Georgia USDA official (Shirley Sherrod) resigns over racial preference admission

[Cynanthrope]

The USDA's rural development director for Georgia was forced to step down after a video surfaced of her telling an NAACP audience she based a decision to withhold the full measure of help available to a struggling white farmer bacause of his race.

Shirley Sherrod of Albany was the keynote speaker at an NAACP banquet in March when she admitted to the crowd she didn't do everything she could to help a white farmer whom she said was condescending when he came to her for aid.

"What he didn't know while he was taking all that time trying to show me he was superior to me was, I was trying to decide just how much help I was going to give him," said Sherrod, who is black, in a video recorded at the banquet and released Monday by FoxNews.com.

"I was struggling with the fact that so many black people had lost their farmland, and here I was faced with having to help a white person save their land. So I didn't give him the full force of what I could do. I did enough."

The revelation of Sherrod's statements came a week after the NAACP issued a resolution calling the National Tea Party racists for comments made against Pres. Barack Obama and African American congressmen during the health care debate.

Reached by phone Monday night, NAACP Atlanta chapter president R.L. White told the AJC he "detests what she said."

"It does suggest unfair treatment," White said. "Regardless of her color … if it’s unfair, it’s unfair."

While he recalled many years of unfair treatment against minority farmers, White said that didn't make Sherrod's actions right.

"The playing table should be leveled," he said. "Everyone, regardless of race, creed or color should be treated same way, regardless of the race of the administrator."

Sherrod, 62, lives in Albany. She was appointed to her position in by Obama in July 2009 to manage more than 40 housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs, and more than $114 billion in federal loans.

Before that, she had served as director of the Georgia field office for the Federation of Southern Cooperative/Land Assistance Fund.

Source: http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-usda-official-resigns-574027.html

Good riddance.

[tropicangela]

Bump

[dean.engelhardt]

One down, the rest to go.

[specsaregood]

I saw her on CNN earlier, playing the victim.
Claims she never discriminated, they even got a white family she helped to call in and back her up.

[johngr]

One down, the rest to go.

Bragging about such a thing on public access TV is precisely the kind of poor judgment you'd expect from an affirmative action case. They sow the seeds of their own destruction.

[FrankRep]

I saw her on CNN earlier, playing the victim.
Claims she never discriminated, they even got a white family she helped to call in and back her up.

Video of NAACP Racism Emerges After Resolution Condemning Tea Party Movement (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=253688)

YouTube - NAACP Bigotry in their ranks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_xCeItxbQY&feature=player_embedded)

[specsaregood]

Video of NAACP Racism Emerges After Resolution Condemning Tea Party Movement

Note: I wasn't defending her, just saying what she said.

Also, that video is not proof of discrimination. She very well could have just been a blowhard braggart and liar. Claiming she discriminated to look cool and powerful to the crowd.

[FrankRep]

Note: I wasn't defending her, just saying what she said.

Also, that video is not proof of discrimination. She very well could have just been a blowhard braggart and liar. Claiming she discriminated to look cool and powerful to the crowd.

I'll laugh if the NAACP claims that saying "Shirley Sherrod is racist" is Racist.

[specsaregood]

I'll laugh if the NAACP claims that saying "Shirley Sherrod is racist" is Racist.

They already did release a statement criticizing her and disowning her and her comments. She was mad at them and blamed them for it, saying it was their fault cuz they picked a fight with the tea party. :)

The best part of her interview is she claimed the video was taken out of context and that what she was trying to say was that "we need to get past all the racism and past grievences". lol

[TigerPrwn]

I don't like this story. I don't like how a lot of this is playing out. Both the farmer and his wife are coming out in full support of Sherrod, and the video is clearly edited and cut at the most critical moment. Here is a good piece by Erick Erickson at RedState:

Collecting scalps at what cost?


Posted by Erick Erickson
Tuesday, July 20th at 6:26PM EDT



I’m torn on saying anything about this, but think the better part of valor requires me to speak up on this.

