The Tea Party is Not Racist

[Mumbles]

It is the reaction of the NAACP members she is addressing that is the focus,or was before Shirley had to go beneath the bus.

In their statement the NAACP even refer to their members' reactions as being disturbing.

The only reactions I can see is some grumbling when she talks about the white guy acting superior, and some laughing when she talks about how the federal government isn't laying people off. Of course, the audio is pretty distorted, so it's tough to tell much of anything.

 

[A'isha]

It is the reaction of the NAACP members she is addressing that is the focus,or was before Shirley had to go beneath the bus.

In their statement the NAACP even refer to their members' reactions as being disturbing.

It's a good thing Ben Jealous wasn't giving his organization's initial response to the reactions in the edited tape, then, isn't it?

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.”

http://www.naacp.org/press/entry/naacp-statement-on-the-resignation-of-shirley-sherrod1/

 

[The Charnel Expanse]

Lee Atwater repented on his deathbed. How much damage will Breitbart do before he gets that chance?

 

[johnny karate]

It is the reaction of the NAACP members she is addressing that is the focus,or was before Shirley had to go beneath the bus.

In their statement the NAACP even refer to their members' reactions as being disturbing.

Hilarious. When scurrying to cover their backsides after a high-ranking Tea Party member outs himself as a racist, the best Tea Party apologists can come back with is a handful of anonymous people "reacting" in a way implied to be racist.

 

[The Charnel Expanse]

Hilarious. When scurrying to cover their backsides after a high-ranking Tea Party member outs himself as a racist

Williams had a long history of making racially charged statements before the blog post in question.

 

[Grizzly Bear]

Yeah... that first vid was cut rather abruptly. Would you happen to know where the rest is?

One of the talk shows today (dunno if you're familiar with the Schnitt Show) played an audio bite of the remainder of the clip which added some context to what she was saying in the video. I'm still looking for it though and will link to it once I find it. I don't summarize things well off handed, but I will say the last part makes the overall remarks a little less nefarious than the cut clip does. The latter part of the clip came out later which may explain why I couldn't find it yesterday when I looked.

EDIT: This should be close enough:

In the video, Sherrod talks about the first time a white farmer came to her for help when she worked for a nonprofit rural farm aid group in 1986. She said he came in acting "superior" to her and that she debated how much help to give him.

"I was struggling with the fact that so many black people had lost their farmland and here I was faced with helping a white person save their land," she said.

Initially, she said, "I didn't give him the full force of what I could do" and only gave him enough help to keep his case progressing.

But, she said, his situation ultimately "opened my eyes" that helping farmers wasn't so much about race but was "about the poor versus those who have."

The video ends before her speech concludes. Sherrod said Tuesday the clip appears to intentionally misconstrue the message of the story, which is that the case taught her that whites are struggling just like blacks. She says she ultimately became close friends with the farmer and helped him for two years to save his farm.

"My point in telling that story is that working with him helped me to see that it wasn't just a black and white issue," she told The AP. "That's why I take the time to tell that story is to tell people we need to get beyond it and work together."

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/new...:-Racial-Comments-Misconstrued-20100720-ap-sd

It's not whether she is a member but that she is speaking to members

"Sherrod’s racist tale is received by the NAACP audience with nodding approval and murmurs of recognition and agreement. Hardly the behavior of the group now holding itself up as the supreme judge of another groups’ racial tolerance."

Yeah, the laughing of the audience wasn't exactly a mark of rejection to her wording of things. I was a bit more peeved by that than I was of Sherrod's own remarks.

 

[johnny karate]

Williams had a long history of making racially charged statements before the blog post in question.

Good point. I guess conservative operatives will have to work overtime creating dishonestly edited videos to counteract that.

 

[Juniversal]

Yeah, the laughing of the audience wasn't exactly a mark of rejection to her wording of things. I was a bit more peeved by that than I was of Sherrod's own remarks.

She was telling a story. What she said was humorous. As I mentioned to bynmdsue most of the laughs were directed at her reaction to the famers apparently condescending behavior. What did you expect people to storm out the building in shock and disgust?

 

[Mumbles]

...Aannd the NAACP is nice enough to release the full video:



The relevant party begins at 16:30. The part that got cut out is that, after the lawyer decided to rip off the white family, she steps in to help them save their farm.

 

[applecorped]

Que Sherrod, sherrod.

 

[Juniversal]

...Aannd the NAACP is nice enough to release the full video:



The relevant party begins at 16:30. The part that got cut out is that, after the lawyer decided to rip off the white family, she steps in to help them save their farm.

Ahh. Context makes a WORLD of difference. What she says at 21:00 annihilates the entire Briebert argument of "NAACP racism!!".

What say you BeAChooser?

 

[applecorped]

Sherrod should sue for wrongful termination.

 

[linusrichard]

Um, the event she is describing happened back in 1984. Twentyfour years ago. She was not in the USDA. She was in the Georgia field office for the Federation of Southern Cooperative/Land Assistance Fund.

!!!

