At its face value, colorblindness seems like a good thing — really taking MLK seriously on his call to judge people on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. It focuses on commonalities between people, such as their shared humanity.

He said not to judge people for the color of their skin, not to ignore it.

It's impossible to ignore the differences we see in people, but that isn't the issue anyway. It's how we treat others that counts. And it's when we treat two otherwise similar people differently because of something like skin color that is the problem.

Yet racism is just one way we treat others poorly. The reason we single it out is because of our sordid history. There are a million ways to mistreat people and they are happening as we discuss this Deen issue.

So while we attempt to force Deen to atone for her racial sins, a child is being molested, a wife is being beaten, a teenager is murdered.

I don't know what all this means, only that we as a species have been finding ways to harm one another since our origins. I wish I could believe things are getting better, but I see no sign of it.

One of the good signs is that during re-enactments of antebellum weddings the black waiters don't get whipped for accidently dropping a plate. At least I hope so.
Otherwise I believe racism is well alive in the US although it is usually not out in the open.
Just last weekend I was up in the Florida panhandle and heard the n-word used plenty of times. Very uncomfortable.

From the deposition:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/06/ ... eposition/

Okay.

What era in America are you

Well, I don't know.

After the Civil

War, during the Civil War, before the Civil War.
Q

Right.

Back in an era where there were

middle-aged black men waiting on white people.
A

Well, it was not only black men, it was

black women.
Q

Sure.

And before the Civil War --

20

before the Civil War, those black men and women who

21

were waiting on white people were slaves, right?

22

A

Yes, I would say that they were slaves.

23

Q

Okay.

24

A

But I did not mean anything derogatory

25

by saying I loved their look and their professionalism
Tom Crites and Associates International, Inc.
critesintl.com


«
Page 131 of 149

John, are we so shallow that we can not handle more than one thing? Do we not have threads on this board where we also talk about those other things. Can a company not fire Paula and a child molester be thrown in prison? Can we not post about Paula on here and still be pestering our legislators to strengthen laws and enforcement against wife beaters and child molesters? Can we not also be fighting for stronger gun laws? Can we not also be lobbying for better mental health programs to try to help prevent suicide? Can we not also be working for stronger laws and enforcement against animal cruelty? Do we overlook racism because other things are happening?

The time spent on this is very little because, as monster said, we can not fire Paula. We let our opinions be known. Enough people have done that before so that the companies know how we feel and react accordingly. There is no obsession here about Paula and hating her. The issue is racism. She showed hers and we reacted.

Okay, read the deposition, and I'm still not outraged.
Must mean I'm a racist.

Yes, we can spend time on each of these things. And obviously we do just that.

But are we making any progress? Are things getting any better? Are we building a better society?

And so am I. I still don't get it. Someone accused mostly her brother of running his restaurant badly. She thought about having a plantation wedding for her brother that I don't think even happened.

Ha. So, who said you're racists? We disagree. I've explained why I think Paula is a racist.

I do have a question. If Paula knew her brother and others were doing those things or didn't check them out would she bear any responsibility? The racist and sexist things.

Right now it seems like we aren't, John. All we can do is keep working on it. I think things like the school sooz works with show we are. Roseanne and Chaos educate us and others on the animal abuse. Oskar mentions a lot of the shooting stories showing the need for gun control. People are aware and are educating others and are working on all these things. That's all we can do. And, we have to elect people who share our priorities.

And, we have to elect people who share our priorities.

Exactly.
Get involved!

if our Congress is any example of "those who share our priorities" then there's either something amuck with our election process, or America's priorities are screwed up! Imo...

Maybe I'm expecting too much, Jeanne. Maybe we have made as much progress as one can hope. Perhaps considering how things were when I was born (1959) and where they stand today, it's a huge improvement.

She owns half, if I read right. I agree that there is nothing in her deposition that shows she told the employees that. It did seem apparent that she knew there were some problems. As one of the owners, should she not be held partly responsible, if these things prove to be true? It seems that maybe she was a bit blind to her brothers darker side. Not necessarily a good thing for their business.

I don't think anyone said that.




And, it isn't the deposition that upset me.

Gotta love this!!


Paula Deen Fans Launch National Protest


Soon, the corporations that ditched Paula Deen last week for admitting she used the N-word after being held up at a bank where she worked 27 years ago will receive carefully crafted letters from outraged Paula Deen fans, written on butter wrappers.

The protest, launched on Friday and organized by John Schmitt is named, "Butter Wrappers for Paula," and its message is clear. "A corporation without Paula Deen is like a butter wrapper without butter."

"The wrappers will serve as tangible evidence of support for Paula," Schmitt said. "The visual impact of support backs up the effects of social media, emails and phone calls."

Paula Deen fans taking part in the campaign are pledging to sever ties with the same corporations that have ditched the Queen of Southern Cuisine, while rewarding those who have remained in the Deen camp.

Angry fans have taken to the phone lines and social media to express their disappointment in a deluge of comments on the Food Network Facebook fan page, as well as those of Deen's partners and sponsors.

"Good Bye Food Network; you WERE my most watched station; no more. Dropping Paula Deen was a mistake that will result in no more purchases from my household."

Schmitt is credited for launching the "We Support Paula Deen" Facebook fan page (https://www.facebook.com/WeSupportPaulaDean), which has amassed more than 550,000 supporters since June 21.

"I would like to see every person that is a part of the We Support Paula Deen movement send a wrapper in. Of course, ultimately, I would like to see a reversal in the decisions of these partners," Schmitt said.

Fans are responding to the effort with resounding support. One fan wrote,

"I used to drive across town to shop at Walmart, but since they are abandoning you at your most trying time, I will do the same for them."