The Shirley Sherrod debate reminds me of Rush Limbaugh trying to buy the St. Louis Rams. For three days after the announcement reporters, news anchors, “legitimate” “journalists” brought up several Limbaugh quotes that painted him as a racist. For three days these “legitimate” people in the news — not pundits, not analysis, but news anchors, reporters, etc. — pressed on until the deal was successful sabotaged. Only then did reporters care to point out that after twenty years on the radio, all the quotes used to bash Rush Limbaugh had been fabricated by the left.

Then there were the fabricated incidents during the health care protests in Washington where tea party activists allegedly spit on black members of Congress and used the “N” word. None of that actually happened.

Andrew Breitbart promised he would do to the left what the left has been doing to the right for years. He is gathering quite the collection of leftwing scalps and will forever warm the hearts of the right for the ACORN takedown alone. I’m glad he is on our side.

That said, I think Shirley Sherrod has been unfairly characterized as a racist.

In the Breitbart video, we hear Ms. Sherrod discuss meeting with a white farmer who clearly wanted to make sure she knew he was superior to her. And we hear her say she decided she’d help, but only do so much. And we clearly hear her say she decided to send him to his own kind — a white lawyer.

What we only start to hear before the video ends and where the conversation goes is Ms. Sherrod realizing the issue was not black vs. white, but a matter of the poor.

In fact, Ms. Sherrod and the white farmer are now friends. The farmer and his wife are defending Ms. Sherrod for saving their family farm. It seems the video cuts out as Ms. Sherrod is about to make a profound point — the dynamics of black versus white have changed in the South.

As a local city councilman in Macon, Georgia, I deal with this all the time — both among white people and black people. After decades of racial disharmony, people are realizing there is more to each other than skin color, however hard it may be to see past that.

We’re making progress.

There will always be racists because there will always be sinners. We, all of us like sheep, have gone astray. Maybe Shirley Sherrod is. But it seems in the video clip presented Ms. Sherrod was penitent and recognized that her initial impressions were wrong. That does not give her a pass in life. There are still questions about her.

But in this instance, if this is all there is and it seems it may be all we have to examine, we shouldn’t be collecting her scalp. We should be hopeful for more people willing to realize the world does not revolve around race.

What is, however, disturbing is the White House. It has kept Kevin Jennings on the payroll despite his sordid past, hatred of the scouts, and advocacy of a radical gay rights agenda. The White House was perfectly happy to keep Van Jones around for a good while. The White House is perfectly happy to use a congressional recess to put Donald Berwick in charge of Medicare. But a low level Ag Department employee? She had to be tossed. So much for loyalty.

If there is nothing more to Ms. Sherrod’s remarks, I think we’ve made a mistake. But above all else, it is hilarious to watch the White House scrambling out of fear for Andrew Breitbart and the new propensity on the right to fight back in the same way and with the same tactics the left has used for so long.

And that is a point we need to make and is quite relevant and should not be missed by people wringing their hands over this on either side.

The left has used race as a weapon for a very long time. They have devalued what racism means - which is a terrible shame if you actually care about stopping real racism or remembering it in our history. The word now connotes disagreeing with the left instead of what it actually means.

Had Ms. Sherrod been white, she’d be vilified in the press, fired, and probably have trouble thereafter seeking work. The NAACP would be passing a resolution condemning the Department of Agriculture as racist. This is what we have become in politics because of the unrepentant race-baiting on the left. It has become a tit for tat war of retribution.

We see that on the Journolist as reported by the Daily Caller today. When Jeremiah Wright was in the news, the leftwing reporters on Journolist plotted to change the subject by declaring various figures in and around the Bush White House, including Karl Rove on the inside and Fred Barnes on the outside, “racist.” They wanted to scream racism not because the people to be attacked were in fact racist, but because it would be a useful way to change the subject.

That war has casualties on both sides. Ms. Sherrod is the latest. It is not fair. But that’s how the left plays and the right must fight on offense or not fight at all. It disgusts me to have to say it, but that is so very sadly where we are. As long as the left gets a pass on this all too easy game, the right has to fight back.
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/07/20/collecting-scalps-at-what-cost/

I am very skeptical of jumping on this Breitbart bandwagon.

