Paula Deen and Riley Cooper Are Guilty of the Same Transgression But Consequences Are Vastly Different

Paula Deen admits to using a racial slur years ago. She's fired from her TV show, endorsement deals are canceled, and she's suddenly  television's' poster child for bad celebrities.  Philadelpia Eagles' wide receiver Riley Cooper utters a similar racial slur two months ago and he still has a job, and has reportedly been "forgiven" by his teammates. Aside from his wallet being a little lighter after being fined by the Eagles, his life goes on. What's wrong with this picture?

What's wrong with this picture is that it seems one person in this equation is being held to a higher standard than the other. Why that is I have yet to gain understanding.

While it is extremely disappointing that both of these individuals at some point felt it necessary to verbalize a racial slur, and I do not condone this in the least little bit, it seems the level of negative reaction to these incidents was quantified based upon these individuals' respective popularity.

Was Paula Deen more heavily penalized and scrutinized because of her vast popularity? Was the outrage somehow less with Riley Cooper because few people outside of Philadelphia had ever even heard of him? He issues a "sincere" apology, and suddenly everything is okay? What makes one transgression worse than the other?

The American public has become less tolerant of racial slurs in recent years, as well they should. These two individuals certainly aren't the first to enter these dark waters and they won't be the last, but you would think eventually that these celebrities, athletes, and politicians would realize that such language will not be tolerated by their public and will only bring harm and destruction.

The ramifications of the words of Paula Deen and Riley Cooper perhaps are yet to be fully realized. But, my guess is that Cooper's transgression will quietly and quickly fade away because the Eagles need him on their team to fill the void of Jeremy Maclin, one of their top receivers who recently went down with a season-ending injury. Deen's transgression could follow her for the rest of her celebrity life.