NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
You may remember that just last week, at its annual conference, the NAACP passed a resolution calling the Tea Party movement racist.
Well, that little action caught the attention of Andrew Breitbart, who, like Butch Cassidy, believes there are no rules in a knife fight. Just yesterday, Breitbart released the video of a speech delivered by Shirley Sherrod at the NAACP's "Annual Freedom Fund Banquet."
Sherrod, the USDA Rural Development Georgia State Director, bemoans the fact that she once had to help a white farmer. "Here I was faced with having to help a white person save their land. So I didn't give him the full force of what I could do."
Though the NAACP may condemn the so-called bigotry of the tea partiers, the organization seems blind to the racism within its own ranks--at least, until that racism goes embarrassingly public.
Sherrod resigned yesterday.
Here is NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous' on her resignation.
Since our founding in 1909, the NAACP has been a multi-racial, multi-faith organization that– while generally rooted in African American communities– fights to end racial discrimination against all Americans...
Racism is about the abuse of power. Sherrod had it in her position at USDA. According to her remarks, she mistreated a white farmer in need of assistance because of his race...
Her actions were shameful.
Shameful, too, was the audience's reaction to Sherrod's remarks. The NAACP listeners found her remarks to be more than grist for the race-mill. Her speech was a bit of an amen-knee-slapper.
I can only imagine what the media's reaction would be to the slightest off-color remark made by a tea party speaker in these circumstances--and the outrage sparked if the audience would have in turn laughed with delight.
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Jun '10
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
Speaking of,
Glenn Beck Exposes Phony Racist Charge; Help Us Identify This Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_7-rc6XKJI
Jul '10
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
The political colonization of blacks by the left in this country rests on the continuing belief in racial victimhood. But with 13 percent of the population, that is not enough to leverage power in the absence of white guilt. This is beginning to be dispelled by episodes like this and the new academic study that shows that Asians and white males, particularly those who are Christian or list 4-H honors on their college applications, are at a tremendous disadvantage in gaining admission to Ivy League schools compared to blacks. The NAACP is keeping secret the wording of its resolution about so-called tea party "racism" movement until October when it came be used to greatest advantage.
Jun '10
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
"Here I was faced with having to help a white person save their land. So I didn't give him the full force of what I could do."
Substitute "Hispanic"…"Jew"…or even "Minority" for “white person” and imagine the media, and therefore American, uproar this naked bigotry would inspire...and of course there should be and there would be an uproar with Americans, coast to coast, as there should be now.
May '10
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
One can make the same observation about the applause that Obama's campaign speeches received. Look at how many Americans want to be Venezuela.
May '10
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
I was struck as well by the front-line example of the Federal bureaucracy in action.
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
Props to Jealous, however, for what I think is an appropriate, direct, and strong response. I can give a pass to audience members. I've laughed at a lot of really, really stupid things, too, when I was part of a group. However, when a leader gives a wishy-washy response, that's the bigger crime, I think. Don't know much about Jealous, but I like this statement.
May '10
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
Oops. It looks as though the real story was misrepresented by Breitbart. Turns out the incident was 26 years ago, when she worked for a non-profit. The punchline of the speech, which she recounts often, was that she rose above this initial racist impulse and ultimately saved the man's farm. The family credits her completely with saving their farm and says she is a nice, decent, person.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/20/agriculture.employee.naacp/index.html?hpt=C1
So it looks as though this might be a better thread about Web journalism and how speed and opinion sometimes trump fact. Breitbart was looking for revenge on the NAACP and he got it. The knee-jerk political response reveals true callowness on part of everyone except the poor woman who got caught in the middle of something that has nothing to do with her.
Jun '10
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
Yes, it turns out to be a tale of Shirley Sherrod's redemption, along with her sin, but Breitbart only had the first part of the video. From what he was given, he left nothing out. And considering that the NAACP audience was into the first part of Sherrod's story, it's easy to see how Breitbart couldn't anticipate how the story actually ended. That's always the danger of going with a partial clip. It might be out of context. In this case it was. So, now we have the whole story, and it's the White House that really looks foolish.
May '10
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
It will be interesting to see if Andrew Breitbart corrects the record for his audience now that he is aware of the full video. The fact that he has yet to publicly exonerate Juan Carlos Vera causes me to suspect that he won't, but I hope I am wrong.
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
Yes, the plot does thicken. Here's the NAACP prez's response below:
Note how the NAACP prez uses Breitbart and the boogy-man of Fox News to brand the tea party as racially-motivated and deceptive.
May '10
Re: NAACP Speaker: "Here I was faced with having to help a white person."
But wait, there's more. NBC Chuck Todd tweeting this AM questioning whether Vilsak was quick to dump Sherrod because of this story:
A settlement for thousands of black farmers who sued the U.S.D.A. for discrimination remains held up in congress.
As many as 3,000 farmers claimed the U.S.D.A. denied them loans because of their race. The agency admits that discrimination occurred in certain areas. But funding for the $1.25-billion settlement is part of larger legislative package that was filibustered in the senate.
Republicans argued it added too much to the federal debt.
An aide for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, says democratic leaders are planning to move the settlement through congress separately as part of a supplemental appropriations bill.
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/ag_watch&id=7535393