This week's strange and convoluted tale of black Agricultural Department official, Shirley Sherrod, proves that America is no longer "a nation of cowards on matters of race," as Eric Holder famously proclaimed. Instead, America is now a nation of idiots on matters of race.
A videoclip of Ms. Sherrod had surfaced on the Internet in which she said she gave less help to a white farmer than she would have given a black farmer. The video went viral, with many on the Right claiming it was proof of reverse discrimination.
Not wanting to be on the wrong side of the issues yet again (as with the New Black Panther / voter intimidation case), the NAACP declared that Ms. Sherrod was a racist, and high government officials (as high as the Whitehouse, maybe?) demanded Ms. Sherrod's immediate firing...without letting her tell her side of the story. And so she got the axe.
Which is when she was able to point out that the incident she was talking about happened 24 years ago...and that if anyone had taken the time to watch the whole video of her speech, they'd have seen that she said it was wrong to discriminate against anyone, black or white, and that she learned her lesson and did everything possible thereafter to help the white farmer (whose family, even today, credits Ms. Sherrod with helping save their farm).
So the NAACP declared they'd been "snookered" and apologized, and the Whitehouse said Ms. Sherrod should be reinstated to her job...but as of this writing she isn't sure she even wants it anymore. And everyone involved is still running around screaming, pointing fingers, looking for someone to accuse of racism, and hopefully they'll all melt into butter.
The moral of this sad, stupid story is that people should get full, accurate information before jumping to conclusions...let alone firing anyone over unfounded accusations of racism.
But on the positive side, there is one clarifying insight which has emerged from this foolishness. In the NAACP's initial attack on Sherrod, they declared "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."
And so the NAACP concedes that it is racism if a black person is empowered to mistreat someone, and does so because the victim is white.
For instance, if an empowered black Attorney General refuses to prosecute Black Panthers for voter intimidation because the victims were white.
Or if an empowered black president admits "not having all the facts," but declares a policeman to have "acted stupidly" because he was white.
That's racism.
And hopefully, someday, we can all quit running in circles and talk about it.
14 comments:
NAACP CEO : "Black Panthers are Creation of Fox News"
I especially liked the story you used in your cartoon - nice touch! Of course, I'm sure that particular story has been banned because it is "racist" as well!
Isn't that the way obama has operated all along? We saw it with "the stupid white cop", the oil spill, and now the lastest, Sherrod. Facts get in the way of liberals. They don't want to know the facts, they just want everything done according to their way of thinking. I belong to a group that discuss polticts. Some on there are liberals and they whine when I post something they don't like. One of them said I should not be allowed to post things like that. I said to him when I read post I don't like I just hit the delete button and not whine about it and if that same person post a lot of things I don't like then I will delete it without opening it and not whine like a child. Liberals act like a bunch of spoiled brats.
What she said was racist. A white man telling the exact same story would have been fired and would not have gotten the little pat on the head phone call from Obama. She abused her government job, firing was the least that should have happened to her.
As usual, this Chinese fire drill (oops, is that ok to say?) comes down harder on conservative media. I'd still like to know who said what, and to whom at the White House. This woman was fired by the Obama Administration before many conservative media folk even ran with the story. And if the white Secretary of Agriculture (who has taken responsibility for the rush to judgment) had been part of the Bush administration, there would be editorials and pundits across the nation, calling for his immediate dismissal.
The only thing that made me angry about this story is that it elicited a public apology from the White House.
I felt that if the victim were white, he would NOT have received the same apology, even if he had lost his job unfairly.
I mean, apologies are good...but if you do wrong, then you owe one to anyone of any color...you don't just snap to attention because the person is black.
There are policemen and white intimidated voters out there still waiting for their apologies from the White House....
Anonymous (the first one)- Glad you caught the story reference! We're indulging in a little meta-humor there, in that even referencing the story could lead to an accusation of racism... but such an accusation would be wrong because it's a misrepresentative "snippet." Just like the little videoclip that started all of this lunacy.
Spinelessobama- Isn't it interesting that liberals so frequently want to suppress the expression of ideas they don't agree with instead of debating them?
Chris Mallory- Yes, a white man would probably have been canned for saying the same story, and sure as heck wouldn't have gotten an apology from Obama. However, if we restrict ourselves only to what Ms. Sherrod said in her speech, we don't think she should have been fired for admitting that she was racist, but eventually changed her ways. We need to keep the door open for people to change, and to have enough understanding to allow them to admit past transgressions candidly.
Anonymous (the second one)- The white Secretary of Agriculture, who fired Sherrod, is truly caught between Barack and a hard place. Was his "overreaction" evidence of anti-black racism? And if not, WHY not? C'mon, let's get a teachable moment out of all this...
Suzy- You make a great point. Where are the apologies for white people who have been unfairly labeled "racist?" Like, oh, everyone who considers themselves part of the Tea Party movement? On top of everything else, the Sherrod incident has showcased a whole new level of hypocrisy from the Whitehouse.
Always loved that story, and was amused when someone was getting all huffy about it, and it was pointed out that it was set in India, not Africa, and was is NO way 'anti-black'... The title of the tale not withstanding...
Well, guys, I see congress is down to 11% approval...must be just their immediate family making that up!
But, I tell ya, the left is running scared with the mid-terms coming up...like Pelosi, they keep repeating their talking points with a dumb smile glued on their faces, spouting the lie even they dont believe that this election will turn out 'just fine' and they will retain their stranglehold in Congress. Their nuts, but they aint STUPID! They are on the brink of the cliff about to go over and they know it!
Take this race stuff goin on lately, its a desperate attempt to make SOMETHING happen their way. Naturally, they care nothing for repercussions playing the race card will create in this country as long as (they hope) it changes somebodys mind at the ballot box. I for one dont think it will work...people of all political persuasions are fed up!
Here's some racial bias on Obama side. he has shown his true COLORS by allowing this domestic terrorist to live.
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=175817
The administration wanted to be seen doing "something" to combat the racism of a black person. But rather than do something like oh, maybe prosecute the truly racist New Black Panther Party poll-intimidators, they jumped on Ms. Sherrod--without making sure of the whole story.
caught between Barack and a hard place.
Now that is funny, I don't care who you are. Too bad it is going to find such application in what one hopes and profoundly prays is at the most the next two years. Because any longer will see us as the vassels of China and the peers of Zimbabwe.
PS: Samir Shabazz, what a total hoot. Posturing, scrawny, strutting, little stain. Of the kind that belongs on the inside of your underwear. In the words of Stalky and Co. "I gloat".
I read that story when I was younger - and it was about a clever African boy who not only outwitted tigers (who don't live in Africa!) but who fed his family. Yes, the pictures were crude-looking - but did anyone ever take a close look at Popeye & Olive Oyl? I could never see why anyone thought it was racist, but figured if people were offended by it, I could be polite. This, sadly, is why we end up with crazy rules - because people can't just have common sense anymore!!
Post a Comment