Posted by
Patrick Henry on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 9:53:57 PM
So smitten was the media with bashing Andrew Breitbart and Bill O'Reilly and trying
to understand the whiplash response of the White House and NAACP that the whole
brouhaha devolved into pity for a woman fired for supposedly arguing the very reverse
of the discrimination of which she stood accused. And the crux of the story got missed
along the way.
Nobody picked up on the aside by Tom Vilsack that while Ms. Sherrod's was a tale
of racial redemption, some of her peripheral comments required more clarification.
Since they fired her, that clarification never came. And it may be that her refusal to
accept another job with the USDA has something to do with the fact that the comments
spoke for themselves and she had to wish to "clarify" them.
What comments are we talking about? The telling one is when she discussed sending
the white farmer seeking her help back to "his own kind." If any person in government
or media stood accused of sending a black person back to his/her "own kind" the howls
of racism would be deafening. But with Shirley Sherrod, not so much. The reason?
Those on the left were all too happy to sweep her clearly racist innuendo under the rug,
and she had no wish to be called on the carpet for it.
In a perfect world, when it comes to people, there is only one kind -- humankind. We
have cultural, physical and ideological differences for sure. But at root we're all people --
humans -- created equal and with certain inalienable rights. It's why the Civil War was
fought and why the Emancipation Proclamation stands as a watershed in U.S. history.
It's the reason for the great civil rights struggle and the women's suffrage fight. When
it comes to race, the very concept of different "kinds" is repugnant, regressive and
reprehensible. Maybe Shirley Sherrod hadn't shed quite all of her bigotry after all.
While the term "kind" may not fit races, it certainly does fit racial attitudes. As I see
it there are three "kinds," One is the race-hater. (I won't use the term racist because
it is so overused in the media and politics that it carries no weight and little meaning).
Race-haters are those who hate other people simply because their skin is a different
color and their cultural values are different. Race-haters come in all sizes, ages and
colors. They can be white, black, brown or yellow. They are an ugly breed, and
they exist in all communities and walks of life. They even exist in differing degrees.
They don't all wear white robes and pointy hats, nor prowl polling places with billy
clubs. Sometime one can hear the thinly veiled hate in commentary toward persons
of one race or another that carries just a hint of extra vitriol. They're out there, no
question about it.
Then there are the race-baiters. These are the people who like to use racial tension
to provoke a fight, promote racial animosity, win a political campaign or direct
attention from their own weaknesses or misdeeds. Race-baiters are everywhere, and
the NAACP and left wing of the Democratic party play the race card expertly to set
people against one another, impugn the motives of others and build coalitions against
faux enemies to feather their own political nest. What's really scary is that sometimes
the race-baiters are also race-haters. The real problem with the baiters is that they
keep stirring the pot and make it nearly impossible to isolate and neutralize the real
haters. There is no more vile insult than to call someone "racist" absent clear and
indisputable proof that the charge is true. And there is no lower strain of vermin than
he or she who tosses the accusation off casually for attention, personal or political
gain. That is wearing very thin with Americans.
Then, after the race-haters and race-baiters, there are the rest of us. We don't
hate anyone. We have neighbors of all colors and creeds. Our kids go to school
together. We struggle over budgets and report cards and mortgages and what to
wear in the morning when our chosen shirt has a grease spot on it. We don't think
of people as "kinds," but as neighbors, acquaintances and even friends. And we're
smart enough to recognize the phony politics of race when it's pushed at us, to
understand that politicians aren't out to lift anyone but themselves and that after
they've been elected or not and then ridden off into the sunset we all still have to
live together and make the best of it. Hating simply doesn't come into that equation.
We don't have time for the haters, and we wish the baiters (including the NAACP)
would take their hogwash somewhere else. Newsflash, Shirley Sherrod: there is
only one "kind" when it comes to people. And until you learn and practice that,
you're either a baiter or a hater. We're all sorry your story was misunderstood, But
we really wish you hadn't said the other stuff!