The First Amendment is in the news these days, and not for the best of reasons. Once again, celebrities and wannabe celebrities are the culprits, fueling a debate that's as chaotic as it is puerile.
Paula Deen started it off with her deposition testimony for a lawsuit brought by a former worker. In it, she testified that in the past, she had called an African-American a nigger. Nigger is a word I deplore and loathe. I've even gone so far as to read Professor Randall Kennedy's incisive work Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word, to better understand the word's origins and uses. I don't use the term and I'm quick to criticize those who do. That Ms. Deen was emotional about her experience of being held at gunpoint by a robber is understandable, but it doesn't justify the use of the word.
After the revelations of the deposition testimony, Ms. Deen's sponsors began to cut ties with her. This had to be expected. I don't find it to be sanctimonious -- for most of them. Whether Smithfield Hams or the Food Network cuts ties with Ms. Deen is largely a business decision, and I understand that. Where I part company with a sponsor is Wal-Mart who, otherwise, would be a natural to divest itself of Ms. Deen for her language choice. The problem is that Wal-Mart sells CD's that have lyrics on them much worse, in my opinion, than what Ms. Deen said some thirty years ago. For as raunchy as those lyrics may be, the artists have every right to use them and I have the choice to ignore them and the artists. But for Wal-Mart to let Ms. Deen go and keep those CD's on their shelves is hypocrisy, plain and simple.
Then there's this asinine reality show called Big Brother on CBS. Because we only receive one channel for the moment, all I can watch are CBS shows. So I watched these puerile, self-important post-pubescent narcissists acting out for the first episode of the current season, shrugged my shoulders and vowed never to watch it again. A couple of days later I went online and saw that a couple of the people on that show had been fired by their jobs -- but because they're on lockdown in the house, they don't know this yet. And the reason they were fired? They made racist and homophobic comments that were aired on the streaming computer portion of the show, not the portion televised by CBS. The employers were alerted to the statements and fired them from their jobs, not wanting to be associated with racists and homophobes.
As with the Paula Deen situation, I don't disagree with the actions taken by the employers whatsoever. Where I find it amusing is that CBS continues to allow the racists and homophobes in the house, using their misfeasance as a ratings attraction to pull in more viewers who want to see what all the controversy's about. Ratings, after all, matter.
In the acme of irony, Julie Chen, who is only married to Les Moonves, the head of CBS, is the host of Big Brother. Ms. Chen is of Asian descent. Some of the racist comments made by the housebound narcissists were against Asians. And still, CBS won't take the offending parties and remove them from the show, despite the outcry from fans of the show threatening a boycott.
The First Amendment only protects speech from government infringement. None of Ms. Deen's sponsors, none of the houseguests' employers, nor is CBS a governmental agency, so the First Amendment protections don't apply in these situations. Those entities can take whatever actions they like, which some of them have. The problem is the inconsistent application of the standards. This is natural, since each is a separate entity. But it also points out the difficulty in navigating politically correct waters.
In no way do I approve of either Ms. Deen's use of nigger or the narcissists' use of racist and homophobic language. I support their right to use it, but I also support the rights of sponsors, employers and others to distance themselves from the source of that language.
Years ago, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks slammed then-President George Bush to a crowd in Europe. Fans and radio stations reacted by crushing stacks of Dixie Chicks' CD's and refusing to play their music. Since then, the Dixie Chicks have faded into obscurity. This is how it should happen: A statement is made, a (reasonable and sensible) reaction against it is made. End of story. And for the record, I happen to like the Dixie Chicks. But just as Ms. Maines had the right to make her statement, fans and radio stations had their right to react to it.
I'm not sure how any of this will end. But the politically correct world that we inhabit is treacherous for anyone who opens his mouth.
(c) 2013 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
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