Posted on 07/20/2010 7:59:45 PM PDT by kristinn
The NAACP has released a 43 minute long video of the controversial speech given by fired USDA official Shirley Sherrod. Excerpts of the speech showing her using racist language with the support of those attending an NAACP dinner in March were released yesterday by Big Government. Sherrod was forced to resign from her position last night.
The video can be viewed at the NAACP website or go directly to the YouTube video.
After pulling their initial statement denouncing Sherrod, the NAACP released a new statement today claiming the group was "snookered" by Fox News and Andrew Breitbart.
Earlier today, a bitter Sherrod complained of being betrayed by black people in an interview given to Georgia TV stationWALB:
She feels like no one's been willing to fight for her. "It hurts especially when the NAACP is doing it and Roland Martin is doing it. These are black people, they never asked me what happened, these are people who haven't been on the front line like I have for 45 years..."
The new statement by the NAACP:
July 20, 2010
(BALTIMORE, MD) - NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous issued the following statement today after a careful investigation into the presentation of former USDA Official Shirley Sherrod.
"The NAACP has a zero tolerance policy against racial discrimination, whether practiced by blacks, whites, or any other group.
The NAACP also has long championed and embraced transformation by people who have moved beyond racial bias. Most notably, we have done so for late Alabama Governor George Wallace and late US Senator Robert Byrd -- each a man who had associated with and supported white supremacists and their cause before embracing civil rights for all.
With regard to the initial media coverage of the resignation of USDA Official Shirley Sherrod, we have come to the conclusion we were snookered by Fox News and Tea Party Activist Andrew Breitbart into believing she had harmed white farmers because of racial bias.
Having reviewed the full tape, spoken to Ms. Sherrod, and most importantly heard the testimony of the white farmers mentioned in this story, we now believe the organization that edited the documents did so with the intention of deceiving millions of Americans.
The fact is Ms. Sherrod did help the white farmers mentioned in her speech. They personally credit her with helping to save their family farm.
Moreover, this incident and the lesson it prompted occurred more that 20 years before she went to work for USDA.
Finally, she was sharing this account as part of a story of transformation and redemption. In the full video, Ms.Sherrod says she realized that the dislocation of farmers is about “haves and have nots.” "It’s not just about black people, it’s about poor people," says Sherrod in the speech. “We have to get to the point where race exists but it doesn’t matter.”
This is a teachable moment, for activists and for journalists.
Most Americans agree that racism has no place in American Society. We also believe that civil and human rights have to be measured by a single yardstick.
The NAACP has demonstrated its commitment to live by that standard.
The Tea Party Federation took a step in that direction when it expelled the Tea Party Express over the weekend. Unfortunately, we have yet to hear from other leaders in the Tea Party movement like Dick Armey and Sarah Palin, who have been virtually silent on the “internal bigotry” issue.
Next time we are confronted by a racial controversy broken by Fox News or their allies in the Tea Party like Mr. Breitbart, we will consider the source and be more deliberate in responding. The tape of Ms. Sherrod’s speech at an NAACP banquet was deliberately edited to create a false impression of racial bias, and to create a controversy where none existed. This just shows the lengths to which extremist elements will go to discredit legitimate opposition.
According to the USDA, Sherrod’s statements prompted her dismissal. While we understand why Secretary Vilsack believes this false controversy will impede her ability to function in the role, we urge him to reconsider.
Finally, we hope this incident will heighten Congress’s urgency in dealing with the well documented findings of discrimination toward black, Latino, Asian American and Native American farmers, as well as female farmers of all races."
###
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
You asked for it and so did all those saying we who stand for fairness are trolls. Anyone who has been here half as long as I have would know that that is the worse thing you can call anybody here. Heck I’d take stupid any day over that.
The worst she did was brush him off to a lawyer at first and then corrected that. There is no evidence that she ever withheld her help from anyone else again.
...but I don’t want her in charge of distribution of tax dollars, nor anyone else like her.
I don't either but only because she's a liberal. She comes across as anything but a racist after hearing the whole speech. She actually seems very dedicated to eliminating racism. It was a point she hit again and again and did so with some eloquence IMO. She's no William Buckley Jr. but she isn't pretending to be. David Duke is an absurd comparison to this woman.
If that’s the case, I believe this is shameful. And it is shameful that some FReepers defend wrongful reporting when it favors conservatives.
Hypocrisy is hypocrisy, regardless of the source.
