Shirley Sherrod Update #1

More information coming forth:

The NAACP had the following statement issued by Ben Jealous on their website:

"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."

"We are appalled by her actions, just as we are with abuses of power against farmers of color and female farmers."

That statement has now been removed - which is good since she didn't "abuse her power" in her "position at USDA," and if Mr. Jealous had not jumped the gun and done exactly as those manipulating the news wanted him to do, he would have realized that by the remark "right after Chapter 12 for farmers."

It looks as though everyone from the president on down might need to say they're sorry right along with Mr. Jealous.

Sherrod told CNN on Tuesday that she was told repeatedly to resign Monday afternoon after the clip surfaced.

"They harassed me," she said. "I got three calls from the White House. At one point they asked me to pull over to the side of the road and do it because you are going to be on Glenn Beck tonight."

Sherrod said the calls came from Cheryl Cook, USDA deputy undersecretary for rural development.


Sherrod is also saying that she and the white farmer she referred to in the video, Roger Spooner, became friends. Apparently this is so because Spooner's wife, Eloise, confirmed to CNN that she and her husband considered Sherrod friends.

"She helped us save our farm by getting in there and doing everything she could do," Eloise Spooner said. "They haven't treated her right."

Sherrod said she told the story to make the point that at the time she thought that white farmers had the advantages because of their race but she learned that was not the case.

"The point was to get them to understand that we need to look beyond race," Sherrod said.

There's more worth reading here, in The Washington Post.

CNN has also just announced that The NAACP has issued a statement saying they are now conducting an investigation into the matter - and after speaking to Shirley Sherrod, the farmer in question and after viewing the entire video they will issue another statement.

Which means they never even bothered to contact either of those people before publicly condemning Ms. Sherrod.

Nor did The White House apparently.



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