In our private lives, we have all walked our walk. The
circle that we intersect is what we have to be concerned with. Our friends,
family, loved ones. When we become/create a public persona, that persona has
increased cause/effect and responsibility. The individual Paula Hiers Deen and
the Brand Paula Deen are separate entities. The Brand is what has taken the
hit. The Food Network (another Brand) had to decide, do we want to be
associated with behavior and values that some find offensive. The Food Network
Brand decided that, financially, it was not worth the investment of assets.
That is completely fair and reasonable. When you create a Brand that is based
on your personal persona (Paula Deen, Martha Stewart, Oprah, Rachel Ray) you
always run the risk of crossover. Remember the BP oil spill? People were so
upset with the behavior of the company they wanted to boycott BP. Suddenly
there was a marketing campaign to make people aware that the local gas station,
while “Franchised” by BP, was actually owned by your neighbor, employing local
people. Persona Brands are more difficult to separate.
When asked if she had ever used the N word, Paula Deen
calmly stated that she had. There was no immediate follow up about a change in
beliefs or behavior. There was no remorse. She then went on to describe a
scenario where she envisioned a, quote, pre-civil war, unquote, reception where
Black men dressed in white tuxedos were serving and tending to her and her
family. When asked, quote, as if they were slaves, unquote, she said "yes”.
We know that the N word started off as just a descriptor,
“negro,” with no value attached to it. Then the word “negro” evolved to
“nigger” as intentionally derogatory, representing meanings that were deeply
insulting and were used when the speaker deliberately wished to cause great
offense. It has never been able to shed that baggage since then—even when black
people talk about appropriating it. The poison is still there. The word is
inextricably linked with violence and brutality on black psyches and derogatory
aspersions cast on black bodies. No degree of appropriating can rid it of that
blood-soaked history. Young people today, especially in the urban/rap industry
believe if you could keep the word within the context of an intimate
environment [among friends], then you could potentially own the word and
control it. I believe that premise is wrong because the word takes on a life of
its own if it’s not in that environment. This is what causes America to be
confused, and rightfully so. What non Black people miss in the modern use of
the word is you cannot be included in the “intimate environment” attempting to
appropriate the word because you were never the target of the word.
Specifically, white people should not use the word because it was created by
white people deliberately wishing to cause the greatest offense. So generally
there is no way for the listener to disdain the user’s intent if the user’s
linage created the word to harm to begin with.
I as a consumer would choose not to support someone who
harbored Paula Deen’s point of view by purchasing their products or any
associated products. Other consumers can choose to continue patronizing her
company. None of us are wrong in making our individual choice in this matter.
The Food Network Channel is not wrong for deciding losing business with me or
others who share my view was not a path they wanted to take. It is not a
deliberate destruction of a pseudo deity. It is just freedom of choice in the
marketplace.
