Paula Dean and her all black waitstaff

[Dave (imported)]

>>why is this here, well, for mockery purposes

>>and gossip purposes.

>>Like who among us doesn't gossip

>>And this is juicy gossip.

>>I like Paula Deen although I always knew her cooking was the most fattening stuff in the world that was guaranteed to cause hardening of the arteries and early death in too many people.

>>The woman adores butter and you want to know the secret of making WONDERFUL AND MAGNIFICENT mashed Potatoes?

>>A stick of butter does it...

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013 ... hp?ref=fpb

The Food Network will not renew the contract of celebrity chef Paula Deen, it announced Friday. The network’s decision came after a firestorm that started Wednesday when a videotaped deposition Deen gave in May became public. In that deposition, Deen admitted to having used the N word and having told her staffers she wanted to plan a “very southern style wedding” for her brother with an all-black waitstaff.

“Food Network will not renew Paula Deen’s contract when it expires at the end of this month,” a network spokesperson said in a statement.

Less than two hours before the network announced its decision, Deen released a videotaped statement apologizing and asking for forgiveness for her “inappropriate, hurtful language.” Shortly after she released that video, it was removed from YouTube and she released a second, different apology video.

Deen first began working with the Food Network in 1999. She gave the deposition last month as part of a discrimination suit filed against her by, Lisa Jackson, a former employee of a restaurant she owns. Jackson’s suit named Deen, her company, and her brother, who runs the restaurant. The suit alleged Jackson was subject to a variety of sexist, racist behavior while working at the restaurant.

As TPM has reported, Deen’s 2006 memoir includes her recollection of a childhood incident in which she hit a young black girl with a “bolo bat” and said she once tried to cook a “Sambo Burger” on air before producers intervened.

Attorneys for Deen and her brother have denied the allegations in the lawsuit. Representatives for Deen did not respond to a request for comment.

>>Let's speculate on recipes for the PAULA DEEN's last Cookout on FOODTV

>>Does it include watermelon and friend chicken?

>>How about white cake and white icing with pink roses?

>>How about Grits with Black Beans?

>>No Hummus

>>Bourbon and Branchwater served by black men on silver trays in white gloves and formal coats...

>>And for after dinner ceegars and just plain shooting the shit -- Mint Juleps

>>Yes, I'll take my lithium now, Mr DeMille...

Brass Balls Drink

1/3 oz Grand Marnier® orange liqueur

1/3 oz peach schnapps

1/3 oz pineapple juice

Mix the three, and chill'em. Then pour and serve.

[Paolo]

That drink would go better if it read "1/3 cup".

A 1 oz. drink?!

[tugon (imported)]

That drink would go better if it read "1/3 cup".

A 1 oz. drink?!

Sadly the barmaid would really be working hard. Hell just bring me a pitcher.

[kristoff]

That drink would go better if it read "1/3 cup".

A 1 oz. drink?!

Old drink - don';t remember what it was called. Bartending days were ages ago. And the recipe was 3 parts, 1 each, in an 8 oz lowball glass, over ice.

[Dave (imported)]

Personally I like BLack Russians but I"ll bet Paula likes White Russians, Pink Ladies, and Grasshoppers

[Paolo]

With crackers.

Sorry, had to say it.

[transward (imported)]

There is something here that bewilders me; that is the concept of racist food. Why are fried chicken and watermelon considered racist? Why was Sergio Garcia offering to serve Tiger Woods fried chicken and watermelon a racist insult? Why was a math teacher writing a word problem with someone with a Black sounding name calculating the height of a building by dropping a watermelon off the top and timing the time to impact sufficient to get him fired? Would it be equally offensive if a Pole named Kowalski solved the problem by dropping a piroshki? Watermelon seems to be equally popular with people from various races, particularly in the South. Both fried chicken and barbecue are considered among the glories of American cooking, and Black cooks are the acknowledged masters of both, but offering Tiger barbecue would have carried no racist insult. Jews are another group widely discriminated against, but offering a Jew matzo soup or a pastrami on rye w/ a kosher dill pickle would not seem to be insulting. Scotsmen don't seem to be insulted by being offered haggis nor Italians by pizza.

I cooked for the Drug and Alcohol Program for the homeless here for almost 14 years. For a number of years I served fried chicken, mashed potatoes w/ gravy, fried okra, mess'o greens, Southern cornbread, and watermelon each Martin Luther King Day. I had a lot of black clients and none were offended by the food, on the contrary it was one of the most popular meals of the year and was much looked forward to. I stopped after I got a lot of grief from a white social worker who accused me of being racially insensitive. When MLK Day passed w/out fried chicken, I got a lot of complaints about the lack, including from several black friends, and had to menu it for a non-MLK Day.

I will admit to some racial stereotyping regarding food. Were I in a new town, looking for BBQ and confronted with two joints, one run by a little Japanese guy and the other by a fat black cook, sweaty from the BBQ pit,(a description from my favorite local BBQ joint) I would invariably try the black guy's place first. Were I looking for sushi, the choice would be opposite. I realize that is stereotyping. I know a couple of black cooks making excellent sushi for local restaurants. (Though they work in the kitchen, not out on a sushi bar where they could be seen. Those jobs go to Japanese. I'm not the only one with those prejudices)

Transward

[jemagirl (imported)]

Why are fried chicken and watermelon considered racist?

there's nothing racist about any of those foods. What is racist is when someone uses those foods as a way to racially stereotype others.

[transward (imported)]

there's nothing racist about any of those foods. What is racist is when someone uses those foods as a way to racially stereotype others.

Yes, but why is fried chicken an offensive racial stereotype but not BBQ? Why aren't all those other stereotyped ethnic foods offensive? Native Americans have almost as many negative stereotypes as blacks, but I serve Indian Fry Bread to them without offense. None of it makes any sense to me. Every Soul Food Restaurant in town sells fried chicken. How did it become a negative stereotype? Were I trying to be rude and insult someone, it wouldn't occur to me to try to link them w/ a delicious food.

Transward

[Dave (imported)]

Yes, but why is fried chicken an offensive racial stereotype but not BBQ? Why aren't all those other stereotyped ethnic foods offensive? Native Americans have almost as many negative stereotypes as blacks, but I serve Indian Fry Bread to them without offense. None of it makes any sense to me. Every Soul Food Restaurant in town sells fried chicken. How did it become a negative stereotype? Were I trying to be rude and insult someone, it wouldn't occur to me to try to link them w/ a delicious food.

Transward

Because there are the images of the "negro" with a white-toothy grin holding a slice of watermelon and spitting the seeds out.

There were lots of "names" associated with this image that I don't want to revisit on the page or in my mind. But think of the worst black-face minstrel show and then add a dozen racial epithets that we don't use anymore.