I Feel Sorry for Paula Deen, Kind Of Anyway
Unitarian Universalists are always trying to figure out the correct way of saying something so that is less offensive or divisive most of the time. Hymns and theological views have had their words changed to meet with concerns about being too Christian, sexist, or discriminatory in the way they are presented.
Most of the time this is for the better and lots of times even realizing that there may be a more politically correct way of expressing yourself keeps you from saying something really stupid or offensive or both.
Road rage brings out the worst in my vocabulary and I am fortunate that most of the time I am alone in my car. Driving in Miami can send almost anyone around the bend into a blue streak and gestures that is understandable and righteous, as long as you realize you might be a crappy driver sometime down the road. I guess this is a rationalization but it is mine and I will own it as long as I drive.
A lawyer acquaintance of my mine is very opinionated regarding some of his clients and some of the judges he has to appear in front of and he does not need a shot of road rage to set him off. If he has had a bad day, slinking away is sometimes the only way of dealing with it. Directly addressing racist, or ethnic slurs he uses is not a cure all and sometimes makes the situation worse. He plays the experience card. Some of his clients are bad people and in UU parlance their worth and dignity as human beings is marginal. Born in Mississippi and living in Texas and Florida also give a person a sense of entitlement regarding some issues that may relate to economic poverty as much as anything related to racial or ethnic prejudice.
Growing up in Bensenville, Illinois racial and ethnic profiling was more muted than the "South", but segregation and the use of language to disparage just about anyone different than your ethnic group or your own did not raise eyebrows, let alone get you fired, or your contract terminated. In the workplace or at home you were just told to tone it down or keep it to yourself if it got out of hand.
Long story short, we have a long way to go in mitigating some of the holdover issues that exist from an earlier time when behavior was more likely to be stereotyped, separate wasn't equal and prejudice was accepted as rational.
Be careful what you say or before you admit to what you said, it can or will be used against you for lots of things. The punishment may not fit the crime but once you become a public figure and benefit from that status, life isn't always as fair as you might hope it to be.
If we could only develop a statute of limitation on the poor use emotional of words in the past and present when we were/are hungry, angry, lonely, tired or drunk the world would be a better place.
Most of the time this is for the better and lots of times even realizing that there may be a more politically correct way of expressing yourself keeps you from saying something really stupid or offensive or both.
Road rage brings out the worst in my vocabulary and I am fortunate that most of the time I am alone in my car. Driving in Miami can send almost anyone around the bend into a blue streak and gestures that is understandable and righteous, as long as you realize you might be a crappy driver sometime down the road. I guess this is a rationalization but it is mine and I will own it as long as I drive.
A lawyer acquaintance of my mine is very opinionated regarding some of his clients and some of the judges he has to appear in front of and he does not need a shot of road rage to set him off. If he has had a bad day, slinking away is sometimes the only way of dealing with it. Directly addressing racist, or ethnic slurs he uses is not a cure all and sometimes makes the situation worse. He plays the experience card. Some of his clients are bad people and in UU parlance their worth and dignity as human beings is marginal. Born in Mississippi and living in Texas and Florida also give a person a sense of entitlement regarding some issues that may relate to economic poverty as much as anything related to racial or ethnic prejudice.
Growing up in Bensenville, Illinois racial and ethnic profiling was more muted than the "South", but segregation and the use of language to disparage just about anyone different than your ethnic group or your own did not raise eyebrows, let alone get you fired, or your contract terminated. In the workplace or at home you were just told to tone it down or keep it to yourself if it got out of hand.
Long story short, we have a long way to go in mitigating some of the holdover issues that exist from an earlier time when behavior was more likely to be stereotyped, separate wasn't equal and prejudice was accepted as rational.
Be careful what you say or before you admit to what you said, it can or will be used against you for lots of things. The punishment may not fit the crime but once you become a public figure and benefit from that status, life isn't always as fair as you might hope it to be.
If we could only develop a statute of limitation on the poor use emotional of words in the past and present when we were/are hungry, angry, lonely, tired or drunk the world would be a better place.
It’s interesting the way most of the media has rallied to defend Baldwin even as they rallied to destroy Paula Deen.
ReplyDeleteI think Alec Baldwin is a good example of how not to use social media. Re Paula Deen there may be some distance between the public and corporate sponsors, one may be able to forgive more easily than the other, I don't think food companies or the food channel see any upside to being forgiving, but figure she will survive being thrown under the bus better than they might.
ReplyDelete“Mankind are very odd Creatures: One Half censure what they practice, the other half practice what they censure; the rest always say and do as they ought.”
ReplyDeleteBenjamin Franklin
I like that. Have a safe holiday.
ReplyDelete