While Paula Dean has brought the subject back to the forefront, she certainly was not the first public figure to be caught saying unfortunate things and then penalized for it by her employers. Nearly every time this happens, a horde of people rise to said persons defense, arguing freedom of speech, double standard, reverse racism, what have you.

A few points on that, first.

A) In language, context is everything. So it is absolutely different when a black person says the "N" word than when a white person does. You know how you can say whatever about your friends and family, but anyone else better watch their mouths? It's similar.

B) Paula Dean was not fired for being racist. She was fired for making herself controversial. It's the Food network. They'll take arguments on the ethics of stuffing kids faces with stick after stick of butter all day, but race questions? Forget it. It's not their fight and it distracts from what they do. So they pulled her. It'll cost them money, too. But you can bet that figured in their equations before they made the call.

C) Paula probably could have avoided this, with a simple apology. Context also meant that there was probably a reason she said what she said when she said it. And while that makes what she said more understandable, it certainly does not make what she said okay. But she then went on to not only never really apologize, but to repeatedly make arguments that she had done nothing wrong. And here, she is victim of a bigger problem... we do not, as a society, understand what racism really IS.

We know Racism is bad. It took a century or two, but we finally figured that out. But now every attempt to deal with the problem seems to only make it worse, and this is largely due to a huge misunderstanding, that being seeing Racism in binary terms: you either are racist, or you are not.

By that standard, each and every one of us is a Racist, regardless of color, education, or background, and the term has lost all meaning, other than a bogey man.

I think that is a large part of the reason that actions like Paula's actually get defended. So Paula called someone the "N" word. Crap, I've done that, too. So if she's a Racist, then I'm a Racist. I don't want to be a Racist, that's Bad. I actually like some Black People that I know. So I can't be racist. So she isn't, either. We see ourselves in the actions of others and defend their actions in order to exonerate ourselves, which is a perfectly understandable reaction.

I mean, you're just human, right? A product of where you were born, how you were brought up, the society that you moved in. You were bound to slip up, it's not like that makes you a bad person. So you can't be Racist, right? And neither can the rich white person who screwed up this week. Case closed.

Here's the thing. You're not a bad person, most likely. I highly doubt Paula Dean is, either. But both of you, ALL of us, are partly Racist, too. Partly.

I imagine you don't like that part of you very much, would like to do something about it. Well here is the good news. it does not define you. People are more complicated than that... just look at our founding fathers! Washington, who stayed mostly quiet on issues of slavery, but freed his slaves. Jefferson, who worked through political channels to abolish slavery, and yet kept his own. People are complicated, and cannot be simply labeled as Racist or Not.

Actions, however, can be. And I think that is where our attention needs to move. Instead of wasting time debating over whether or not a person is racist (an argument impossible to prove either way, regardless of how many black friends one has) we should focus on whether an action of theirs was racist or not.

I have done racist things in the past. So have you. If I do so again (particularly in a public role, as Pastor of the church) I would hope that those around me would hold me accountable for it. Because if they don't, if instead they remember their own racist actions and withhold comment in order to protect themselves, then it isn't just people being racist. At that point, it is the system being Racist. And that is the most harmful racism of all.