Tweets by CNN’s Roland Martin first brought the Shirley Sherrod situation to my attention. It was apparent that he was being given a hard time by numerous people on Twitter for his stated opinion. I didn’t know what the subject matter was yet, but was in agreement with what he was saying in his defense about racism being a two-way street, that if you condemned it when flowing one way it would be hypocritical not to also do so when it went the opposite. If someone in position of authority abuses their power in the name of prejudice (or in the name of anything else for that matter), it’s plain wrong. I nodded my head along with this sentiment without knowing all the details of Shirley Sherrod’s case. As it would turn out, Roland Martin wasn’t fully informed either. Many people had been purposely duped, bamboozled, squashed by Plymouth Rock, including as I would eventually come to learn, the NAACP. Yet early on other people seemed to either know more than Roland Martin and the NAACP had been made aware of, or else they too were missing critical facts but nevertheless felt Shirley Sherrod did not deserve to be fired (technically, forced to resign) for a racist mindset that she had owned up to with a camera recording it. The video turns out to have been edited to make it seem that Shirley Sherrod was saying pretty much the opposite of what she meant to convey, which was that we need to protect the rights of poor hardworking people regardless of race, not cherry pick who to protect based on race. She briefly considered doing the wrong thing, then came to her senses and did the right thing. But the video only showed us the moment when she confessed that her thought process was unfair, leading us to believe she followed up with unfair conduct when in fact she did not. Basically Shirley Sherrod was taken out of context to the 1000th degree. Eventually the full video was produced, her supposed victims came to her defense, and she was exonerated in the court of public opinion. In the end, much more than learning a lesson in racism or repentance or politics in action, this incident revealed how easy it is to manipulate the media which in turn manipulates the populace. We live in an era where stories and non-stories alike are frequently doctored and spun to fit an agenda. It’s become nearly impossible to know the reality of “news” being reported to us because so much is slanted to form an opinion for you. We need to examine it all with healthy doses of skepticism, to think not only about what’s being told to us but about why it’s being reported as it is, what motivation someone may have for wanting us to believe what we’re hearing in the manner we're hearing it. People want to believe that the job of the news media is to deliver TRUTH, but truth can consist of many versions. Following are my thoughts as they unfolded one tweet at a time.
@rolandsmartin Some will NEVER get that racism doesn't only go in one direction & will ALWAYS feel roles of villain & victim r permanently set.
The goal is to END racism as much as is possible. Not reverse it, not justify it, not spin doctor it, not dress it up to change appearance.
Shortest distance between two points is a straight line. If that line goes in wrong direction one way, it's the wrong direction the other way too.
Changing minds may not be do-able, but opening some may be.
Question: If white person in control of $ denied aid to black farmer & specifically cited race as reason, what would we call that white person?
If white person in control of $ and black farmer end up mending fences & becoming good friends - Great! Story not about that, but still great.
Is it messed up to fire someone for something they said 24 years ago? Oh yeah. But I guess there's no statute of limitation on unwise comments.
It's safe to say I said some pretty dum *ish 24 years ago. Probably did 24 minutes ago. What you gonna do, unfollow? No, wait, don't go!!
Will Obama be asked about Shirley Sherrod resignation? Or will questions be limited to what Regie Bush thinks about LeBron's Decision?
If the "scapegoating" of Shirley Sherrod guaranteed Fox "News" folk would chill for a bit on the Obama is Hitler schtick, I'd say fair enough.
Bottom line: Political correctness is a terrible reason to base decisions on. Decision should be correct based on common decency & logic.
Let me get this straight now that I'm caught up fully on news. Some douche named @andrewbreitbart punk'd NAACP @ expense of Shirley Sherrod?!
Based on info on hand @ time NAACP & @rolandsmartin said nothing wrong in my opinion. They showed racism's unacceptable to them regardless of direction.
Good people are so much on defensive from constant attacks by conservatives that there was rush to judgment rather than careful weighing of facts.
I've said it about 1 million times here on twitter. Rushing to judgment serves no one any good. 1st glimpse of a case is simply its surface.
Whether the accused is a cop with blood on his hands, an athlete with finger of blame pointed at him, someone temporarily made infamous for alleged improper/illegal act, or whatever the case may be - Wait for facts, weigh them, then judge.
Our judicial system is based on examining evidence & pronouncing guilt if & only if proven beyond shadow of doubt. It's a good system.
Our media system is based on manipulating people to sell version of a story that generates the most attention, leading to increased ad revenue. Bad system.
Those who criticized NAACP reaction & firing of #Sherrod were correct to do so. Hopefully most were correct for the RIGHT reasons.
The goal is to END racism as much as is possible. Not reverse it, not justify it, not spin doctor it, not dress it up to change appearance.