[specsaregood]

//

[TigerPrwn]

Wow.

The NAACP, at whose Freedom Fund Banquet Sherrod spoke of her discriminatory posture, and at which the audience seemed to indicate approval of her outlook, followed a short time later, virtually echoing Vilsack.

So I guess we're supposed to forget about Shirley Sherrod from this point forward.

Not just yet. Luckily, she's not going away quietly, and is complaining about Fox News and the Tea Party causing her dismissal. Keep it up, ma’am, because you and the USDA both deserve further scrutiny.

Ms. Sherrod's previous background, the circumstances surrounding her hiring, and the USDA's agenda may all play a part in explaining her sudden departure from the agency. These matters have not received much scrutiny to this point.

An announcement of Ms. Sherrod's July 2009 appointment to her USDA position at ruraldevelopment.org gives off quite a few clues:

RDLN Graduate and Board Vice Chair Shirley Sherrod was appointed Georgia Director for Rural Development by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on July 25. Only days earlier, she learned that New Communities, a group she founded with her husband and other families (see below) has won a thirteen million dollar settlement in the minority farmers law suit Pigford vs Vilsack.

What?

The news that follows at the link, which appears to pre-date the announcement of Ms. Sherrod's appointment, provides further details:

Minority Farm Settlement

Justice Achieved - Congratulations to Shirley and Charles Sherrod!

We have wonderful news regarding the case of New Communities, Inc., the land trust that Shirley and Charles Sherrod established, with other black farm families in the 1960's. At the time, with holdings of almost 6,000 acres, this was the largest tract of black-owned land in the country.

... Over the years, USDA refused to provide loans for farming or irrigation and would not allow New Communities to restructure its loans. Gradually, the group had to fight just to hold on to the land and finally had to wind down operations.

... The cash (settlement) award acknowledges racial discrimination on the part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the years 1981-85. ... New Communities is due to receive approximately $13 million ($8,247,560 for loss of land and $4,241,602 for loss of income; plus $150,000 each to Shirley and Charles for pain and suffering). There may also be an unspecified amount in forgiveness of debt. This is the largest award so far in the minority farmers law suit (Pigford vs Vilsack).

and


Here are just a few questions about Ms. Sherrod that deserve answers:
Was Ms. Sherrod's USDA appointment an unspoken condition of her organization's settlement?
How much "debt forgiveness" is involved in USDA's settlement with New Communities?
Why were the Sherrods so deserving of a combined $300,000 in "pain and suffering" payments -- amounts that far exceed the average payout thus far to everyone else? ($1.15 billion divided by 16,000 is about $72,000)?
Given that New Communities wound down its operations so long ago (it appears that this occurred sometime during the late 1980s), what is really being done with that $13 million in settlement money?

Here are a few bigger-picture questions:

Did Shirley Sherrod resign so quickly because the circumstances of her hiring and the lawsuit settlement with her organization that preceded it might expose some unpleasant truths about her possible and possibly sanctioned conflicts of interest?
Is USDA worried about the exposure of possible waste, fraud, and abuse in its handling of Pigford?
Did USDA also dispatch Sherrod hastily because her continued presence, even for another day, might have gotten in the way of settling Pigford matters quickly?

The media and the blogosphere shouldn't be so quick to forget about Shirley Sherrod.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/Examiner-Opinion-Zone/Shirley-Sherrods-Disappearing-Act-Not-So-Fast-98846149.html

[MsDoodahs]

And as I mentioned earlier, perhaps she was lying in that tape and she didn't actually discriminate, that doesn't forgive the fact that she was advocating discrimination.

Exactly.

She was advocating race based discrimination.

The maniac portion of the left is now declaring her advocacy of race based discrimination to be NOT racism.

I think they've lost their minds.

lol....

[MsDoodahs]

Wow.


and


http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/Examiner-Opinion-Zone/Shirley-Sherrods-Disappearing-Act-Not-So-Fast-98846149.html

EXCELLENT find, Tiger.

Thanks for posting.

