Last week during a trial about a lawsuit brought against her brother and her by a former employee alleging discrimination, celebrity chef Paula Deen was asked under oath if she had ever used the "N" word when referring to African Americans. She answered truthfully that she had.
Things went downhill from there for Deen, who went on to reveal some other questionable attitudes, with crazy talk of her penchant for things like plantation weddings. This all led to networks lining up to cancel her shows, stores dropping her products, and her publisher dropping production of her upcoming book.
Mr. Rip and I recently watched “Shut Up and Sing,” a documentary about the now infamous incident in March of 2003 when Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines said she was “ashamed that the President of the United States was from Texas,” (her home state) from the stage at a concert In London.
Things went downhill from there for the Dixie Chicks, one of the most popular country bands in America at the time. Country stations stopped carrying their songs, they had to cancel concerts, Toby Keith decided to take it upon himself to denigrate them in his concerts, and they received death threats.
I don’t know that much about Paula Deen. I don’t watch her shows, or buy her books. I didn’t know that much about the Dixie Chicks. I’m not really a country music fan.
Personally, I think that language can be powerful, dangerous, and polarizing, and we should all take care in the language we use especially when that language is aimed at people. To use clearly offensive language when referring any group of people is never okay.
However, I do believe in freedom of speech which is not for nothing a protected right in the U.S. Constitution. In general, you should be able to say anything you want, as long as you don't act in such a way that is unlawful or discriminatory. Also, in America we have the right to disagree with our leaders openly and vehemently.
Freedom of speech has always had some limits. You cannot slander someone else, and you cannot incite others to commit a crime, for example. Therefore, criticizing the president is okay; making death threats against the president or those who criticize him or her is not.
I will let the courts decide if Paula Deen was guilty of discrimination in running her business, but I cannot agree with taking away her livelihood because of something she said. As far as I know, the Dixie Chicks just expressed an opinion; no one accused them of doing anything that was unlawful.
It is a dangerous place to go when we start censoring words, ideas and opinions. If a consumer decides not to patronize a particular celebrity or artist because of their politics or opinions, then that is his or her choice. But they should make this choice; the choice should not be made for them.
In honor of Independence Day which we celebrate this week, let’s let Freedom of Speech ring throughout the land.
