Shirley Sherrod, I am Truly Sorry
Last Monday afternoon I watched a video on FoxNews.com of Shirley Sherrod giving a speech to the NAACP. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. My immediate reaction was, this woman is a bigot. I, along with most everyone who watched the video, was fooled by the false narrative created by Andrew Breitbart, and legitimized by Fox News via their two web sites (Foxnews.com and FoxNation.com *).
The next day after Shirley lost her job at the USDA and the NAACP called her a racist, the NAACP found and released the full video. After watching the complete speech I understand where Shirley was coming from and have the utmost respect for this amazing woman. She begins her speech by bringing her Georgian NAACP audience back to a time when she was seventeen and living on her families farm in Baker County Georgia. It was then that her father was murdered by a white farmer. There were three witnesses to his murder and still the bastard walked free. Shirley goes on to explain the overwhelming racism that gripped her small town. The hatred and racism was so bad that the murder of blacks was common in Baker County. Even the Sherif was guilty of it. He lynched another relative of Shirley’s and like her father’s killer, was also not convicted. Growing up amidst all the racism and senseless murder it would be understandable if Shirley had bigotry in her heart for certain white people.
Fast forward to 1986 and the period Shirley’s story in the deceptively edited clip revolves around. During this time in her life Shirley was back in Georgia working in a nonprofit that was setup to help farmers. In her speech she discribes the first time she had to help a white farmer. According to Shirley, the man she was there to help, was talking in a way to show he was superior to her. Hearing about the racism she experienced in her childhood I would say she is an expert in recognizing this attitude. Because of his demeanor Shirley decided to do just enough and took him to one of his own (A white lawyer). The NAACP audience listening to the speech did not applaud Shirley’s tale of bigotry as Andrew Breitbart claims. There was not one applause. What they did was agree with where she was coming from. From the back story, and their own experiences with racism in rural Georgia, they understood the racism of the white farmers back in the day. They weren’t saying what she did was right they just understood where she was coming from.
If the story ended there like it did in the Breibert clip Shirley could be looked upon as a bigot. But if you watch the full video you can see how Shirley overcame her bigotry. When she found out the white lawyer that she sent the farmer to was not helping she went above and beyond to help save the farm. In the past week the farmer and his wife have stated repeatedly that without Shirley’s help they would have lost their farm. Both sides overcame a portion of their bigotry and they became good friends. Through this experience Shirley learned that the farming situation was not a matter of black and white but of being poor. She tells this story to show how she overcame her bigotry and uses it as a lesson to help others become better people.
After hearing the full story I offer Shirley my utmost apology for my initial reaction. I like many people was manipulated by deceptive editing. I was wrong in my initial judgement and I am truly sorry. If I could be half the person she is I would be blessed. Shirley is a true American – someone for the history books. I am so sorry for everything she went through last week and for the racist attacks she is still receiving from certain conservative pundits and their followers. Shirley grew up in a world of racism and in a cruel twist of fate will now be considered a racist for the rest of her life by people who are to stupid or lazy to learn the truth. What Andrew Breitbart has done to this amazing woman makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.
I hope Shirley sues Andrew for all he’s worth. A lawsuit would expose the purposeful attack of a citizen of the United States, not a public servant, but a citizen. A woman who was wronged. All for what? Steering the conversation away from the racism that has infiltrated the Tea Party? I hope Shirley also sues Fox News for legitimizing the story by placing it on their web site without checking the context. I don’t believe that charge would stick but it would put the spotlight on Fox News and the roll they played in the release of the video. And with that people wouldn’t be so quick to trust their sometimes flawed reporting.
To those that have not watched the full video I strongly urge you to watch the first twenty-one minutes. You will see what a strong, wonderful and loving woman Shirley has become. She did not deserve the hell she went through in her childhood and to put her through it again as an adult is inexcusable.
The following is the full video of Shirley’s speech to a small chapter of the Georgia NAACP. I highly recommend watching the first twenty-one minutes. Below this is the deceptively edited video that Andrew Brietbart released.
Full video released by the NAACP:
Here is Andrew Breitbart’s deceptively edited video. I recommend watching the beginning of this to see how the narrative that Andrew gave sets up the ruling before the video even starts. Please be aware that the disclaimer that is now added was not there when the video was released. The title “NAACP Bigotry in their ranks” also causes you to make your mind up before you even watch the video.
Andrews Breitbart’s deceptively edited video:
* Both of the FoxNews.com and Foxnation.com stories have had their titles changed but you can see when they were first published by looking at the oldest comment in each. The first comment in the Foxnation.com story was on Monday the 19th at 1:41 PM. FoxNews.com tries to cover the fact that they were the first news organization to legitimize the story by stating under the title that the story was published on the 20th. That is a total lie. The story was released on Foxnews.com around 3:22 PM Monday the 19th, hours before Shirley was forced to resign. The oldest comment proves this.

