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Why Paula Deen Matters

The Food Network dumped Paula Deen. While many are angry at them, it seems to me to be a pretty okay outcome. After all, Deen went from local restaurant owner to multimillionaire culinary superstar with their help. And all of this in a country in which many restaurant workers are denied sick leave, and most earn less than a livable wage.

And while the decision seems sudden, I’m guessing the Food Network has been aware of Deen’s nasty little race problem for a while. In her own autobiography, she admits to having been stopped from presenting a recipe for a … Read more “Why Paula Deen Matters”

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And the Supreme Court Punted…

In the continuing drama surrounding the case of Fisher v. University of Texas, the suit challenging Texas’s race conscious college admissions policy, the Supreme Court punted. In a 7-1 decision, SCOTUS decided against the University of Texas, but also put off deciding on the constitutionality of affirmative action. Instead, SCOTUS decided the lower court failed to apply strict scrutiny to the Texas program and asked it to try again.

So affirmative action in higher ed is safe for the moment, but the fight isn’t over.

The Fisher case is important. I know many have argued that the case looks weak … Read more “And the Supreme Court Punted…”

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Paula Deen Damns Herself By Excusing Her Racism By Claiming She’s Old

By now I’m guessing you’ve all heard about Food Network personality, Paula Deen’s, giant P.R. problem. When the transcript of a video deposition revealed she’s used racist slurs, including the n-bomb, her TV I.Q. went into the toilet and her Southern fried racism became an internet meme.

In response, Deen’s lawyer released statement of apology. I’ll spare you the details. Basically the apology revealed an ignorance so intense it almost served as an excuse. When it comes to race, the lights are out and no one is at home at Deen manor. But there’s one thing about the apology that … Read more “Paula Deen Damns Herself By Excusing Her Racism By Claiming She’s Old”

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We All Live On Food Stamps

 

The Farm Bill is dead for now, in part over right wing demands to cut food stamps. This post was written last year but it timely now. We all live on food stamps.

About 45 million people in the U.S. receive food stamps. That’s about 14 percent of the American population. For 6 million Americans, food stamps constitutes their only income. 55 percent of food stamp households include children. 14 percent include a disabled member. 9 percent include someone over the age of 60.  And if you don’t think this is a racial justice issue, a quarter of food … Read more “We All Live On Food Stamps”

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Why Whites Should Fear Demographic Change

Yesterday a New York Times article ran under the headline Census Benchmark for White Americans: More Deaths Than Births. I’m guessing that story read something like Tornado Strikes Minutemen Border Patrol Headquarters: Millions in Guns and Ammunition Lost among America’s growing ranks of white nationalists.

But, before further panic ensues, the article also made it clear that demographic change is not exactly right around the corner, saying,

The disparity [between white births and deaths] was tiny — only about 12,000 — and was more than made up by a gain of 188,000 as a result of immigration from abroad. … Read more “Why Whites Should Fear Demographic Change”

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The Democrat’s Jefferson-Jackson Fundraising Tradition and the Limits of Perspective

One of my weekend rituals involves watching MSNBC’s Saturday and Sunday morning political talk show, Up, now hosted by Salon.com’s Steve Kornacki. Up provides a pretty good capsule account of the political week according to the center-left media. So I watch, occasionally find myself nodding in agreement, and just as often end up arguing with the TV.

This past weekend, Up featured a story about the annual round of Jefferson-Jackson Day spring Democratic Party fundraising dinners. The point of the story was that, in the face of an increasingly racially diverse electorate, it might be time for the Democrats … Read more “The Democrat’s Jefferson-Jackson Fundraising Tradition and the Limits of Perspective”

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The Danger of Nostalgia: Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant’s Sexist Slip

At a Washington Post Live event concerning children’s literacy on Tuesday, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant opened his mouth and dropped a bomb. When asked why America is so “mediocre” in terms of educational achievement, here’s what he said.

I’m going to get in trouble — do you want me to tell the truth?…I think both parents started working. And the mom is in the workplace.

Of course, the statement was media gold. Governor Bryant has since been lambasted, as well he should, as a male chauvinist pig. And since political polarization is good for business, liberal pundits were quick to … Read more “The Danger of Nostalgia: Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant’s Sexist Slip”

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The P.I. in the A.P.I.

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month has me pondering the question of Pacific Islanders and where that group fits in the Asian-Pacific American coalition. I’ve wondered about it because I fear that by using that term, we too often tell a story about Pacific Islanders that contributes to their invisibility.

There’s a certain amount of invisiblizing, if you will forgive my grammar, that goes on when we use the term “Asian American.” After all, Asian Americans are a mash-up of 40 or so ethnic groups from nations often at odds with one another within a region of origin that only thinks of … Read more “The P.I. in the A.P.I.”

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Lost in the Supermarket: The Psychological Burden of Invisible Racism

Many Americans, especially many white Americans, believe we live in a post-racial era. They’re convinced that racism no longer has the power to organize the way we live and impose disadvantages on people of color. I’m holding out hope that this is wishful thinking and not just a convenient form of denial, but I’m guessing disappointment is on the horizon.

Post-racial believers overlook incidents like the now famous racist rant of that Papa John’s pizza delivery man. Obviously, he’s not post-racial. And, you know, he didn’t learn his racism in a vacuum, nor was he singing to himself.

And this … Read more “Lost in the Supermarket: The Psychological Burden of Invisible Racism”

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An Asian American’s Perspective On Obama, That Morehouse Speech, and “Personal Responsibility”

We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices. Growing up, I made a few myself. And I have to confess, sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. But one of the things you’ve learned over the last four years is that there’s no longer any room for excuses. I understand that there’s a common fraternity creed here at Morehouse: “excuses are tools of the incompetent, used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness.”

We’ve got no time … Read more “An Asian American’s Perspective On Obama, That Morehouse Speech, and “Personal Responsibility””