This undated image released by Smithfield Foods shows celebrity chef Paula Deen wearing a Smithfield apron as she stands in front of various Smithfield meat products. (AP Photo/Smithfield Foods via PRNewsFoto) by David Bauder NEW YORK (AP) - Paula Deen was dropped by Wal-Mart and her name was stripped from four buffet restaurants on Wednesday, hours after she went on television and tearfully defended herself amid the mounting fallout over her admission of using a racial slur. The story has become both a day-by-day struggle by a successful businesswoman to keep her career afloat and an object lesson on the level of tolerance and forgiveness in society for being caught making an insensitive remark.
