A Serious Wrong That Was Corrected

By now, all of you have probably heard of the situation behind the forced resignation of Shirley Sherrod, a former USDA employee based in Georgia.  We will not go into any more detail about this and rehash the story, but we will state some opinions and give the other side to this matter.

First let us deal with the person who posted the original video on his website -- Andrew Breitbart.

As a fellow blogger, The Shadow has learned to never publish any video that could be misinterpreted or misconstrued. That is what happened here. When you posted that video that gave the impression that Ms. Sherrod is a racist, you did something that was very irresponsible. It is not enough that you made a correction to your blog post -- you owe this woman an apology if you have not done so already!! The Shadow will be looking for this in the coming days. If you have already apologized, feel free to refute us here in this forum.

To U.S. Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack -- you did the correct thing here. Not only was an apology in order but the job offer definitely shows your regret over this incident. One suggestion next time: calling someone a racist in 21st Century America is a serious charge. Make sure that you have all of your facts before making that type of accusation.

[To our readers -- as of this writing, Ms. Sherrod is considering Secretary Vilsack's job offer.]

To the NAACP -- considering that you are the source of the video, we were very surprised when you made the same charge of racism. You based this charge on the viewing of a portion of the tape (1 minute 55 seconds) versus the viewing of the entire tape (over 43 minutes). You should have known better.

The NAACP has made amends in two fashions:

1. They have posted the entire video in question on their website. We will post the video here for those of you who have not yet seen the entire video:




2. The organization has posted a full apology, which we will post in full:

The NAACP has a zero tolerance policy against racial discrimination, whether practiced by blacks, whites, or any other group.

The NAACP also has long championed and embraced transformation by people who have moved beyond racial bias. Most notably, we have done so for late Alabama Governor George Wallace and late US Senator Robert Byrd -- each a man who had associated with and supported white supremacists and their cause before embracing civil rights for all.

With regard to the initial media coverage of the resignation of USDA Official Shirley Sherrod, 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.

Having reviewed the full tape, spoken to Ms. Sherrod, and most importantly heard the testimony of the white farmers mentioned in this story, we now believe the organization that edited the documents did so with the intention of deceiving millions of Americans.

The fact is Ms. Sherrod did help the white farmers mentioned in her speech. They personally credit her with helping to save their family farm.

Moreover, this incident and the lesson it prompted occurred more that 20 years before she went to work for USDA.

Finally, she was sharing this account as part of a story of transformation and redemption. In the full video, Ms.Sherrod says she realized that the dislocation of farmers is about "haves and have nots." "It's not just about black people, it's about poor people," says Sherrod in the speech. "We have to get to the point where race exists but it doesn't matter."

This is a teachable moment, for activists and for journalists.

Most Americans agree that racism has no place in American Society. We also believe that civil and human rights have to be measured by a single yardstick.

The NAACP has demonstrated its commitment to live by that standard.

The Tea Party Federation took a step in that direction when it expelled the Tea Party Express over the weekend. Unfortunately, we have yet to hear from other leaders in the Tea Party movement like Dick Armey and Sarah Palin, who have been virtually silent on the "internal bigotry" issue.

Next time we are confronted by a racial controversy broken by Fox News or their allies in the Tea Party like Mr. Breitbart, we will consider the source and be more deliberate in responding. The tape of Ms. Sherrod's speech at an NAACP banquet was deliberately edited to create a false impression of racial bias, and to create a controversy where none existed. This just shows the lengths to which extremist elements will go to discredit legitimate opposition.

According to the USDA, Sherrod's statements prompted her dismissal. While we understand why Secretary Vilsack believes this false controversy will impede her ability to function in the role, we urge him to reconsider.

Finally, we hope this incident will heighten Congress's urgency in dealing with the well documented findings of discrimination toward black, Latino, Asian American and Native American farmers, as well as female farmers of all races.

Ms. Sherrod's situation shows what is still wrong with America. Americans have always believed in the principle of "innocent before being proven guilty". In this case, Ms. Sherrod was "guilty before being proven innocent". And while we will not deal with the Tea Party or Fox News in this statement, it is absolutely essential that this attitude about race changes.

And news organizations need to be responsible for what they report -- that includes bloggers.

Good night and good luck.