Shortest distance between two points is a straight line. If that line goes in wrong direction one way, it's the wrong direction the other way too.
Changing minds may not be do-able, but opening some may be.
Question: If white person in control of $ denied aid to black farmer & specifically cited race as reason, what would we call that white person?
If white person in control of $ and black farmer end up mending fences & becoming good friends - Great! Story not about that, but still great.
Is it messed up to fire someone for something they said 24 years ago? Oh yeah. But I guess there's no statute of limitation on unwise comments.
It's safe to say I said some pretty dum *ish 24 years ago. Probably did 24 minutes ago. What you gonna do, unfollow? No, wait, don't go!!
Will Obama be asked about Shirley Sherrod resignation? Or will questions be limited to what Regie Bush thinks about LeBron's Decision?
If the "scapegoating" of Shirley Sherrod guaranteed Fox "News" folk would chill for a bit on the Obama is Hitler schtick, I'd say fair enough.
Bottom line: Political correctness is a terrible reason to base decisions on. Decision should be correct based on common decency & logic.
Let me get this straight now that I'm caught up fully on news. Some douche named @andrewbreitbart punk'd NAACP @ expense of Shirley Sherrod?!
Based on info on hand @ time NAACP & @rolandsmartin said nothing wrong in my opinion. They showed racism's unacceptable to them regardless of direction.
Good people are so much on defensive from constant attacks by conservatives that there was rush to judgment rather than careful weighing of facts.
I've said it about 1 million times here on twitter. Rushing to judgment serves no one any good. 1st glimpse of a case is simply its surface.
Whether the accused is a cop with blood on his hands, an athlete with finger of blame pointed at him, someone temporarily made infamous for alleged improper/illegal act, or whatever the case may be - Wait for facts, weigh them, then judge.
Our judicial system is based on examining evidence & pronouncing guilt if & only if proven beyond shadow of doubt. It's a good system.
Our media system is based on manipulating people to sell version of a story that generates the most attention, leading to increased ad revenue. Bad system.
Those who criticized NAACP reaction & firing of #Sherrod were correct to do so. Hopefully most were correct for the RIGHT reasons.
RT @BenJealous (who is head of NAACP if you don’t know) Watch the Shirley Sherrod video in full for the first time, and judge for yourself: http://bit.ly/9XMlK0
Reinstate Shirley Sherrod!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pete Rose too!!!
Breaking News: Shirley Sherrod has already accepted another job after fielding tons of offers. She says she is "taking my talents to Miami"
If President Obama can turn off the internet can't he turn off Fox News, or at least make it illegal for them to use "News" in name?
Fool me once, shame on you, shame me twice... #SherrodScam
Can video lie? It certainly can when doctored, and even in some cases when it isn't. Lesson hopefully learned.
I'm sickened that Tea Party folk are going “tee hee, we got the NAACP back for making us look bad”.
But I also believe that in the end, more good than harm will come from #SherrodScam, and that manufacturing false news for political gain will ultimately backfire.
Glad I'm not @rolandsmartin tonight. Sure, I'm wrong & piss people off sometimes, but only like about 4 people. #PerksOfNonCelebrity
NAACP & Roland Martin were duped but it wasn't their job to decide if #Sherrod should be fired and act on it if she did, so let’s not send majority of heat their way. This woman's boss (Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack) should have his management technique seriously evaluated. Truth be told though (and full version probably never will be), I'm guessing he received order to fire her from some behind the scenes big shot. Hard to believe his first instinct was to immediately get rid of a long time employee based on such slight, ancient evidence against her, without even being interested in hearing her side. Why would someone admit publicly that they had disobeyed guidelines of their job & laws of the land? It was automatically assumed that Shirely Sherrod was not merely racist, but an idiot. Why would this be assumed about someone who had done nothing but show herself to be intelligent and thoughtful up to that point?
@BenJealous jumped gun with Sharrod to prove NAACP is even handed after Tea Party accusation, but he was still great as Elvin on Cosby Show.
As for those who blame Obama for this mess, I simply can’t fathom why, although I would like to hear his take at some point in the near future much as he tossed his two cents into Professor Gates incident. Chants for another beer summit have already begun of course.
Being POTUS = damned if you do and damned if you don't and damned if you can be remotely connected to it. #ObamaShrug
It's only a matter of time before Fox "News" runs fabricated story on how Rosa Park liked to kick puppies, though just white ones.
As a wise man once said "Don't...Don't believe the hype!"
While we're passing blame around, why did Sherrod agree to resign when she did nothing wrong? I would have said “you'll have to fire me”, and then sued.
I'm about done with Shirley Sherrod indignation. She was wronged, is now a celebrity with book deal probably to come shortly. Meanwhile people are still dying unnecessarily. Keep eyes on places like Haiti and all that oil spilled in the Gulf.
