I'm Shocked…

shocked, I tell you, to find out that conservative media blowhard Andrew Breitbart selectively and mendaciously edited video of a speech given by USDA employee Shirley Sherrod at an NAACP function in order to "prove" that the NAACP and the Obama administration is racist.

Breitbart cut the video to make it appear as though Sherrod, who is black, didn't do everything in her power to help a white farmer because he was white—which is indeed what Sherrod says, but as part of a larger anecdote, the context of which Breitbart edited out, about how she eventually did work with that farmer over a two-year period and eventually became friends with him and his wife, Eloise Spooner. She was telling a story about overcoming racism, and he edited it to cast her as a racist. Spooner, now 82, says: "She's the one I give credit to with helping us save our farm."

Breitbart, called out for his "creative" editing, responded, "I think the video speaks for itself. The way she's talking about white people ... is conveying a present tense racism in my opinion. But racism is in the eye of the beholder."

Bullshit it is.

Unfortunately, despite Breitbart's tactics being exposed as the manipulative, dishonest, unfair garbage that they are, Sherrod has still been forced out of her position at the USDA, because the administration did not even wait for context of the video before pushing her out the door. They took the word of known liar Andrew Breitbart over a two-decade employee of the US government, in order to avoid controversy.

Yeah, how's that working out for you?

Now the administration is pointing the finger at Tom Vilsack, and the USDA is pointing it back at the administration. Whatfuckingever. Who cares. They're all a goddamn disgrace—and if they had any decency, Sherrod would be given her job back with a hefty promotion and a humongous apology ASAP. Stop playing the blame game and fix it. Assholes.

Shakesville is run as a safe space. First-time commenters: Please read Shakesville's Commenting Policy and Feminism 101 Section before commenting. We also do lots of in-thread moderation, so we ask that everyone read the entirety of any thread before commenting, to ensure compliance with any in-thread moderation. Thank you.

blog comments powered by Disqus