When race-baiting backfires: The Shirley Sherrod teachable moment
OPINION - The attack on Shirley Sherrod by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart is the most recent example of the dangers that come from reactionary sound-bite politics...
The conservative spin machine is at it again. The attack on the USDA’s former Georgia director of Rural Development, Ms. Shirley Sherrod, by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart is the most recent example of the dangers that come from reactionary sound-bite politics being put in the context of race.
In an attempt to shift the focus away from the NAACP’s justified condemnation of the “extremist elements within the Tea Party” and call for Tea Party leaders to “repudiate those in their ranks who use racist language in their signs and speeches,” some conservatives are once again attempting to create the illusion of reverse discrimination. They are trying to show a “blacklash” of radical racist behavior by African-Americans by distorting events, editing video, and race-baiting. They want to “flip the script” by using race-based attacks as a defense against or rationale for their own racist behavior.
Unfortunately, in an attempt to demonstrate a zero-tolerance policy towards any perceived actions based upon race, the Department of Agriculture and the NAACP allowed themselves to be baited into taking action against Ms. Sherrod based on assumptions that the facts (upon further investigation) do not support. After Breitbart’s video went viral on the internet, Ms. Sherrod told the Associated Press that she was called by the USDA’s Deputy Undersecretary Cheryl Cook and told that the White House wanted her to resign.
“They called me twice,” she said. “The last time they asked me to pull over the side of the road and submit my resignation on my Blackberry, and that’s what I did.”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack summarily dismissed Ms. Sherrod based upon a video on the Internet? He did not put Ms. Sherrod on administrative leave pending further investigation and did not provide Ms. Sherrod the opportunity to defend herself. Vilsack was so afraid of a baseless attack from the conservative right that he cut and ran instead of taking the time to ensure that what was presented was factual and her dismissal justified.
WATCH REP. JAMES CLYBURN DISCUSS THE SHERROD CONTROVERSY
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According to the Associated Press, Vilsack is now saying that he will “conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts.” Such a thorough review should have been conducted on the front-end of this fiasco not after the fact. He will “consider additional facts?” No, he should consider the facts since his initial actions were baseless and reactionary.
In a similar knee jerk reaction early yesterday, the NAACP issued a statement (which they later retracted) supporting her firing, “We concur with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Vilsack in accepting the resignation of Shirley Sherrod…Her actions were shameful…she gave no indication she had attempted to right the wrong she had done to this man.”
Additional facts have come to light since the release of this video. Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart intentionally edited the video to misrepresent Ms. Sherrod’s message. She actually told the audience at the NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner how she was able to overcome her personal bias and help the white farmer, Roger Spooner, and his wife to save their farm. Spooner’s wife Eloise told CNN that Sherrod was “getting in there and doing all she could do to help us.”
Ms. Sherrod’s personal story of overcoming racial bias was intentionally misrepresented as a story of racism in order to further a larger agenda. The event she recounted took place 24 years ago while she was working for the Federation of Southern Cooperative/Land Assistance Fund not the USDA. Her actions had no relation to her current position or employer.
The NAACP went on to state, “The NAACP will continue to advance the ideals of America and fight for freedom, justice and fairness for all Americans.” If that is true they need to fight for justice and fairness for Ms. Shirley Sherrod, hold Secretary Vilsack accountable, and call upon President Obama to speak out on her behalf and condemn the race baiting tactics of the right.
The firing of Ms. Sherrod is the most recent example of the dangers that come from reactionary sound-bite politics being put in the context of race. Obama’s former ‘green jobs’ czar Van Jones was dismissed after conservative talk show host Glenn Beck took issue with Jones’ “activist radical past” even though Jones is a leading expert in the field of the environmental economy.
And more recently, Attorney General Holder is accused of not pursuing a voter intimidation case in Philadelphia against the New Black Panther Party even though the decision not to file a criminal case occurred before President Obama was even in office.
These are a few examples of manufactured distractions, intentional distortions, and conveniently omitted facts. And for what reason? The Andrew Breitbarts of the world and the media outlets that support them want the electorate to ignore the fact that on Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) were spat upon and called “n**ger” and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) was called a “f**got” by members of the Tea Party.
They want Americans to ignore the fact that former Republican congressman Tom Tancredo opened the Tea Party convention by calling for a reinstatement of Jim Crow type literacy tests for voters and saying, “This is our country…Let’s take it back.”
They want us to ignore the fact that during President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress on health care, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) shouted at the president “You lie!” Wilson would have never thought to do that to any of the former presidents. And to ignore the fact that there have been numerous cartoons featuring the Obamas as monkeys, terrorists, or Muslim suicide bombers.
The case of Ms. Sherrod has given America another “teachable moment.” Even though the president wants to stay as far away from the race issue as possible, he cannot give racists a pass. By continuing to run from race and ignoring the racists, America will remain mired in the middle.
WATCH RACHEL MADDOW COVERAGE OF SHIRLEY SHERROD:
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