RT @sinbadbad (as in Sinbad from TV, stand-up comedy, and hanging in warzone with Hillary Clinton fame) The shirley sherrod situation shows that we have to make sure we have all the info before we react...can't trust the news to give us the 411.
Once a topic has become so trendy that lightweight celebrities are chirping in to earn cool points while reminding public of their existence, I’m ready to move on to whatever comes NEXT.
Good re-cap of story that provides some of the nitty gritty details not covered in my tweets: RT @AlfredEdmondJr Reverse Racism, or Hatchet Job? http://nblo.gs/62fTR
Shirley Sherrod’s response to inconvenient untruth: http://bit.ly/aoECbg
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Update: Shirley Sherrod says Agriculture Secretary Vilsack has directly apologized http://on.cnn.com/bt3I22 Cue Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River.
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EPILOGUE
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I didn't know who Shirley Sherrod was before yesterday, felt she did kinda wrong for a couple hours, then felt strongly that she was railroaded & screwed.
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Today she's a beloved figure (at least by those who know what a good person should look like), her true admirable beliefs well known, her triumphant personal journey chronicled for posterity. It was only others on both sides of the divide & shouting from sidelines who made asses of themselves.
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She was out of work for a day. She'll be offered it back & either accept or else go on speaker tour, get book deal, really get paid. Not too bad a deal considering she doesn't appear to be far off from retirement age.
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I'm glad the Shirley Sherrod situation happened because it showed what Obama's opposition will stoop to & highlighted the worst possible way to react.
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Little to nothing can be learned from perfection but a royal screw up can be extremely informative. In end nobody was legitimately harmed.
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Politics is not a game for the faint of heart. It shouldn't be a GAME at all, but unfortunately it is, one with very high stakes.
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When next race themed drama arrives, & there's always another ready to pull into station, remember it will be unique & not an extension of prior situations.
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The most interesting thing about the Fox "News" propoganda team is that several of their hired guns may not even be racist. They simply prey on the fears of bigots who listen to them & tend to vote Republican because racists are stupid and stupid people are the easiest to manipulate and rile up. Fox primarily wants to get republicans elected and will attempt to do so by any means necessary. If warning people about Cookie Monster was more effective than telling tales about scary Black people, they'd focus their smear campaign on Sesame Street.
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@AndrewBreitbart I'd insult u but you'd probably get a perverse form of satisfaction. Just keep looking in mirror. IF LUCKY you'll feel shame one day.
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Just so we're all clear here, Shirley Sherrod did not prove black people cannot be racist. She just proved she personally isn't racist.
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No single case makes broad statement about mankind even if we translate it as such. Breibert is a jerk, Sherrod is not, that's basically it.
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Breibert couldn't find video of discrimination by black person against whites so edited one selectively. He isn't ALL whites; she isn't ALL blacks.
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Irony would be if lesson learned from Sherrod’s non-racist mindset is to be angry at all whites. If that’s what you take from it, Breibert wins.
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The enemy is not a race, a color, a creed. The enemy is the person who promotes division by any means necessary.
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No war will ever be as destructive as a Civil one. Look how long ours has lasted. Oh, you thought it ended ages ago. To some, yes. To others…
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If lesson gleaned from #Sherrod case is that THEY continue to oppress, WE continue to suffer, then you have selectively edited tale...same as Breibert.
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I'm not asking anyone to grab neighbor of another shade by the hand & start singing Kumbaya. Just asking for perspective rather than strictly biased emotion.
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Just so we're all clear here, Shirley Sherrod did not prove black people cannot be racist. She just proved she personally isn't racist.
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No single case makes broad statement about mankind even if we translate it as such. Breibert is a jerk, Sherrod is not, that's basically it.
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Breibert couldn't find video of discrimination by black person against whites so edited one selectively. He isn't ALL whites; she isn't ALL blacks.
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Irony would be if lesson learned from Sherrod’s non-racist mindset is to be angry at all whites. If that’s what you take from it, Breibert wins.
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The enemy is not a race, a color, a creed. The enemy is the person who promotes division by any means necessary.
***
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No war will ever be as destructive as a Civil one. Look how long ours has lasted. Oh, you thought it ended ages ago. To some, yes. To others…
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If lesson gleaned from #Sherrod case is that THEY continue to oppress, WE continue to suffer, then you have selectively edited tale...same as Breibert.
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I'm not asking anyone to grab neighbor of another shade by the hand & start singing Kumbaya. Just asking for perspective rather than strictly biased emotion.
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RT @CornelWest (real smart guy) If you don't muster the courage to think critically about your situation, you'll end up living a life of conformity & complacency
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RT @CornelWest Morally, all racisms are the same. We must never allow black suffering to blind us to other people's suffering.
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