Shirley Sherrod, as most of us know by now, is the Agriculture Department official vilified this week after a distorted video posted by right-wing blogger Andrew Breitbart went viral. When the facts were in, it was clear that Breitbart had engaged in an intentional and callous attempt to smear Ms. Sherrod, an African American, and the NAACP with a false charge of racism.
At first glance – and without the facts – Breitbart’s doctored tape seems to be credible, so much so that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asked for her resignation, and the NAACP quickly concurred with that decision – all in a span of just a few hours. But wait, let’s go to the whole tape, as Ms. Sherrod had urged. In it, we see the March 2010 meeting at which Ms. Sherrod described an incident that occurred 24 years ago, before she was an Agriculture official. Contrary to the viciously edited tape excerpts, Ms. Sherrod was really telling an admirable and uplifting story of redemption, respect, and racial justice. She had recounted how she had been called upon to help a white farmer save his farm at the same time that so many black farmers were losing. The unedited tape shows how she, the daughter of a man slain by a member of the Ku Klux Klan, America’s homegrown terrorists, had learned to overcome her initial misgivings and looked beyond race to treat all farmers – black and white – fairly.
For any reasonable person, the tape was that of an honorable, plain-speaking woman, remaining true to her core values of decency and fairness. In fact, while this whole incident was unfolding this week, the white farmer referred to in the tape has expressed sadness and outrage at the unjust way in which Ms. Sherrod was being treated, noting how she had saved his family farm. He considers her a friend.
Showing more grace under pressure than any of the other major players in this modern morality play, Ms. Sherrod's actions this week reflected her character as indicated in the complete tape. When pressured to condemn the Obama administration – which really is the subtext of all the right-wing blogging typified by Andrew Breitbart – she refused the bait, saying simply that she still supports the administration but was disappointed in how she was treated. It was Ms. Sherrod who was "fair and balanced."
While the right-wing media have flip-flopped in a heartbeat from demanding her resignation to criticizing the administration for doing exactly what they had demanded, Ms. Sherrod continues to model what we as individuals and as a nation should be. Well done, Ms. Sherrod. Well done.
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Comments
Thank you! Much needs to be
Thank you!
Much needs to be said about this. The first impression – Black woman fired by Obama administration for being racist – is very powerful, difficult to erase.
A terrible injustice has been done to Ms. Sherrod -- first by the commentator who intentionally distorted her eloquence to mean the opposite of what she said. Then by normally responsible people -- the NAACP and her employers in the Obama administration -- who didn't take time to do a basic check of the substance of an attack that should have been seen from the beginning as suspect.
Thanks so much for your
Thanks so much for your comments on what has now become newsworthy. Ms. Shirley Sherrod has now become the Rosa Parks of today. This brave and thoughtful woman stood up to the intentional and effective strategy of one Mr.Breitbart -to distort the truth-and to draw in the Department of Agriculture, the NAACP and the Administration into the fray. Shame on all of them! How could one Mr. Breitbart do so much damage in so short of time? The story has a life of its own and dominates most of the news outlets across America. I am disappointed in the NAACP in particular for jumping the gun and not taking time to do its due diligence on the accusation. The organization made a huge mistake by jumping into a fight with The Tea Party people which gave them new life. The NAACP's "resolution" said what every thinking person had already concluded about the Tea Party organization. "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words never will." Enough with the apologies which are usually crafted by a professional writer and not the person making the apology. In the meantime, President Obama's successful bill on financial reform went almost unnoticed as a result of the navel gazing about Ms. Sherrod. June was the deadliest month for U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq and the media hardly gave this story a nod. BP has "snookered" Americans by its arrogance and greed while creating the single most environmental disaster in history putting thousands of people out of work. BP has almost vanished from our television screens now being dominated by the biggest and costly hoax of Andrew Breitbart. We drank the kool aid! We can do better than that! We are better and smarter than that! We need to keep our eyes on the prize and remain focused on the systematic attempts to divide and conquer by those on the right. Race is a serious matter and deserves the attention of serious and thoughtful people who are not easily "snookered." I know a lot of these serious and thoughtful people and Janet is one of them. Peace and blessings. Dr. Paul
Charles Ogletree and Johanna
Charles Ogletree and Johanna Wald have written a particularly thoughtful op-ed on this matter for The Washington Post. They suggest that "our nation has to stop denying the complexity of our racial attitudes, history and progress" and "commit to listening with less judgment and more compassion."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/23/AR2010072304583_pf.html
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It seems to me that America
It seems to me that America needs to take a hint from Argentina.
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