In the matter of Paula Deen vs the people.....

And now a word to our sponsors.  Paula Deen is not the only one.  I abhor her behavior, and racism of any kind infuriates me.  It should be exposed and purged whenever and where ever it appears.  That being said, the use of the n****r word is not, I repeat, is not the quintessential example of racism in these United un-united States.  There are racist behaviors and innuendo all around us, from the attitudes and actions which I believe led to the death of Trayvon Martin, the pervasive use of stop and frisk, to the continuous rants and diatribe on the radio from conservative shock jocks everywhere.  Work place hirings in the past 10 years have been justified using terms such as "likeability",and the right "fit", which are no more than contemporary terms to shroud exclusions on the basis of race.  All you need to do is look at unemployment statistics for African American men under 40, they were consistently 3-5% higher than for whites in the same category after the financial meltdown, and I suspect a preference gap still exists nationwide.

It's everywhere, so lets not make Paula Deen the poster child for racism and ignorance.  I haven't met a white person yet who was an admitted racist (Klansman, Arian Nation types and Skin heads not included).  Most are surprised if you point it out, and are deeply offended if a convincing explanation is made.  No one wants to be a racist, much less an admitted one.  Behavior like Paula Deen's has been tolerated so long in our society because people want to keep their jobs and friends.  They are reluctant to speak out, especially they have a mortgage, kids in private school, etc, etc.  I'm not suggesting black people take any responsibility for the Paula Deen's of the world, but we need to weigh what we are actually giving up when we consistently let it happen all around us to save what we have.  The greater self respect, and self worth any of us have, the more empowered we become to  make anything possible.  Lofty, right.  Never.  Birthrights are never too high to claim.