Funny but I was about 10 or 11 when we moved from New York to Atlanta, Georgia in 1967 and not long afterwards Martin Luther King was shot. I recall a teacher bringing up a topic about the then governor, Lester Maddox who was an avowed segregationist refusing to attend King's funeral. The teacher let students discuss if this was right or not. I recall one boy defending the decision with, "a white man don't go to a nigger's funeral!"
I think her use of the word as explained in the deposition is pretty overblown as it was not recently and like it or not that was a part of the deep south. Now, the stupid idea for the wedding for her brother with old black men serving all the white guests was and is telling.
This opinion piece hits the nail on the head, it points out that Paula Deen's Andy Warhol moment lasted long enough and her dismissal from her TV show and connections to products and companies is not so much because of the fall out from her deposition but that her butter slathered star has faded.
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2...nd-the-market/