I'm Hispanic and my daughter recently became disconsolate when her Polish-American husband's grandfather, who's ninety, met me and told her, "You didn't tell me your mother was a colored gal." He was jovial and friendly to me and we talked for hours during their family get-together. He was wistful as I left and said he hoped I'd visit with him again. I pecked his cheek and told him sincerely that I'd make time to.
My daughter wasn't so understanding. She had adored her husband's grandfather. My daughter is half-white and doesn't look the least Hispanic and was outraged at my being referred to as a "colored gal." I really feel she needs to see things in perspective. The man is ninety and lived in a generation when race and ethnicity were clearly delineated. He was pleasant and kind to me now.
Paula Deen is a product of her times and the Southern heritage she was raised in. She admitted to having used the "N" word in the past. She didn't have to have admitted to it. She used racial insensitivity. The question is: what is she like now? My Anglo husband was a flaming racist as a young Air Force officer, newly stationed in Okinawa in the late 50s, and his father, a WWII vet had instilled him with a particular dislike for the Japanese. Until he fell deeply in love with a Okinawan woman at a time when interracial marriages were a death sentence to an officer's career, and he was very ambitious. Fifteen years after her death, he married another minority and voted twice for an African-American president. Sometimes, people change. The question to ask is if Paula Deen has.
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