New York Times Frank Bruni on Paula Deen and racism

Former New York Times restaurant reviewer Frank Bruni repudiates the idea that Paula Deen deserves "clemency" regarding her admitted racial comments, noting that she’s 66 years old and has lived her life far south of the Mason-Dixon:

"Please. All of her adult years postdate the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and she’s a citizen of the world, traveling wide and far to peddle her wares. If she can leave Georgia for the sake of commerce, she can leave Georgia in the realm of consciousness.

"Beyond which, people can change, growing past wrongful ways in the name of what’s right. We pass new laws. We adopt new language. That’s the recipe for progress: putting justice ahead of habit, principle over precedent."