The top of their website says, "Fighting To Save Black-Owned Land Since 1967 With Cooperatives"

Now, I'm sure that's enough for some to start sharpening the pitchforks, but it really puts the story in perspective. She's working at a private organization set up to help save black-owned land. A white farmer comes in for help. He's talking down to her. She considers whether she should help him, which now actually seems kind of reasonable considering she's working for a private organization set up to help save black-owned land. She helps him anyway, and eventually finds him other help, and then we find out later the other help screwed him, so he comes back and she helps him some more, and the upshot is that she came to realize it's not about black and white but about have and have-not... and we're supposed to be mad at the NAACP for not "refudiating" what exactly?

 

[Apology]

Yet another deceptively edited, cherry-picked video from conservatives. You'd think they would have learned after the ACORN thing that the full video will eventually turn up and exonerate the persons and organizations they're trying to demonize.

If I were Shirley Sherrod I'd sue the pants off Breitbart. Of course, he'd just edit the video of the lawsuit and file a sexual harassment case against me lol!

 

[GreNME]

Sherrod should sue for wrongful termination.

She should sue Brietbart for defamation.

Seriously, the right intentionally released the edited clip to try to prove something that turned out to be quite different from what was implied, cost this woman her job in the process, and is now complaining that their own shenanigans cost someone their job? Is there really no bar that the teabaggers can set too low?

 

[GreNME]

Yet another deceptively edited, cherry-picked video from conservatives. You'd think they would have learned after the ACORN thing that the full video will eventually turn up and exonerate the persons and organizations they're trying to demonize.

Except that, much like the ACORN incident, the damage has already been done and can't be undone. Even if this person gets their job fully reinstated, the lies have already been out there and poisoned the well.

 

[Juniversal]

!!!

The top of their website says, "Fighting To Save Black-Owned Land Since 1967 With Cooperatives"

Now, I'm sure that's enough for some to start sharpening the pitchforks, but it really puts the story in perspective. She's working at a private organization set up to help save black-owned land. A white farmer comes in for help. He's talking down to her. She considers whether she should help him, which now actually seems kind of reasonable considering she's working for a private organization set up to help save black-owned land. She helps him anyway, and eventually finds him other help, and then we find out later the other help screwed him, so he comes back and she helps him some more, and the upshot is that she came to realize it's not about black and white but about have and have-not... and we're supposed to be mad at the NAACP for not "refudiating" what exactly?

Makes sense. Shame she lost her job. Hopefully she can gain her position back or at least some sort of reconciliation can be made.

And Brietbart has proven that any ounce of credibility the Right has annoited him with is ill gotten. What was he thinking blatantly doctoring a video that would quite likely see the light of day?? Not that I expected any less. It's humorous how many actually bought into this story.

 

[Grizzly Bear]

Ahh. Context makes a WORLD of difference. What she says at 21:00 annihilates the entire Briebert argument of "NAACP racism!!".

What say you BeAChooser?

I'm not going to speak for BEAChooser, but I think they're "problem" is the same as just about every argument I've seen charging the movement of being utterly racist. They've taken the actions of a relative few and used them to model the character of just about everybody in the movement, or those showing even the slightest interest in disagreeing with the charge.

If I brought up just a few of those kill Bush signs, and used those people as a model for democrats or liberals in general I would receive exactly the same criticism. Take a guess as to why (it should rightfully be quite simple).

Pulling Sherrod's statements out of context is disappointing, it shouldn't have been used in that form here....ever... but I can't see how anybody's surprised by this. If you think that's outrageous the data mining is happening all over this thread in the form of the rants charging the tea party of racism... problem is nobody acknowledges it.

 

[Mumbles]

Makes sense. Shame she lost her job. Hopefully she can gain her position back or at least some sort of reconciliation can be made.

And Brietbart has proven that any ounce of credibility the Right has annoited him with is ill gotten. What was he thinking blatantly doctoring a video that would quite likely see the light of day?? Not that I expected any less. It's humorous how many actually bought into this story.

The disappointment is that the Obama admin was apparently unprepared for this. Really, Andrew Breitbart? That guy is unable to release an honest video. But I'd like to think that a democratic White House would know better than to immediately fall for his race-baiting nonsense.

 

[Juniversal]

I'm not going to speak for BEAChooser, but I think they're "problem" is the same as just about every argument I've seen charging the movement of being utterly racist. They've taken the actions of a relative few and used them to model the character of just about everybody in the movement, or those showing even the slightest interest in disagreeing with the charge.

If I brought up just a few of those kill Bush signs, and used those people as a model for democrats or liberals in general I would receive exactly the same criticism. Take a guess as to why (it should rightfully be quite simple).

Pulling Sherrod's statements out of context is disappointing, it shouldn't have been used in that form here....ever... but I can't see how anybody's surprised by this. If you think that's outrageous the data mining is happening all over this thread in the form of the rants charging the tea party of racism... problem is nobody acknowledges it.

I agree with you but I don't have much sympathy for a conservative movement who appears suddenly after a disastrous 8 years to complain about spending and taxes and not to mention the empty rhetoric (claiming Obama is a socialist adds nothing to rational political discourse).

The disappointment is that the Obama admin was apparently unprepared for this. Really, Andrew Breitbart? That guy is unable to release an honest video. But I'd like to think that a democratic White House would know better than to immediately fall for his race-baiting nonsense.

I'd like to think there wasn't a rush to judgement but that's clearly not the case. Who knows. Maybe the administration was trying to save face over the black panther nonsense. Unfortunate really...