USDA supervisor Shirley Sherrod resigns over Right Wing allegations of racism

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An Agriculture Department employee has been forced to resign over an old video in which she says she didn’t do all she could to help a white farmer, because he was white. In the video, which first appeared on Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government, Shirley Sherrod, the director of rural development for Georgia, is seen speaking before an NAACP rally. She says she’d decided not to give a white farmer “the full force of what I could do to help him.”

The video quickly appeared on Fox News, and Sherrod resigned yesterday. But she tells CNN the comments were taken out of context. In the video, she explains that she took the farmer to a white lawyer, assuming “his own kind would take care of him.” But the lawyer didn’t help, Sherrod tells CNN, and the moral of the story was that “the issue is not about race. It’s about those who have versus those who don’t.” She says she wound up befriending the farmer.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  There is much more to this story.  Apparently it was originally published on a Right Wing web site and it is mostly a lie as to the actual facts of the story.  The more I read about it the more I think this woman was a victim.  More tomorrow…….

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Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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13 years ago

This on the same day that the effen half assed joke of a health care bill has decided to reduce women under the level of 200K a year salary into poverty (bennie wise) to the archaic dynamic of effen chattle once again… this white house staff and command has their collective heads up their asses and it’s a pretty fine trick when your fence walking all the effen time!

They fired this lady on the say so of friggin FOX NEWS where they make it up as they go! They listen to FOX and they kowtow to the Rethugs and get what they get…. and I…. I do not have the option on state policy to opt for an abortion if my health is at risk, I’ve been raped or my father does the unthinkable.

Yesterday was a horrifying day … on the eternal sea. Washington DC has it’s collective head up it’s ass. No body bothered to find out if this lady was being slandered. BY FOX!!!!
Yeah…. I’m still pissed … I didn’t even check a new site today…. I”m so mad.

13 years ago

No one really taKes my irony for real here do they? As I “REAL GOOD CATCH” some hours ago? Gad. Last night this Faux Lie Network was being revealed.

Jess
Reply to  Gwendolyn H. Barry
13 years ago

No I really didn’t Gwen. I have been reading the last couple of weeks and not paying as much attention as I should have been to things.

Jess
13 years ago

You beat me to posting it. Thanks Oso, I saw that Maddow will be doing some reporting on this tonight so that should be a worthwhile watch. I was just talking to someone who had seen this on one of the news shows ans goes, what they have been doing all along and now they want to turn the table and say, look the dems do it too. I mean when I think about it, we are not talking about unemployment being passed today, big story, we are not talking about the oil spill, another big story. This has turned from that ass clown Breitbart being a liar to PO and USDA firing this woman, which should not be the story. I feel bad I let myself get all pissed at the wrong people now.

osori
Reply to  Jess
13 years ago

Jess you know sometimes we overthink things,but consider this-IMO this attack was a win-win for the wingnut right. If nobody looked too deeply, Ms Sherrod’s fired and life goes on. The wingnut Right shows its power and the Dems (and Obama) are embarrassed. If the truth came out, how this was a setup then it works even better for the wingnuts.

The wingnuts know the way Obama operates, his administration distances itself from Black causes much of the time so as not to offend the Right. So it was a good bet the administration would take swift action to nip this thing in the bud, and since the truth came out it’s even better for the wingnuts-now people are even more pissed at the administration for its balllessness and it makes Black/Brown/Progressive people angry.

Jess
Reply to  osori
13 years ago

I totally get where you are coming from. I thought the EXACT same thing. It is almost as if he has to do that because if he does not then he is catering to the black people against whites, if he does he is attacking the black people and making them mad about things. After some herbal refreshment** and relaxation now I am more pissed off, because the story has been turned from the liars among us using the media to further their nasty agenda, and it is now the administration did this. No mention that Breitbart that fat fuck started this crap and Fox going along with it.

It just seems to me, Prez O cannot win for losing, no matter what he does someone is going to be dogging him every second of every hour of every day. He has had things thrown at him that not one other president has and it all boils down to the whole “I want my country back”. From what, the black man in the WH? The women that are being appointed to things, the brown people that are now in our government.

I am now of the opinion this was all done to take the focus off the NAACP going after the TPs for racism. you know, keep the plebes fighting against each other, black and brown and white, we can go on screwing the public if they are all infighting. See, these are the benefits of herb, relaxes you and makes you better focus.
** This has been a public service announcement for legalizing marijuana.

13 years ago

‘Race hate’ crimes in the UK are almost exclusively charged against white people.

That creates racism as the whites get understandably pissed off with it all.

Racism has never been exclusively a ‘white’ problem ….certainly not in Britain.

Mother Hen is spot on.

WE are humanity. WE means everyone. Black, white, brown or any other various hues….

If this happened 24 years ago then she is a victim of political correctness…24 years??? Get a life!!!

