"'Thank y'all': Texas cooking show brings Deen back in public eye," Carson Wright, 5th Period

This past Saturday, Southern cooking superstar Paula Deen returned to the public eye in Houston on the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertainment Show. Crying, she said to a standing ovation, "these are tears of joy, y'all." Deen had been publicly and professionally cast out after accused of using the "N word," which she admitted to, and conduct that was deemed racially charged. Deen gave several public apologies, but to no immediate avail. Her upcoming cookbook's publication was canceled, and she lost several endorsements for her show on Food Network. She faced a lawsuit containing charges of racism and sexual harassment, but these were dismissed--with no possibility of being filed again--in late August. Many Deen fans were present at the event, for which they paid prices between $75 and $400, sporting shirts with her face on them and sashes reading, "Hey Y'all." They expressed much support and will for their idol to recover from the social backlash. Of all the controversy, Deen said, "I'm sure you know, unless you're living under a rock, the last few months have been difficult. It was an opportunity to learn. I learned a lot about my self and my business. I just want to thank y'all from bottom of my heart." She is set to appear several more times in Houston.

The main problem is not that Paula Deen, at one point some odd number of years ago, used the N-word. The main problem--if such occurred--is that she may have condoned the operation of racially and sexually inappropriate workplaces. Her words, though foolish and unfortunate, matter not as much as her actions. In fact, the lawsuit that Deen faced was not about her use of the word, but her "patterns of disrespect and degradation of people that she deems to be inferior," according to Lisa Jackson.
Yet, Paula Deen and her team have denied most of the accusations regarding Deen's discrimination issues, and the case has been dismissed, so as to what actually may or may not have happened, I know not.
This is an expository article, and it doesn't seem to be expressing any clear bias or support for either side. What it does express, though, is that the public--or at least a portion of it--is ready to support Paula Deen again. Indubitably, she has had some amount of hardcore, unshakable fans throughout this entire debacle, but the fact that she is ready to be more widely received raises the question: are we okay with this? It is true that the media, though right in its disappointment with Deen's alleged conduct, blew out of proportion this entire ordeal. Like the Miley Cyrus VMA "scandal," the media's coverage of this went on too long, exceeding the boundaries set by the orbit of true importance. But if we as a people are indeed dismayed by what Paula Deen has said and done, are we fully comfortable with brushing that to the side and restoring her fame? It depends on what we want to stand for and who we want to stand for us. Who do we want to stand for us?

Perhaps a butter-obsessed cook with an affinity for the word "y'all."

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/14/us/paula-deen-first-public-appearance/index.html?hpt=hp_c4
Additional analytical resource: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/01/showbiz/paula-deen-accuser/index.html?iid=article_sidebar