'Mostly White' Diners Line Up to Support Paula Deen's Racist-aurant

Some Americans are going out of their way to patronize Paula Deen’s restaurant The Lady and Sons in Savannah, Georgia to support Deen in this difficult, deep-fried-racist time — some of whom even plan to boycot the Food Network for dropping her in the wake of the controversy. If you were curious, “Most of [these] diners,” the New York Times reports, “were white.” Go figs.

However, there’s the errant exception, as in the case of one forgiving woman who explained: “I get it, believe me. But what’s hard for people to understand is that she didn’t mean it as racist. It sounds bad, but that’s not what’s in her heart. She’s just from another time.”

Deen — and those who have been defending her — generally argue that the language of the antebellum South still comes naturally to many baby-boomer-and-up citizens who don’t mean to use the N-word “maliciously.” But one (white) man mentions: “You still hear people talk that way if people think they are in a group of like-minded people.” Which indicates that many of them are, in fact, aware. So there’s that.

Meanwhile, two other endorsement deals that would rake in cash for Deen remain tenuous even after her apology, and her other apology. QVC, which sells her crockery, says that they are “concerned” and “[do] not tolerate discriminatory behavior.” See also.

And a rep from Random House, who was set to publish her new cookbook Paula Deen: New Testament (that is the actual name of it) in October, said they are “monitoring the situation carefully.”

‘At Georgia Restaurant, Patrons Jump to Defend a Chef From Her Critics ‘ [NYT]
‘Paula Deen Losing Deals After Racial Slur Scandal’ [People]