The world has had a long history of bigoted celebrities: singers, politicians, actors — you name it. From the blatant targeting of groups to ignorant acts, there’s no denying we’ve all face-palmed on behalf of Miley Cyrus, Bill Maher, and even Roald Dahl and Dr. Seuss.

The privilege of being a celebrity too often creates a hot mess of ignorance and little to no consequences. This is not acceptable.

Nowadays, there are hardly any repercussions for celebrities who say racist or homophobic things. They just wait a short while until another famous person says something worse. The public moves on to the next scandal and forgets the other celebrity’s mishap.

Once recent example of bigotry happened with a certain favorite, deep-frying chef.

When Paula Deen used the N-word, she used it to demean not only another person, but also an entire group of people.

In a court deposition, Deen revealed she said this term and other racial slurs during a robbery in 1986. At the time, a black man robbed a bank Deen was working at. She said she called him the N-word because he held a gun to her head.

It’s undeniable that she was a racist, at least in that moment of time. Despite other possible reasons to use the N-word, using it to demean a black person is considered racist.

It’s sometimes difficult for white people to talk about race without sounding insensitive and offending someone, but it is crucial that everyone discuss race. We’re living in a world in which racism and other forms of discrimination are still huge issues.

It should be considered a positive consequence that Paula Deen created a national dialogue on the topic.

However, it is problematic that companies like Random House, QVC and Sandridge Foods haven’t officially fired her.

Deen is not just a person. She is a brand that is used by lots of larger brands, like the Food Network and even Caesar’s Palace. When companies don’t fire her, they normalize biased speech and behavior and make it culturally acceptable. When people speak out against it, it becomes a minority opinion.

This is not OK.

More news broke recently about the use of racist remarks made by the individuals who dominate our TV screens.

In the past week, some new houseguests on CBS’ “Big Brother” were called out for making racist and homophobic comments. CBS said its views were not consistent with those in the cast of “Big Brother.”

“Big Brother” is a show in which contestants get eliminated and voted off. If CBS officials really felt strongly about the situation, they should have booted the girls out.

Reality shows like “Big Brother” rely on free speech — I think they would be boring with out it. But it becomes a problem when contestants feel privileged enough to say awful, bigoted things against their housemates because there are no repercussions.

It’s considered normalized behavior for people in the public eye to exert bias because there aren’t any consequences.

Celebrities — like Paula Deen and the cast of “Big Brother” — must face consequences. If they don’t, it lowers the standards of society.

Public figures should know better than to present themselves as intolerant . It’s simply bad for business and divides us all.

The silver lining in this situation is that it opens the floor for dialogue, and that’s a wonderful thing. But celebrities need to take more responsibility. They should resign. They should do more than cry on television and try to get us to think of them like we did before we got to know them more personally.

It’s unfair and unprogressive. Celebrities — and society as a whole — should work toward inclusion and acceptance.

Cassie-lee Grimaldi is a senior Television, Radio and Film major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at [email protected]. 

Published on July 12, 2013 at 9:23 am