Food Network

[john250]

Bottom line is our country is a melting pot of misfits and culls but that's what makes us great. What will ruin this great country is the belief that any one of these groups is special and requires special treatment.

I am an Ulster. For centuries my people have been tromped on by whatever government we have been unfortunate enough to live under. The worst of it began with King James I. He tried to wipe us off the face of the earth with genocide. Some, like my brother, still carry a genetic mutation brought about by the years of starvation forced upon us because the food we produced was taken from us and given to those deemed more worthy. We fled to America seeking a better life only to find we were hated for our looks, dress and our customs so we moved to the nooks and crannies of the Appalachians. We helped fight the revolutionary war but it could be argued that we didn't fight for independence we just fought because this was the perfect opportunity to kill British. And that we did, especially after the battle of Waxhaw where we were gunned down after we surrendered. We repaid that debt on Kings Mountain and returned the favor. As a right of passage I have pi$$ed on General Ferguson's grave atop the mountain and hope to one day take my boys to do the same.

Though we fought and died in the founding of the country we were still discriminated against. When the whiskey tax was put in place the tax on whiskey was 6 cents per gallon but on our fine product we were charged 9 cents/gallon. While we again fought during the civil war it was not about slavery because very few if any of our people owned slaves. Against our religion and if you read the old journals the sentiment was that most slave owners were old loyalists who we hated with a passion. After the war we were again treated like dirt by the occupation army and the carpet baggers. We were robbed, assaulted and just done wrong for no justifiable reason.

Today, some view me as a white guy from the south who owes their very existence to the slave who gave me the standard of life I enjoy today. This is insulting to me and my family because there is nothing further from the truth. Hard work, self denial, delayed gratification, strong family values made this possible. I have always treated people fairly and so will my children but I'm not about to apologize or willingly subsidize sorriness in any way shape or form - or color. If anything, I think I need a refund from that unfair whiskey tax.

I am replying with "quote" not because I have anything to add, but because this is d*** near perfect and needs to appear at least twice.

 

[john250]

Albany Georgia, the Detroit of the South

:lol2: Good assessment!

NPR says that if all the vacant property in Detroit (vacant meaning "no one is paying the property taxes") was contiguous it would be more area than Paris, France.

 

[Jogeephus]

CB, I pity you - we may be kin. :lol2: Yeah we were a despised bunch on both sides of the pond but whenever they needed pawns for their political chess games we were always out front. There are some notes and letters that belong to a relative on my mother's side that spoke of a few of the bunch that moved toward Texas and then chased the gold. Also had another relative who the occupational army tried to hang and he fled toward Mexico only to fall off his horse during a chase and got brained on a rock sowhere in south Texas.

IMO, we americans are all a bunch of misfits and we have all had our struggles in building this country but just like you say - I'm going to have to get over it just as everyone else needs to. We are all equally a bunch of misfits and to treat one group better than the other means you are discrimminating. Where does this end? As it is, if you are a "minority" you get extra points on a lot of things like government contracts and entrance into medical school. I don't know about you but if I'm laying on the operating table I want the best doctor holding the scalpel and not someone who was given extra points just because they are considered a minority. This in itself is discrimination and is telling that minority that they are of lesser value and not capable of performing at the same standards as the rest of society. I guess making excuses is much easier than viewing the problem in the mirror.

I am a firm believer in the american dream and IMO the biggest threat to fulfilling this dream is DotGov. It always has and always will be. (I've said my peace, Sky - I mean Tonto - you can scalp me now) :lol2: :lol2:

 

[TexasBred]

I have to ask the same questions of every customer I interview for a loan application whether I'm meeting with them face to face or speaking with them over the phone.

Seems like we should all be in this together and stop dividing ourselves by race, religion, national origin etc...

Do they still have the right to "not answer" your questions which allows you to fill in the blank by "observation"??

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I am required to do so, yes. Oh, and I've gotten it wrong a time or two over the phone.

 

[Dega Moo]

Paula Deen issued a statement today thanking The Food Network for the past 11 years. Heck of a classy act on her part. I don't think her career is over.

 

[LazyARanch]

I don' t think she is done either. I think some other media group will snap her up and she'll be busier than ever! The Food Network was darn STUPID!! I don't know too many people her age from the south that have never used the word.... Lots of us have said and done things we regret or.like to pretend never happened, we don't lose our jobs over it. I like her, I enjoy her show, and she's honest!!

 

[Anonymous]

The word is about an attitude portrayed by a segment of society. Just like white trash is.

 

[Jogeephus]

She's gonna be fine. Heck, she doesn't have to work anymore nor will her grandkids. Far cry from where she was several years ago living off the street. Isn't that ironic how that works? Work your a$$ off, become successful and then you are a labelled a racist. :???: :bang: :bang: :bang:

 

[Dega Moo]

I think TFN made some pretty simple dollar and cent decisions and when they let Paula D go it was a pretty simple exercise of capitalism. She did a great job of neutralizing what could have been very bad press. Some other network with a broader demographic and broader viewership will probably pick her up since the dollars will work out for them. In the end she may be better off.