And, another wrote, "Smithfield lost me as well as the Food Network."

Countless other fans have echoed these comments, and began submitting photos of Paula Deen products on the We Support Paula Deen Facebook page, where a list of Deen defectors has been maintained since the launch of the Butter Wrappers for Paula campaign.

The controversy has caused sales of Paula Deen products to surge. Last week, pre-orders for Deen's most recent book, due for release in October, surged to the number-one slot on Amazon.com, just prior to Ballantine Books, its publisher, severing its agreement with Deen, canceling publication.

A national food blog, Stitches 'n Dishes created an Amazon storefront, featuring Paula Deen products in support of the campaign on Friday, and has pledged to donate all of the proceeds to The Bag Lady Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Deen in May, in addition to a $500 donation.

Throughout the weekend, more than 1,000 fans visited the website to purchase Paula Deen products that they would have previously purchased at retail behemoths, Target, Walmart, K-Mart, Sears, JC Penney and Walgreens.

"We're giving Paula Deen fans an opportunity to support Paula and her organization through their purchases," said Andrew Nicora, a spokesman for Stitches 'n Dishes. "Fans are purchasing products to show their support, so buying them at Stitches 'n Dishes makes those purchases even more meaningful."

A representative at The Bag Lady Foundation said, "we are a team and a family and are moved so much by the action from the fans."

Schmitt recalled when fans sent over nine tons of peanuts to CBS when it announced the cancellation of “Jericho” in 2007, which gave him the idea to launch a similar campaign. “And now I guess I'm doing some planning,” he said. “The last Christmas gift my mother gave to me before she died was a set of Paula Deen cookware. There’s a nostalgia for me. Somebody needs to step up and say something.”

report.cnn.com/docs/DOC-998270

-- FBI agents on Friday morning arrested a 62-year-old man who, they say, tried to extort Paula Deen by threatening to divulge "true and damning" information about the embattled celebrity chef -- unless he was paid to keep quiet.
Thomas George Paculis was taken into custody without incident in Ithaca, New York, by FBI agents and deputies from the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office, the FBI said in a press release.
There was no answer later Friday to a phone number linked to him in the FBI's criminal complaint, nor was there an immediate response from an e-mail address in that same document.
Photos: Paula Deen's empire
The former Augusta and Savannah, Georgia, resident appeared before a federal judge Friday in New York before being released on bond at about noon, said Stephen Emmett with the FBI's Atlanta office.
He is scheduled to appear the morning of July 16 at a federal court in Savannah, where the criminal complaint was filed.
That coastal Georgia city is also where Deen built her business and brand into what many consider the folksy face of Southern cooking.
But she's been on her heels in recent weeks after admitting, in a deposition related to a lawsuit brought by a former employee, that she's used the "N word" in the past.
Chat: Comfort food, uncomfortable topics
Lisa Jackson alleged Deen and her brother Bubba Hier committed numerous acts of violence, discrimination and racism that resulted in the end of her five-year employment at The Lady and Sons and Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, two Savannah restaurants run by Deen and her family.
In the media firestorm that followed, Deen lost at least nine lucrative endorsements and her Food Network cooking show, while the publication of her eagerly anticipated cookbook was canceled.
So how does Paculis fit in?
According to a criminal complaint, he interjected himself on June 24, five days after details of Deen's deposition became public.
On that day, he sent an e-mail to Deen's lawyer vowing that he was "about to go public" with information about the chef's use of the "N word" at Lady and Sons, according to a copy of the e-mail cited in the criminal complaint.
Deen's accuser: 'This has never been about the N-word'
"The statements are true and damning enough that the case for Jackson will be won on it's merit alone," Paculis wrote, according to the FBI. "As always ... there is a price for such confirmation.
"You can contact me here if you feel it is necessary," he said, referring to his e-mail address, the criminal complaint states. "Or I can go public and we will see what happens then."
Greg Hodges, Deen's lawyer, exchanged e-mails with Paculis and the two talked over the phone two days later, according to the FBI. It was then that Paculis allegedly asked for $250,000 "net" -- or total, with taxes having already been paid -- in exchange for not talking, the criminal complaint states.
The two conversed a second time by phone June 27 when, "at the direction of the FBI," Hodges negotiated the hush money payment down to $200,000.
The next day, Deen told FBI agents that she didn't recognize Paculis's name or face, based on photographs.
Hodges declined comment on the alleged extortion arrest.
Nancy Aldridge, who was married to Paculis for four months around 1986, told CNN on Friday that he once had his own restaurant in Savannah though she hasn't had much direct contact with him in recent years.
Meanwhile, according to the FBI's criminal complaint, Paculis had also reached out to Jackson's lawyer. In fact, the agency alleges that the 62-year-old first reached out to Matt Billips by e-mail and phone on the same day -- June 24 -- that he contacted Deen's lawyer.
Billips said his staff conducted its own investigation of Paculis.
Paculis asked Jackson's lawyer how much he'd pay for derogatory information about Deen, the complaint claims.
"I have pushed the opposing firm to (give) me an amount of money, in cash to never been heard of again and to never utter Paula Deen's name in public or private ever again," Paculis allegedly wrote, according to an e-mail to Billips excerpted in the FBI complaint.
"Now the burning question is," he purportedly added, "do you want in."
Deen invokes same-sex marriage ruling in lawsuit defense
CNN's Chris Welch and Erinn Cawthon contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/05/showbiz/d ... -extortion

I detest predators of any kind ~ and extortion is predatory ~

Sooz

Sure it is, and this whole incident has shakedown written all over it.

From the original case on down.

extortion is as unacceptable as Paula's racism