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There comes times in all of our lives when we are wronged. Then we have to decide whether to forgive or not.
Shirley Sherrod had to make that decision recently in the aftermath of being unfairly ousted from her gig at the Agriculture Department in a silly racial flap.
Hat in hand and extending an olive branch, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asked for Sherrod's forgiveness and offered her a new job in his department.
But Sherrod turned him down.
And from this outsider's view, that was a mistake. Yes, Sherrod was victimized by Vilsack's knee-jerk reaction to a video that appeared to show her as a government employee who used race to decide whether she would provide services for a private citizen in need.
But it's not like she was left twisting in the wind for years, months, weeks or even days when Vilsack discovered he had been duped by some dishonest editing of video by right-wing agitator Andrew Breitbart.
One day after the firing, Vilsack was backpedaling as news of the shady video editing job leaked out.
Sherrod is entitled to harboring some bruised feelings, but what else does she expect? She came out the hero in this story, while Breitbart has been unmasked as a dishonest fool. We all know she's no racist. She won.
If she were honest with herself, she would understand why she had to be let go after watching the edited tape.
With the Obama administration's understandable hypersensitivity to all things racial, any official caught on tape talking about how they denied services to a citizen based on race would have to go.
But White House officials corrected the mistake the next day as soon as they found out they were tricked.
Maybe Sherrod, who has not ruled out working with the Agriculture Department on a consulting basis, has visions of lucrative speaking engagements in her head. I wish her luck.
But it seems to me that she could have made a greater impact on the country by taking the agriculture job and using it as her bully pulpit for racial equity.
Comments: (29)
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By: Alie on 8/25/2010 7:13PM
whether your black or white makes no difference to me, you have blacks who think white and whites who think black,your point of view is your point of view my point of view is my point of view!
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By: darrell eason on 8/25/2010 5:40PM
Thanks Ggeorgio, I stand corrected.
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By: Woman on a Journey on 8/25/2010 5:47PM
Ms. Sherrod obviously made the decision that she felt was in her best interest. The author of this article's suggestion that she was somehow "foolish" and that she missed an opportunity to use her new position as a "bully pulpit" for race issues is shortsighted. We have a Black man as President and he is not using his position or authority as a bully pulpit. . .why should we expect anyone else in government or his cabinet to? Sure they moved quickly to rectify the situation but the USDA does not deserve consideration for that--the point is that this should have never happened! She is an educated, talented professional woman is likely to recieve greater offers than this. I am sure that many organizations, including the NAACP and the like as well as universities will be interested in talking with her or that she will be offered paid opportunities to speak to various organizations, groups, etc.
By the way Eric, I am black woman that cannot keep her mouth shut & will not keep it shut!!! I am well educated (have a master's degree & working on a Juris Doctorate), intelligent, and opinionated. I am an advocate for myself and others, including ignorant people like you. .. irrespective of race, gender, creed, color, sexual orientation, gender, etc! Black women are strong and will not fade away into the wallpaper as wall flowers. When change needs to be made and we see it, we seize the opportunity. Being agents of change is in our blood, it's who we are. Get used to it! This is America and we are not going back in time no matter how much you or anyone else wants that. Women, Blacks, & other minorities are equal according to the law and have all the rights provided by the U.S. Constitution!
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By: darrell eason on 8/25/2010 10:42PM
This is @Jean and Jewel, I respect both of your views, but you are not looking at the big picture. The problem is not ongoing, they have offered her a olive branch and she is in a good position, sometimes you need to know when to let go. And for Jean, I am 46 and have had a great many disappointments in my life, I never let them stop me from doing what I wanted to do, or where I wanted to go. I may be a man but I know how to deal with disappointment, this is what is know as intestinal fortitude. Have a blessed day.
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By: darrell eason on 8/25/2010 10:43PM
You know what Alie, you mam have no class.
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By: Alie on 8/26/2010 7:27AM
when you say I have no class it's because i unlike you don't kiss ass!
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By: Lee on 8/25/2010 10:57PM
Sherrod, She is a very smart women in not excepting another job.That is the right thing to do. She deserve more that just another job.She deserve to be compensated for the mental and emotional aspect of her firing,which must have been very bad for her and her family. Obama did'nt fire her a stupid white man did.
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By: Tek_Knowledge on 8/26/2010 12:21AM
No, Obama fired her, and I'm quite disappointed. But hey, his bosses (white america) told him to...he's only following orders...
I don't see how people can vehemently deny that we're in a system of white supremacy when the freakin' nonwhite president cant even do what he wants to do...
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By: darrell eason on 8/27/2010 4:36PM
@Alie, you would be hard pressed to find one human being on this planet who's ass I kissed. Your IQ is showing. Too many people are too quick to call a brother a Tom (I know that is what you are insinuating). You are an embarrassment to black women everywhere.
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