Today we’re going Hard In The Paint on the Paula Deen lawsuit…leggo.
During the two hottest events gripping our country right now (The Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman Trial and the Paula Deen lawsuit) I’ve recently had a very spirited debate with a friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) in regards to the legitimacy of Lisa Jackson being able to file a Sexual Harassment and more importantly a Racial Discrimination Lawsuit against Paula Deen and her businesses. The reason for her legitimacy to file this lawsuit is because both Lisa Jackson and Paula Deen are Caucasian, i.e. white. Let’s examine something other things at play here before we continue.
When this story first broke, under the assumption that the accuser was a black person, some white people and some black people raced to Paula’s defense stating that she used the word “Nigger” back in 1987 and should be forgiven. They said the accuser was just playing the race card and wanted money. When the full story started to unravel and we found that the accuser was indeed a white woman, some black folks responded by saying that she can’t file a lawsuit because she’s a white woman and is only playing the race card for money. Anyone else see something odd about this?
Furthermore, some black folks are saying, “Well hell, I call people Nigga all the time. I even call white people cracka.” Well allow me to say this to those black people that call themselves and others of their race…Nigga. Damn, please do better. If you’re so proud of your damn race; start acting like it. You ever stop to think that maybe white people similar to Paula Deen use the word Nigger and act so damn ignorant is because they see and hear black folks using the word Nigga in reference to themselves and being just as damn ignorant? Think about it. Secondly, although the intent to hurt is the same, “Cracka” does not have a profound effect on white people. They don’t identify with the word. Sure, sure, sure…the name “Cracka” derives from the sound of the whip (usually used by the Master…who was white) that was used to punish slaves back in the day.
Black people (yes I’m an African American, i.e. black) need to do better. Allow me to tell you a quick story that took place while I was in the Marine Corps back in 1991. A white Lance Corporal and I were at Supply and I was moving kinda slow. The Lance Corporal says, “Yo my nigga, hurry up…we gotta go.” I turned around quick, blinked and thought about his definition of the word. He didn’t mean it in a bad way. He meant it as a term of endearment as us black folks like to say. Now I’ve told this story several times and just about every black person says the same thing, “Man I woulda whupped his ass.” And I say why and the response is the same, “Man I ain’t goin let no Cracka call me no Nigger.” Ahhh but there’s the sign. He didn’t call me a Nigger, he called me a Nigga. In essence, he didn’t mean it in a bad way.
Here’s something else. The very same person I had my spirited debate with asked me, “Well I used the word Nigga in 2010 and I call white people Cracka so does that make me a racist?” My answer to him pure and simple was if you’re still using the words to this day then yeah you are a racist. Now let’s understand something. Paula Deen used the word Nigger back in 1987. Alex Haley’s Roots premiered on television back in 1977. So Paula used the word 10 years after this movie premiered. The 60’s weren’t that far removed. Martin Luther King, Jr. organized the March on Washington in 1963. Paula Deen was born in 1947. The Million Man March was in 1995. My point to stating all of this is simple.
At what point in her life does Paula Deen realize that comments like this are insensitive? At what point does she realize that comments like this can/are/should be viewed as racist? If she didn’t know better when she was 15 (King’s March on Washing), when she was 30 (Roots premiered on ABC), when she was 40 (when she actually made the statement) or when she was 60 (when she said she wanted a “True Southern Plantation Style Wedding) when is she going to? Is she so isolated from the rest of the world that she doesn’t understand that African Americans are very sensitive when it comes to this word , it’s usage and all the horrors associated with it? Does she not know that anything affiliated with slavery is a no-go for the African American population?
Now let’s examine some other things. Please check out this link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_Discrimination_Act_1975. I was told to reference this link today because it would tell me that Lisa Jackson because of the color of her skin cannot claim racial discrimination. Well let’s check it out together, shall we:
Racial discrimination occurs under the RDA when someone is treated less fairly than someone else in a similar situation because of their race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. Racial discrimination can also occur when a policy or rule appears to treat everyone in the same way but actually has an unfair effect on more people of a particular race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin than others.
It is against the law to discriminate in areas such as:
• Employment (section 15) – e.g. when seeking employment, training, promotion, equal pay or conditions of employment;
• Land, housing or accommodation (section 12) – e.g. when buying a house or when renting;
• Provision of goods and services (section 13) – e.g. when buying something, applying for credit, using banks, seeking assistance from government departments, lawyers, doctors and hospitals, or attending restaurants, pubs, entertainment venues;
• Access to places and facilities for use by the public (section 11) – e.g. when trying to use parks, libraries, government offices, hotels, places of worship, entertainment centres, hire cars;
• Advertising (section 16) – e.g. advertising for a job stating that people from a certain ethnic group cannot apply;
• Joining a trade union (section 14).
Nowhere on here does it elude to the fact that you cannot be of the same race as the person you’re suing. Anyone remember the movie “Django?”Anyone doubt Hilde would not have been able to sue Stephen…the Senior House Slave who kept her just as oppressed as her Master? Also to say that a white person cannot sue another white person based on Racial discrimination is to do a huge injustice to the white “Freedom Riders” and “CORE” members from the 1960’s. They died and bled for the cause of African Americans and the Klan did not cut them any slack just because of their skin color.
Now based on this link, http://www.atlawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Jackson-v.-Deen-et-al.-Complaint.pdf, we have the reason for why Ms. Jackson is suing Paula Deen and her business empire and please rest assured…it is for these reasons that Paula lost her job and sponsors started leaving her high and dry. It has nothing to do with the usage of the word, Nigger. If you could, speed to page 14 and look at the Racial Discrimination described in the work place. Does any of that sound compatible to the bullets listed above? They certainly do to me. But now, here’s something to think about and I fully expect to piss off some of my fellow African Americans. We are still slaves in the mind. We don’t have to worry about anyone else verbally abusing us because we are doing the job ourselves. Some of us don’t even seen anything wrong with what Paula and her businesses have done and allowed in the work place because, well shucks Paula is a just good old fashioned country girl who doesn’t know any better. Horse manure.
Paula Deen is comfortable in her skin. She and her brother see nothing wrong with the way they think and they honestly believe that other white people think the same way. See…to my friend who I had the debate with, if Lisa Jackson were black, her suing wouldn’t be a problem (sadly it still would be to some black people). She’s a white woman though and maybe if more white people came out publicly and displayed the same sense of disgust when a fellow white person uses the word, ignorance and stupidity associated with Racial Discrimination, that type of ignorance/stupidity could finally be taken out the closet and brought into the light where it can be confronted and educated.
One other thing before I go. According to the court documentation…Lisa Jackson quit a job where she was making roughly $69,792.00 a year. That’s good money if you can get it and I don’t know how many people are just walking away from a job for that kind of money. Notice I said she walked away because she didn’t get fired. Ms. Jackson quit a high paying job because she was sick of the bullcrap. She should be applauded for her bravery, not have her motives questioned because she is a white woman. I am proud of my race but I will also say this…to those who support another race’s cause that others deem not your own, I say thank you. Thank you, thank you and on behalf of those that have come before me, I say thank you. And to my fellow African Americans…maybe, just maybe if we stopped using the word “Nigga” in some ignorant thought as of depowering the word, other races might at some point stop using the word as well, at the very least…it will remove all doubt as to the meaning behind the word and the damage it causes. I’m out.
HARD IN THE PAINT 