The cases of Paula Deen and Alec Baldwin have more to do with the media’s collective sense of perception than anything else.
Poor Richard’s Almanack was distributed in the American colonies annually between 1732 and 1758. Published by Benjamin Franklin under the pseudonym “Poor Richard,” the almanac proved enormously popular, with the number of copies sold reaching the tens of thousands. In the 1752 edition, Franklin—ever the cheeky wordsmith—took on the subject of hypocrisy (which was a pretty big deal at the time): “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.”
Franklin’s musing, a remnant of a mind-numbing U.S. history lecture during my freshman year of college, came bubbling to the surface after witnessing the crucifixion of Paula Deen, and the comparatively tepid criticism received by Alec Baldwin after the 30 Rock actor tweeted a barrage of vile, homophobic remarks at a reporter for the Daily Mail. The disparate reactions speak volumes about society’s attitudes toward racism, homophobia, and celebrity.
First, let’s review the transgressions.
Lisa Jackson, a former employee of Deen’s who was fired, filed a lawsuit against Deen and her younger brother, Earl “Bubba” Hiers, alleging racial and sexual discrimination. Jackson—who is white—alleged that Deen had made racist remarks toward African-Americans when discussing the plans for Bubba’s wedding, and that she in turn was offended because she has half-black nieces. According to Deen’s deposition, Jackson alleged that Deen said, “Well what I would really like is a bunch of little n–gers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around.”
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