On Shirley Sherrod and Speaking Truth to Power
I am still having a hard time swallowing the fact that the NAACP, the Agriculture Department and the White House literally threw Mrs. Sherrod under the bus out of some mythical fear of that lying sack of shit known as Glenn Beck. Worse, the NAACP blamed Faux News for having "snookered" them (a statement that had Bill O'Really smirking with unabashed glee). The White House (and most so-called liberals) are terrified of Faux News and believe it, they smell blood (I mean no disrespect to any actual sharks). Don't get me wrong, the NAACP has a well-documented history of doing the right thing, oftentimes at great cost and sacrifice, but here was a case of simply not having the balls to tell Andrew BreitFART to kindly go fuck himself. I mean, they just threw down the gauntlet, passing a resolution against the racist elements within the Tea Party movement; they should have been able to back their words up with strong actions--in this case, reserving judgment until ALL the facts were in. To their credit, the NAACP quickly apologized once they realized the mistake they'd made, but the mistake should have never been made in the first place,
Sad to say, this isn't the first time black women have been thrown to the wolves of male political expediency. In the mid-sixties, there was Daniel Patrick Moynihan's "report" on single mothers which was nothing more than a hatchet job and which served to vilify hard-working black women who were struggling to raise children on their own and of course help to reinforce the idea that "strong" black women were essentially "emasculating" black males. Then, there was another Shirley--Chisholm to be exact--who had the audacity to run for president but who was told to go away because she might siphon off too many black votes. Then there was Ronnie 'the deregulator' Reagan, who used the spectre of mythical 'welfare queens' to convince the electorate that poor black women were actually living the high life by defrauding "hard-working" people (i.e. white hard-working people that is). Then we get Bill "I Didn't Inhale" Clinton who threw not only his Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders under the bus because she had the gall to try and talk straight about sexuality to our youth who desparately needed to hear it (and still do), but also law professor Lani Guinier for having "questionable" views. And rounding out this nonsense was his attack on Sistah Soljah, which was nothing more than an attempt to placate those who thought he might be "too cosy" with black folks. The scary thought is that good ol' G.W. seems to be the only one who stood by his secretary of state, Condeleeza Rice--though it used to drive me crazy when guys like Hannity and sometime commentator Dick "I Tell Prostitutes Everything About What Goes On In The Oval Office" Morris called her "Condi" rather than 'Madam Secretary' or 'Dr. Rice', but even here was an obvious sign of conservative white male disrespect for a powerful black woman. Oh and of course, Michelle Obama--the supposed "quintessential" Angry Black Woman.
(Another subject for another time. Suffice it to say I'm a proud member of the founding chapter of ABW's. After all, angry black women are the only ones who make history).
And now Shirley Sherrod.
Unlike Van Jones who, as much as I admire him, simply rolled over rather than fighting back, Mrs. Sherrod did not go quietly into that good night. In the immortal words of The Doobie Brothers, she "took it to the streets"--to the media, who got to see the entire speech and who found themselves with egg on their faces. Now everyone wants to play nice and I'm certain that Mrs. Sherrod will be a fixture on the talk circuit for quite some time. Better still, members of the audience who were THERE, were on the phones from the moment the story broke, eager to tell what REALLY happened and that they were NOT laughing or clapping in agreement. They were sympathetic to her feelings, probably having had similar experiences themselves in the past. Also, it is a part of black church tradition when someone is 'testifying', the audience responds to the testimony (not that BreitFART or anyone at Faux News knows jack about black churches or many of their traditions, but hey, don't let ignorance stop ya). And there was Roger Spooner, whom at near 90 years old still remembers how "Miss Shirley" as he called her, helped to save his farm. His wife Eloise ardently came to Mrs. Sherrod's defense as well.
There have been quite a few public servants who have had 'transformative moments' when it comes to race. The two most notable being Senator Robert Byrd (who passed away this year) and the former Governor of Alabama, George Wallace. Byrd had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan before he renounced that life and beliefs. Wallace's infamous "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" speech was the match the fueled some of the worst racial terrorism in this country's history. But Wallace too, had an epiphany as a born again christian and in his last term as governor, received a substantial amount of the selfsame black vote he once sought to disenfranchise through any means necessary. He also apponted many blacks to key positions in his government. I bring these two men up because Mrs. Sherrod experienced her own 'transformative moment' in assisting Mr. Spooner, realizing that it wasn't about black versus white, but about the haves and the have nots. What should have been a wonderful teaching tool about the power of forgiveness and doing the right thing became a smear campaign which turned into a major debacle for those who left their critical thinking skills at the nearby Piggly-Wiggly. What makes Mrs. Sherrod's story even more remarkable is that she experienced the nightmare of white hatred personally--her father was murdered by a white man in 1965. No one was ever convicted in spite of there being witnesses. Worse, after her father's murder, a group of white men burned across in front of her home. And yet, she found it in heart to rise about hate to help a poor white farmer and his wife save their farm.
Reminds me of Beulah Mae Donald, the black mother who forgave the two white men who murdered her son, Michael back in 1987.
As far as Andrew BreitFART and his Tea Bag liars are concerned, I don't expect anything like the truth from them, so it wasn't that much of a surprise that BreitFART pulled this video out of his anal cavity (the same place his head is, which explains why he can't see the truth when it's right in front of him). It was obvious to me from the moment I saw the tape that something wasn't quite right. Of course, as they say, timing is everything--so it seemed just a wee bit too convenient that less than two weeks ago the NAACP passed a resolution denouncing racist elements in the Tea Party. Tit for tat. If I figured that out in less than a minute, what the hell happened with the NAACPand the USDA?
So now, everyone's doing damage control, but Mrs. Sherrod has been a model of strength and class throughout this entire bullshittery. She's being offered her job back. She says she's going to think about it. That's right, Mrs. Sherrod, let the bastards squirm!
How do I feel about President Obama? He's stuck between a rock and a hard place. He truly wants to be the president for ALL Americans and that's a worthy goal. Unfortunately, there's a contingent out there who only see his race and placating them should no longer be an option. On the other hand, he's got that spectre of the "Angry Black Man" hanging over his head, which unfortunately plays right into the hands of the bigot contingent. But it's not just him--liberals, democrats, progressives--have got to grow some BALLS and start pushing back HARD against the right-wing bullies. It's the only language they understand. The right-wing doesn't understand civility--they ceded that decades ago in exchange for power. We need to have the President's back and stand up against the reactionary element who want to turn back the clock on all of the strides that have been made over the past 50 years.
And I'm telling you all right now--I am NOT sitting in the back of the bus.
My last word of warning--BreitFART is licking his wounds right now; he's even toxic to his enablers at Faux News for the moment. However, he's far from beaten. He's been royally embarassed and he is going to want payback. Guaranteed some video will show up "demonstrating" racism on the part of the NAACP or some member of Obama's cabinet or perhaps someone in the Congressional Black Caucus. When it does happen, how will we respond?.