmy, after an ill-advised costume-party photo was posted on her Twitter account.  My buddy and others think Paula Deen's many critics are just bunch of stupid, thin-skinned, over-reacting PC police who need to get a life, leave poor Paula alone and stop being so darn sensitive.

I will respectfully disagree with that viewpoint.  (And instead of an FB flame-fest, I'll settle for doing it here.)

The ambitious, attention-craving Mrs. Deen has taken herself, and us, down this path before.  With her, it's not media "negativism", it's not "hyper-sensitivity", and it's not a "who's offended next" contest.  It most definitely has nothing to do with being a "proud American."  It's that Paula Deen still doesn't get it.  She still has a blind spot -- at least to the extent that her idiot social media media manager saw fit to tweet out the photo of mother and son as Lucy and Ricky.  (Yes, the photo was a couple years old, but given Paula's history of racism, what the hell was this guy thinking?  And given her history, why wasn't Paula monitoring her own Twitter feed with more scrutiny?)

That Paula Deen and her son and others still believe that this sort of casual, "fun" racism is acceptable and reasonable serves only to illustrate that we have a long way to go.

There's been no huge outcry against her, no undeserved "attacks",  just a weary disappointment that her brand of doltishness still exists.  If anything is hyper-sensitive, it's the reaction of the folks who feel the need to defend Paula Deen.  If anyone is stupid, it's the Deens.  They've had way more than their 15 minutes.  Now they're the past, not the future.  Paula Deen isn't worth it -- let her fade away now and we'll all be just fine.  Just hang onto her recipes!
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Note to my white-people readers:  Al Jolson is dead, and dressing up in blackface (or brownface, redface or yellowface) is just not cool anymore.  If you're thinking of being Mr. Bojangles this Halloween, think again.  And note to Jimmy Deen:  Desi Arnaz was not a dark-skinned person.  Not even close.  So WTF?  You look like the Oompa-Loompa version of Ricky Ricardo.  Why?