5 Reactions to Paula Deen's Brownface Photo

'Just so dumb' is one typical refrain
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 7, 2015 1:36 PM CDT
5 Reactions to Paula Deen's Brownface Photo
The now-deleted photo.   (Paula Deen/Facebook)

Paula Deen is making headlines in all the wrong ways today after she (or a staffer) tweeted an old photo of her decked out as Lucille Ball and son Bobby—in brownface—as Desi Arnaz. The tweet for #TransformationTuesday read "Lucyyyyyyy! You got a lot of esplainin’ to do!" and was deleted without explanation once the Internet got hold of it. The flap comes about two years after Deen's controversy over the n-word. Reaction:

  • Eater: "Somehow, Deen doesn't understand that brownface is never okay," writes Daniela Galarza, who notes that the photo is actually from 2011. "It wasn't okay in 2011 and it's not okay in 2015."

  • Gawker: "Maybe, just maybe, Paula Deen didn’t really mean all those teary apologies, and maybe actually is a big deep fat-fried racist," writes Sam Biddle.
  • The Root: "Just so dumb," writes Yesha Callahan. "So, so dumb."
  • Mic.com: "This isn't just self-tanner gone wrong: It is racism, as plain as, well, the brown on his face," writes Kevin O'Keeffe.
  • Mediaite: She told us she'd learned all about the "power of words" to hurt people. "Now, she just needs to learn the power of pictures," writes Matt Wilstein.
(More Paula Deen stories.)

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