And this labeling a dissenter here as a troll. Please, come on people.
They fail to mention discrimination against WHITES, which Sherrod admitted to doing.
But it is not all for the worse. 0baMao and Vilsack gave the same knee-jerk reaction and they now have to answer why. 0bama threw this woman under the bus without knowing the first thing about her. Beer summit redux. The Won acted stupidly ... again.
Taking speech out of context has the same affect as making it up.
Weren’t you around during the Bush years?
I concur.
“Hypocrisy is hypocrisy, regardless of the source.” Speaking of hypocrisy..I’m watching Crisy on Hardball right now and I have to agree with you, it is much more difficult hearing hypocrisy coming from our side. Listening to O’reily off on the wrong track as usual was bad but Beck threw it right at the Whitehouse for firing here without cause. THAT, is the direction this is going. Tune in to Rush for confirmation. Speaking of trolls, I think it was Churchill how said “He who smelt it, dealt it”
Are you suggesting that it would be okay for her to use her position to show him that females are superior to males?
He works for a living and she was a bureaucrat.
Perhaps she should have used her position to show him that bureaucrats are superior to those whom are not bureaucrats. They do have the power afterall.
Maybe just that he was being a jerk?
Maybe just that she was being a jerk?
Maybe he did have a chip on his shoulder about her color.
Maybe she has a chip on her shoulder about his color.
It was rural Georgia 45 years ago.
It's still pretty much rural Georgia.
But just ignore the fact that she went out of her way to help him after initially brushing him off. What she ended up doing for him was not part of her job.
Oh, I will ignore it. Why did she go out of her way and do things outside of her job to help this man? Guilt? She compromised her own job with her own statements. I, as a white male, would not want to have to go into this woman's office and ask for help, because there is no telling what someone like this is thinking. I better not use words that are too large, or provide too much detail, or she may get an inferiority or a superiority complex and run amok on my case...
How about people who operate by the rule of law and not their individual perceptions of social justice, whatever that is?
>> I suppose that you and I disagree.
Maybe not.
Sherrod clearly expressed racism in the full version and I suspect a few posters believe it’s justifiable, but would rather not say.
If her story about her father is true, I have absolutely no problem with any racism she harbors towards white people. She seems conflicted about her feelings towards white folks alternatively casting her views in the light of poverty. The injustice occurred nearly a half century ago - I wouldn’t let it go - maybe she has, may not. Nonetheless, her views are clearly racist. I don’t fault her for that.
Sherrod is also highly partisan and frames the Republican Party as being responsible for the problems that face the Black community. There’s no excuse for this type of nonsense that seems to emanate regularly from the Leftwing orgs not excluding the NAACP.
***
Breitbart’s video excerpt is contextually relevant as a response to the bogus allegations of racism the NAACP and CBC has levied against the Tea Party - period!!!
I was wrong, it's embarrassing and it sucks. Sucks to be human. But I'm not playing a game for any side.
Found over at patterico. “From a commenter over a Salon (of all places):
“Too blind to see. You can call Breitbart a liar but he is playing them like a fiddle. He knew how the White House and the NAACP would react. He knew they would throw her under the bus. How do Alinsky’s rules feel when they are used on you.”
Watch the liberal media go after Breitbart with a vengence when all he did was point out the hypocrisy of this administration and the Dems plot to inject racism as a tool to distract from their ineptness.
I don’t have any idea what you are talking about. I didn’t ask for anything, and I haven’t called anyone a troll.
Don't be ridiculous. You challenged me to state alternative reasons that she thought he was acting superior and I did. I made no justifications for anything. Nice red herring. Stop changing the subject.
Why don't you watch the full video and hear it from her instead of being such an idiot?
You make it sound like white bureaucrats won't do worse than shuffle you off to someone else just because they're having a bad day. LOL
Now that’s a theory I could believe.
I am just pointing out that whatever “superiority” she was referring to, she was wrong in doing so. There is no justifiable circumstance in which her attitude at that time would have been acceptable.
Yes, she pointed that out herself. People make mistakes. She corrected hers, with that man, then and there. That was the whole point of her story. She tied that in to several points about working together with the “other side of town,” getting an education, not expecting something for nothing, working hard etc.
Why do you keep insulting me? We disagree, but I have not called you stupid, nor have I called you an idiot. I can understand that since this morning you have changed your mind on this, but I haven’t.
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