But it does need to be said that – at least in Britain – in certain areas whites are victims of racist abuse.

The colour doesn’t matter….the racism from any side is wrong.

Mind you…24 years??? She’s a different person now anyway!!!!….probably?

Jess
Reply to  Professor Mike
13 years ago

Breitbart Andrew, the Foxness monster is all you need to know about this story. Sleazebags joined to smear someone in the admin because they can.

Jess
Reply to  Professor Mike
13 years ago

I saw that and now I am thinking. Instead of us talking about what was the tea party racism what are we all talking about now? Maybe we should just disband government and let Fox do everything since they seem to be calling the shots. I am so livid about this I could scream.

AYUP I did. The problem with them, they are XL shirts. The only XL I fit are kiddy extra larges (do not laugh any of you). I am all of 5’4″ and on a good day about 105lbs, I am really teeny tiny. Those would absolutely drown me and hubby doesn’t want one. I wear xs or small sizes in womens tee shirts, so I imagine I would wear small in mens since these are mens shirts.

Jess
Reply to  Professor Mike
13 years ago

Trust me Mike, they don’t shrink that much. If I wear one of hubby’s XLs it goes to the calf and I could use a belt to tighten it to fit me. If you don’t mind I would rather wait for a better size, since I want to wear it outside the house and have people ask me what it is, to tell them. Send me your snail mail addy also please in email if you can. I won’t do paypal, since they screwed me a couple years ago on something. I know, I know I am a pain in the ass but it is what it is.

13 years ago

I jumped to the wrong conclusion on this one. I let what I heard in that video sway my emotions, without considering the source and the obvious fact the video was edited.

The video’s source: an ultra-conservative website that scare-mongered the public about ACORN.

The editing: Benen at The Washington Monthly explains some of what was taken out. It includes these words, spoken by Sherrod: “The story helped me realize that race is not the issue, it’s about the people who have and the people who don’t. When I speak to groups, I try to speak about getting beyond the issue of race.”

Be it resolved that we never believe anything from BigGovernment.com and Andrew Breitbart. Additionally, he should be shunned and scorned by all journalists, government officials and sane people. And he should be sued into oblivion by Sherrod, ACORN and everyone else he has scurrilously defamed, the unscrupulous shithead.

osori
Reply to  Stimpson
13 years ago

Alongside crucifying ACORN for essentially helping the poor and disenfranchised. They were able to push it into the mainstream like they attempted to do with this.

Reply to  Stimpson
13 years ago

I’m dead serious when I say Breitbart should be shunned and scorned. In fact, maybe we should start a thread at MMA specifically for anti-Breitbart invective. Just a thought.

osori
13 years ago

OK the dang thing timed out.Keep in mind this happened like 25 years ago when she worked for a non-profit. Here’s a link from an Atlanta newspaper who interviewed the farmers wife:

AJC (click)

osori
13 years ago

Jess beat me to it. I believe Ms Sherrod was working for a non-profit group at the time. There’s hella more to the story than this. Keep in mind this happened almost 25 years ago.

AJC

What Jess said.

osori
Reply to  osori
13 years ago

ATM job vk.

Jess
Reply to  osori
13 years ago

Oh and way off topic. I wanted to thank you for being concerned about me last week, that was very kind of you. I got a message from a mutual friend we have, said you wanted to know if I was okay. I thought I had told nearly everyone I was gone on vacation to work on darkening my skin some more, worshipping the sun in all its glory.

osori
Reply to  Jess
13 years ago

I’m glad you had a good time Jess.And darkening your skin is a good idea as well, one can never be too thin or too dark, especially if traveling through Arizona!

Jess
13 years ago

Um, no she is not. It was edited heavily. CNN and some others are digging into this story as we speak. The farmer’s wife has apparently said this is NOT what happened. Fox has done what they do in their editing room. Remember Hannity’s crowds, Acorn by O’Keefe. People are just too quick to rush to judgement IMO. I am shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you that Fox would stoop to editing after the fact. Not really, but I wanted to appear as if I was.

13 years ago

I’m assuming Mrs. Weepy has a garden, does this mean there’s an orange lobby that she can go to for financial help?

13 years ago

No matter what the context, her remarks were appalling. About 1 minute into the video, she says she thought about how black farmers and white farmers were treated differently in the past and therefore decided to put in a half-assed effort for the guy. As if he should be punished for what happened in past generations.

Sending the farmer to “his own kind” – ugh, I felt a bit sick just hearing those words.

Ms. Sherrod is one racist asshole.

13 years ago

As Jacob Marley once said:

Business! Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!

13 years ago

In a fashion typical to racists, she sent the farmer to “his own kind”. Until we start thinking of all of humanity as “our own kind” there will always be racism.

Reply to  Mother Hen
13 years ago

that was well said….:-)

13 years ago

This is a REALLY GOOD CATCH Mike. Sheds the light! TY

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