With that said, I think someone needs call BS on the notion that the N word is just another word descriptive of a specific subset of the population. The connotation of the word is as derogatory and foul as any word in the English language. I'm rather certain most folks here and elsewhere don't really believe it's nothing but an equivalent to "white trash". That's just a lame rationalization. And I don't care that some blacks use the word themselves - it's still not right and that doesn't make it acceptable.

So I'm calling BS on anyone using the N word or defending the use of the N word or minimizing the connotation of the word. You know better!

 

[Jogeephus]

Well this is america or used to be and you are welcome to your opinion or used to be anyhow.

 

[Anonymous]

So there's no difference between a ****** and a black man? I beg to differ. Any black man with a sense of pride will tell you there is. Bill Cosby being one

 

[Ryder]

It's not the WORD it is HOW it is said. Said different ways by different people at different times.
You can call a person by their given or sir name as a name of recognition, of friendship, of respect, or with scorn.
You might want to think on that DM before you go waving your prejudice flag.

I don't think Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer had any derogatory or foul intent in speaking of N. Jim.
I don't think Mark Twain did either when he wrote the book.

 

[jedstivers]

CB, I pity you - we may be kin. :lol2: Yeah we were a despised bunch on both sides of the pond but whenever they needed pawns for their political chess games we were always out front. There are some notes and letters that belong to a relative on my mother's side that spoke of a few of the bunch that moved toward Texas and then chased the gold. Also had another relative who the occupational army tried to hang and he fled toward Mexico only to fall off his horse during a chase and got brained on a rock sowhere in south Texas.

IMO, we americans are all a bunch of misfits and we have all had our struggles in building this country but just like you say - I'm going to have to get over it just as everyone else needs to. We are all equally a bunch of misfits and to treat one group better than the other means you are discrimminating. Where does this end? As it is, if you are a "minority" you get extra points on a lot of things like government contracts and entrance into medical school. I don't know about you but if I'm laying on the operating table I want the best doctor holding the scalpel and not someone who was given extra points just because they are considered a minority. This in itself is discrimination and is telling that minority that they are of lesser value and not capable of performing at the same standards as the rest of society. I guess making excuses is much easier than viewing the problem in the mirror.

I am a firm believer in the american dream and IMO the biggest threat to fulfilling this dream is DotGov. It always has and always will be. (I've said my peace, Sky - I mean Tonto - you can scalp me now) :lol2: :lol2:

Tonto, now that's funny. I might change your contact info in my phone to Tonto. :lol:
We might even be cousins, one of my great grand mothers was right off the reservation in Ok. but I don't show any of it. I got all the German.

 

[melking]

It's not the WORD it is HOW it is said. Said different ways by different people at different times.
You can call a person by their given or sir name as a name of recognition, of friendship, of respect, or with scorn.
You might want to think on that DM before you go waving your prejudice flag.

I don't think Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer had any derogatory or foul intent in speaking of N. Jim.
I don't think Mark Twain did either when he wrote the book.

Correct! :clap:

 

[chippie]

It's not the WORD it is HOW it is said. Said different ways by different people at different times.
You can call a person by their given or sir name as a name of recognition, of friendship, of respect, or with scorn.
You might want to think on that DM before you go waving your prejudice flag.

I don't think Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer had any derogatory or foul intent in speaking of N. Jim.
I don't think Mark Twain did either when he wrote the book.

Correct! :clap:

Ditto!

Something I find interesting is that people raised a fuss about the historical restaurant when the employees were asked to dress as slaves. At historical parks, people do not have a problem dressing the part.

 

[M5farm]

I was friends with and elderly black man a few years ago and we were sitting around talking one day and another man came up and spoke to him and not me. The man soon walked away and He turned to me and said now that's a *****. I have alot of black friends that would do anything for me and I would for them.

 

[3waycross]

I was friends with and elderly black man a few years ago and we were sitting around talking one day and another man came up and spoke to him and not me. The man soon walked away and He turned to me and said now that's a *****. I have alot of black friends that would do anything for me and I would for them.

I wonder how he would have taken it if you had said that to him?

 

[M5farm]

I was friends with and elderly black man a few years ago and we were sitting around talking one day and another man came up and spoke to him and not me. The man soon walked away and He turned to me and said now that's a *****. I have alot of black friends that would do anything for me and I would for them.

I wonder how he would have taken it if you had said that to him?

He would have been offended i'm sure. But as long as I knew him (10 years) that word never crossed my mind when talking to or about him. There is a difference just like it has been pointed out.

 

[TexasBred]

I don' t think she is done either. I think some other media group will snap her up and she'll be busier than ever! The Food Network was darn STUPID!! I don't know too many people her age from the south that have never used the word.... Lots of us have said and done things we regret or.like to pretend never happened, we don't lose our jobs over it. I like her, I enjoy her show, and she's honest!!

If everyone would be perfectly honest there are dam few people anywhere in this country that haven't used the word at least one in their life. He77 it's not like it's part of her everyday conversational language.