:)

[TigerPrwn]

I don't believe she mentioned the farmers' name. So how are we supposed to know that it was that family of which she was speaking. Is it so hard to believe that they drug out some family to support her?

And as I mentioned earlier, perhaps she was lying in that tape and she didn't actually discriminate, that doesn't forgive the fact that she was advocating discrimination.

I just wish the tape was not edited. I can't really make any blanket judgment on whether or not she is a "racist" without the rest of the story. I am very skeptical of Breitbart and his new race war. I agree with Erickson in that we must fight back, but an edited tape with a much harrier story behind the picture smells to me like a another diversion and a whitewash. The real story I don't think is that Sherrod is a racist, I think the real story here is that she was hired for a reason and a 13 million dollar settlement just days before her appointment is no "coincidence". the NAACP, the Tea Party, the right wing big media, left wing big media the DOA, etc etc etc coming out in favor of calling this lady a racist and firing her--- I smell a rat a BIG RAT.

[Valli6]

I've been checking FOX and CNN and this woman is already considered vindicated, even on FOX. This morning, an elderly couple appeared on CNN, claiming to be the farmer (Roger Spooner) she spoke of, and said she helped them. The Spooners said they learned of the story on TV, so it sounds like they don't have internet and may not have actually seen the video? CNN has been focusing on the story intensely. The NAACP is saying they were"snookered" by FOX and a "tea party activist".

Brietbart was on Fox business news and says he received the video as is, in March. He didn't edit it. He says he posted it because the NAACP continues pushing stories about tea party racism/spitting/N-word incidents without any evidence, and the media has consistently backed them without question. Breitbart had posted video covering the time the N-word incident is alleged to have occurred - from 4 different angles - and feels the claim has been disproven but the media ignores it.

Because the NAACP was so quick to condemn Sherrod without checking out the whole story, and the media so quick to accept the NAACP's conclusion without any investigation - Breitbart feels an important point has been made regarding the credibility of both the NAACP and the media.

Breitbart says he received the complete video today and will post it if the "producer" will allow it.

[TigerPrwn]

EXCELLENT find, Tiger.

Thanks for posting.

:)

You are most welcome MsDoodahs :) It isn't surprising that there is more to the story than your plain' ol' "racism". lol.

Valli6- its all weird. You'll notice that people all over the web are arguing over whether or not she is a "racist" when the real story is whether or not her 13 million dollar judgment had anything to do with her resignation and the leak of the video cut at that particular moment. Brietbart claims he didn't edit it.

I am done with all of the "racist" accusations, I really don't care to tell you the truth, because EVERYONE, including my man Ron Paul has been branded a racist. It is their doing that the term no longer carries any weight whatsoever.


The Pigford matter goes back a long way, and to say the least has a checkered history, as this May 27, 2010 item at Agri-Pulse demonstrates (bolds are mine):

As part of a April 14, 1999 class action case settlement, commonly known as the Pigford case, U.S. taxpayers have already provided over $1 billion in cash, non-credit awards and debt relief to almost 16,000 black farmers who claimed that they were discriminated against by USDA officials as they “farmed or attempted to farm.” In addition, USDA’s Farm Service Agency spent over $166 million on salaries and expenses on this case from 1999-2009, according to agency records.

Members of Congress may approve another $1.15 billion this week to settle cases from what some estimate may be an additional 80,000 African-Americans who have also claimed to have been discriminated against by USDA staff.

... Settling this case is clearly a priority for the White House and USDA. Secretary Vilsack described the funding agreement reached between the Administration and advocates for black farmers early this year as “an important milestone in putting these discriminatory claims behind us for good and in achieving finality for this group of farmers with longstanding grievances."
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/Examiner-Opinion-Zone/Shirley-Sherrods-Disappearing-Act-Not-So-Fast-98846149.html

the ideal situation would be that someone leaked the (edited) video to expose Breitbart for the chomp at the bit reactionary he is, all the while knowing that the REAL story regarding the multi-million dollar lawsuit would be the undercurrent. Ah yes... unicorns and rainbows. :D