In case you didn't know about Shirley Sherrod, here's a segment by Rachel Maddow about this reprehensible scandal. Andrew Breitbart showed a clip from a speech USDA employee Shirley Sherrod gave which claimed to show that she had denied a white farmer benefits because of his race. What Breitbart didn't mention is that the speech was about overcoming racism, she made the speech in 1986, she wasn't working for the USDA at that time and she didn't actually discriminate against anyone. CNN later interviewed the white farmer that Sherrod supposedly discriminated against, and he had nothing but good things to say about her. The point of Sherrod's speech was that she had an epiphany. She realized that poor people are suffering, regardless of race. However, without doing any research, Fox News paraded the story as an outrage, an example of black discrimination. Sherrod was quickly railroaded out of her position at the USDA, bowing to public pressure. She was denounced by the NAACP and forced to resign by Tom Vilsack.
After the story aired, she received hate mail and phone calls from people calling her a "bitch" and a "racist". This is particularly sad, because, as Media Matters reported, Sherrod's father was killed by racists in 1965. She has been actively involved in the Civil Rights movement for years and took careers at non-profit organizations and within the government because of her commitment to issues of social justice and civil rights. Sherrod said that she has thick skin after years of working in the Civil Rights movement. However, nobody should have to go through that kind of abuse because of a completely fabricated, politically motivated smear campaign.
This story touches on more than a few issues. First of all, conservative media purveyors like Breitbart and Fox News have very few scruples about running fake stories designed to highlight their issues and destroy innocent people's careers. Look at the ACORN non-story. For those of you who still don't know, the ACORN employees on tape were playing along with the phony pimp and prostitute in order to get as much information from them as they could before calling the police. The video showed ACORN employees shining on James O'Keefe, nothing more.
Second, notice that conservatives target minorities in these scandals. The ACORN employees were black and Latino and Shirley Sherrod is black. Does Fox ever go after white racism? Not that I've seen.
Third, notice that Breitbart's fake story continues the theme of the "oppressed white man". Conservatives have drummed up fear in white people by convincing them they are under siege by minorities, even though in reality, whites still hold the vast majority of wealth, political power and corporate power in our society. Despite the claims that Republicans are not racist or even partial to whites, this story clearly shows that Fox and the Republicans intervene on behalf of white people, even in fake scandals like this. That is whose side they're on, over and above notions of equality and fairness. Conservatives will claim over and over again that they aren't racist, but their words and actions show otherwise. Anyone who has talked with a conservative for more than a few hours knows that they tend to hold uninformed positions about race. Many conservatives will openly say that they don't like minorities or that they think white people are superior, either genetically or culturally. Others will just be ignorant of racial issues to the point of being insensitive, and will blame blacks for their poverty, instead of pointing to years of slavery, discrimination, and wrongful imprisonment that continue to this very day. Republicans claim that we now live in a color blind society, so blacks and Latinos need to stop being so lazy and get to work. This couldn't be further from the truth and doesn't take into account discrimination that still occurs.
Fourth, the main reason conservative media outlets run stories like this is to distract poor white people from their truly injurious policies such as trying to destroy Social Security, giving few limitations and punishments to corporate executives, dismantling labor standards and destroying the environment. Republicans have been doing this for years. It's called the Southern Strategy. Reagan used this strategy by launching his campaign supporting "states' rights" in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the site where three Civil Rights activists were murdered in 1964. Reagan also repeatedly told the story of a "welfare queen" who never existed. The result of this strategy is the winnowing of the middle class, the largest prison population in the world, consolidation of corporate power into fewer hands, and the destruction of labor unions. White people need to wake up and realize that minorities are not a threat to them; big, powerful and unbridled corporations are. Republican leaders gain the support of poor whites for policies that are against their interests by playing to their fears. This is a truly cynical, diabolical and harmful policy.
Lastly, this should be a lesson to Democrats, particularly the Obama administration. When a conservatively biased news source like Fox News or www.biggovernment.com comes up with a controversy like Van Jones, ACORN or Shirley Sherrod, don't assume they are right or that they are even being sincere. Take the time to investigate the story and deliberate for a while before disavowing one of your people. People like Andrew Breitbart and Glenn Beck should not factor into your decisions. They are not reliable, not fair, and not even adults.
