Shame, shame, shame . . .

On everyone involved in the Shirley Sherrod business. Except, of course, Shirley Sherrod herself. Shame on the right-wing creep who published a dishonestly edited video and accused her of racism. Shame on the Obama administration who fired her without even asking for the other side of the story. Shame on the NAACP who encouraged that firing, also without asking or even the briefest investigation. Although she bears a famous civil right era name – her father having been murdered in the struggle for racial equality.


We should be clear here. This is a black woman being accused of racism against whites. So called “reverse racism.” As if that was a big problem in our society. As if it were somehow equivalent to racism against blacks. As if we struggling whites have been continually held down by the black power structure. Oppressed, enslaved, discriminated against, denied equal rights and opportunities, not to mention having to face unequal justice and disproportionate imprisonment. As if being born white in this land of the brave and home of the free hasn’t conveyed obvious advantages over those with less fortunately colored skin for hundreds of years. As it still does today. Perhaps more subtly, but advantages never the less.


Those of us willing to be honest with ourselves know that in the US of A it is still better to be white than brown or yellow . . . best of all to be white instead of black. A look at the power structure shows it still remains overwhelmingly white, as do most everyday authority figures like police and teachers. We also know that we all harbor prejudices capable of clouding our judgment. And even the best of us let them get the worst of us at least some of the time.


Racism, oppression, discrimination and prejudice don’t just disappear overnight. They bequeath a legacy that will take generations to remove. Perhaps hundreds of years. The election of a black President doesn’t mean it’s now all behind us. It’s not a wound that our mothers can kiss and make well. Those of us who have manfully borne the burden of white privilege should manfully be prepared to do what we can, against the darker angels of our nature, to help right the situation. At least those of us who believe in the desirability of an equal society. And we should try to pass that task on to our children and grandchildren.


Were the accusations against Ms. Sherrod to be true, so what? What could be more natural than a middle-aged black woman, coming of age when she did, with a father surely murdered by the Klan, raised, living and working in the south, being prejudiced against whites? She would have to be someone quite special to rise above all that. And it seems that she is. Would that we all were.

But what I find most offensive about the Sherrod situation was that this incident occurred 24 years ago, in 1986. At which time she worked, not for the Federal Government, but for a private organization specifically engaged in helping black farmers. Punished for a crime she didn’t commit 24 years ago. Guilty until proven innocent. By an administration claiming to be progressive. Never mind that it wouldn’t have been a crime even if she had committed it.


Let’s assume, for a minute, that she did. Is there to be no statue of limitations on the expression of bad thoughts? I feel sorry for all you kids presently confessing everything on facebook. Your future may prove far more interesting than you can imagine. Especially if you’re black.
Al