As with most of America, I was appalled and outraged at the inflammatory, racial comments made by USDA official Shirley Sherrod in a video of a speech she gave to a Georgia chapter of the NAACP in March. In this short, 2 minute outtake Ms. Sherrod admits to not giving her "full effort" to a white farmer who was facing forclosure, instead turning him over to "his own kind" for help. The reactions of the NAACP members in the audience didn't help any either, considering the tear against that group I've been on lately.
So I did exactly what the asshole who published the video clip wanted - I reacted with my emotions instead of my common sense, and I immediately slapped the "racist" label on Ms. Sherrod. But I was by no means along - the head of the USDA and even the White House immediately demanded her resignation, and the head of the NAACP issued a statement in which he said they were "appalled" at her comments.
And then the NAACP - who had the presentation videotaped in the first place - released the full, 47 minute version of th complete presentation. Now I believe in being fair, and I do try to look at both sides of an issue before I open my mouth about it, so I sat down yesterday morning and watched the entire video. And after watching the entire video, I came up with several conclusions, the most important one being listed first.
CONCLUSION #1: The guy who published the outtake, Andrew Breitbart of the website Biggovernment.com, is a flaming asshole. He picked the only - the ONLY - two minute segment of her entire presentation in which she admitted to committing a racist act 24 years ago and published it as if it had happened last week. He failed to include the part in her speech where she said she realized what she did was wrong, and later went back to help the farmer save his farm from foreclosure, a fact verified by the farmer's wife. He also intentionally omitted her telling the crowd that she realized it wasn't about "black v. white" but it was about poor people in general. If there were an "Asshole of the Month" award, Mr. Breitbart would win it hands down.
CONCLUSION #2: The White House and the USDA failed to give Ms. Sherrod a fair shake when they failed to investigate things fully and completely, and they prematurely demanded her resignation. NObama and the head of the USDA, Tom Vilsack, would be a tie for runner-up of the "Asshole of the Month" award, with NAACP CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous coming in a close third.
CONCLUSION #3: By her own admission, Ms. Sherrod committed a racist act against a white person. Again, by her own admission, she has reformed herself and now realizes she was wrong, but that doesn't negate the fact that at that time, 24 years ago, while she was in a position of authority with the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, she committed a racist act. And she should be held accountable for that. Some kind of punishment should be meted out because she did in fact commit a racist act, but I don't believe it should cost her her job. But getting off scot-free just because she admitted to it and has since changed her ways? Uh-uh. Just because you apologize to the victim doesn't change the fact that you made him a victim in the first place. Ms. Sherrod broke FEDERAL ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS, so she should be held accountable.
CONCLUSION #4: Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson have proven themselves to be nothing more than racist assholes by their silence in this affair. A video of a black woman admitting to a racist act against a white man to a crowd of NAACP members goes national, and neither of them say a thing condeming her. You and I both know that if this had been a white man, those two pricks with feet would have their faces all over the TV demanding "justice." To me, this is proof positive that these two asshats don't give a damn about you unless you're black - if you're white, they could care less. In my book, this makes them RACISTS.
So I'm not outraged at Ms. Sherrod like I was a few days ago; now I'm pissed off at the asshole who started this whole thing, Andrew Breitbart. Not only has he caused this woman to unjustly lose her career and her image, he has damaged the reputation of the Tea Party at a time when the party is just starting to really gather steam. He gave credence to the laughable NAACP resolution published last week condemning the acts of the Tea Party as "racist." In short, this knuckle-dragging, inbred moron has done more harm to the Party than he did good, and HE should be held accountable.
If I were Shirley Sherrod, I'd sue him into the next century.
But all of this does bring to light one question, a question that you simply cannot ignore in this day and age:
What would have happened if a WHITE MAN had told that story instead of a black woman?
I think we all know the answer to that.
IHC
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