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Shirley Sherrod is owed a full apology. That much is clear from watching the full video of the speech that led to the loss of her job and the manufactured controversy that has been playing all over the media in recent days.
It is disgraceful that the right-wing media has purposely exploited a benign video for its own ends. It is even more disgraceful that the NAACP, the White House and the USDA have all given up sound judgment in favor of panicked, ill-thought-out reactions.
In a statement released today, the NAACP, which had previously denounced Sherrod's actions as "shameful," said:
" 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."
No, the NAACP was not "snookered"; it just did not do its due diligence, and, in an attempt to make itself look good, was keen to throw Sherrod under the bus without considering the facts.
The NAACP went on to say that it "now believes the organization that edited the documents did so with the intention of deceiving millions of Americans." Yet, if these major organizations -- ones that are supposed to rely on fact-checking and objectivity as part of their job -- are so drawn in by soundbites, what hope is there for the rest of the country?
Sherrod's comments were not in any way racist. Her story was one of overcoming her own biases, and, in actuality, she did indeed help the farmers, who themselves credited her with doing so even before the full video was released. That none of this was looked in to before any organization denounced Sherrod is incredible.
This speaks not only to manipulative journalism, but to lazy organizations whose main interest appears to be damage control of their own brand rather than supporting people. All of those involved in this case need to take a long, hard look at their modus operandi.
The NAACP, which is dedicated to eradicating rather than supporting racism, needs to ask itself how much it is impacting what seems to have become a highly charged and very distorted national conversation about race. All media organizations, anyone working in the media and fledgling media producers need to look at what exactly they believe the purpose of journalism is. And the public needs to fully recognize that what is presented as objective fact very often is not -- and often purposely not.
This isn't just about Shirley Sherrod, though. The issue is how many more times will we be manipulated by false controversy? How many more times will the White House get embroiled in a racially orientated controversy in order to protect President Barack Obama?
The right-wing media -- FOX News, in particular -- is increasingly using its power as a partisan political tool rather than as a source of news and information. How much longer will the right be allowed to dictate and exploit conversation about race? We can see that this is what they are doing, and it is time that everyone -- the White House, in particular -- become truly aware of this and stop buying in to it.
This incident is troubling on a variety of levels, and while it may score temporary points for FOX News, it does a great deal more damage to individuals, the government, organizations and (indeed) the country.
Comments: (23)
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By: James on 7/21/2010 12:14PM
Let me be the first to clear one thing up here, Fox news did not air this story until after Ms. Sherrod was asked to resign by the White House and ostracized by the NAACP. This should have been looked in to by both organizations. The video was not to show Ms. Sherrod as the racist, but rather to show the reaction of the audience when she told her story of 25 years ago (which the audience was not aware of) there was laughing and snickering by the audience at the mention of the white farmer that she wasn't going to give full benefit too. Sometime you have to read between the lines, this is an embarrassment to the White House and the NAACP and Ms. Sherrod is the first to agree with this.
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By: David1 on 7/21/2010 12:25PM
White racist conservatives are doing overtime spinning this story. THEY ARE THE ONES WHO PLANTED THE EDITED LIE TO BEGIN WITH.
Ms Sherrod lost her father by a white racist klansman who was never brought to justice. The NAACP audience was simply acknowledging her plight. Many black people of that generation suffered injustices at the hands of white racism. This reminds me of how the Rev Wright was treated by both the white liberal and conservative media for simply speaking the truth.
The only problem with Obama and the White House is they need to grow a spine when dealing with these white racist conservatives.
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By: James on 7/21/2010 12:58PM
Sorry David1 but you are incorrect on your assessment of the situation, the audience was reacting to the abuse of power that Ms. Sherrod was talking about not realizing that she was relating her story of how she came to the realization that it is not about black and white but more about people in need. The White House should have backed her up in this case an the NAACP is not the same organization that was initiated years ago. And my I say David that you are exposing your own negativity by calling the Tea Party "teabaggers" that is disrespectful and disrespectful. This was not a "plant" by the conservatives, as I mentioned, Fox did not even air the story until she had already resigned at the request of the White House, she was asked to pull over (she was in her car) and resign via her blackberry, this is their shame and the NAACP's.
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By: Carolyn Fountain on 7/21/2010 1:05PM
If the tape was doctored wouldn't it stand to reason the segment of the audience response my also have been tapered with. This guy is now using the audience as the target when clearly the initial target was Mrs. Sherrod. The USDA responded as they should have based on what the media presented, remember the press has First Amendment protection so one would think they would report accurately.
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By: David1 on 7/21/2010 1:27PM
@James Do you think you and other WHITE racist TEABAGGERS commenting here are influencing anyone?? Are you that stupid..I guess you are. You are defending FOX "NEWS" AND TEABAGGERS on a black blog!! LOL How Ms Sherrod was treated by a white teabagger and Foxnews shows who the real villain is here. This was about a racist character assassination of not only the NAACP but Ms Sherrod as well by the conservative right wing teabaggers and supporters like Fox news.
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By: James on 7/21/2010 5:04PM
David1, if you did your research you would see that Fox news did not air this story until the resignation had already been accepted, this is one time you cannot blame Fox, Furthermore, this is shame on the White House and no one else, they should have researched this story, just as you should have. Remember what the left wing media did to the Tea Party claiming that the N word was used against black politicians - a lie, this happens on both sides. Oh and David, one more thing how do you know whether I am white, black or any other color - there are conservative blacks you know. I think that you are the one spewing racism on this BV site.
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By: Greg D. on 7/21/2010 11:43PM
But that's not the point. The blogger who fronted the story intended to make a moral equivalence between white racism and black racism as a response to the NAACP's position on the Tea Party.
It backfired and nearly cost a good woman her job.
It also illustrated the difficulty the right is having in justifying their own racist beliefs.
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By: James on 7/22/2010 3:18PM
OK, listen, the tape was made at an NAACP meeting, they had the entire tape the whole time - they can't take the time to review it before condemning this woman?? This is on them and the White House and by the way, Fox news did not air this story until she had already resigned. BHO is running scared.
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By: Bambi2 on 7/23/2010 3:41AM
James, I don't think you really understand the Black experience or the Southern Black Church. In this kind of setting the audience will nod, say 'yes' and/or 'alright' simply out of respect for the speaker. It is a way to encourage the speaker. It is like saying, "Tell, tell, tell it like it is now." "Go on speaker." They were reacting to a soulful speech being deliver by an inspired speaker. So, how are you reading this audience as being prejudice?
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By: David1 on 7/21/2010 12:16PM
We need to remember who the real villain is on this issue. That's the racist teabagger blogger, Fox news and other so called conservatives who peddled this lie. I cringed when I first saw the sound bites of this edited video so I can understand the reaction of many people white and black.
I notice how quick some black people (particularly black women)are to jump on these older (male dominated)civil rights organizations. True the NAACP rushed to judgment but that organization has a long history of representing black Americans. I'm willing to cut them some slack. They are not the villains here. White racist teabaggers are the problem here not the NAACP.
I notice today on a lot of the news shows and blogs that the same white conservatives are now acting as if they want to defend Ms Sherrod now. Talk about hypocrisy!
White racist conservatives STICK TOGETHER no matter how many times they screw up. Something ALL black people need to learn...not just NAACP.
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