He has a great poker face. [Link]
Anyway, the day after he said he had video of racism tolerated within the NAACP, he released it. And hoo boy, was it a fun one. An Obama administration appointee, receiving an NAACP award at a banquet last March, admits that she willingly discriminated against a white applicant based purely on his race.
Four months ago, at an NAACP function, the guest of honor and federal official told a whole roomful of NAACP members that she had violated federal civil rights laws -- and not one person there attending cared enough to pass that information up the organization. Or, if they did, the higher-ups didn't think it worthy to publicize her admission or even take back the award.
Well, less than a day after that video was released, the official in question -- Shirley Sherrod, the USDA's Georgia Director of Rural Development -- has resigned her position. She offered no defense, put up no fight -- she went quite quietly.
It seems she was pushed, though. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack -- who had appointed her to that job -- didn't bother with the typical mealy-mouthed regrets and best wishes.
"There is zero tolerance for discrimination at USDA, and I strongly condemn any act of discrimination against any person...We have been working hard through the past 18 months to reverse the checkered civil rights history at the department and take the issue of fairness and equality very seriously."
The NAACP wasn't far behind in their condemnation, and it needs a bit of Fisking:
"Since our founding in 1909, the NAACP has been a multi-racial, multi-faith organization that-- while generally rooted in African American communities-- fights to end racial discrimination against all Americans."
Even whitey. When we have to.
We concur with US Agriculture Secretary Vilsack in accepting the resignation of Shirley Sherrod for her remarks at a local NAACP Freedom Fund banquet.
Which happened four months ago, when we were giving her an award for her achievements and efforts. And we're only now rethinking that because we got caught.
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.
Remember that, "racism is about the abuse of power." Which means that the powerless can't be racist. That's why we didn't have a problem with the Black Panther case until we got called on that one, too, and why we don't have a problem with "reverse discrimination."
We are appalled by her actions, just as we are with abuses of power against farmers of color and female farmers.
None of which we can document at this point, but let's throw around the accusation and smears to give this lady a little cover.
Her actions were shameful. While she went on to explain in the story that she ultimately realized her mistake, as well as the common predicament of working people of all races, she gave no indication she had attempted to right the wrong she had done to this man.
All of which we didn't realize until someone posted that video of what happened AT OUR OWN EVENT, when we were GIVING HER AN AWARD.
The reaction from many in the audience is disturbing. We will be looking into the behavior of NAACP representatives at this local event and take any appropriate action.
And when we say "the audience," we mean "many of our proud members and supporters."
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