Shirley Sherrod "Very Pleased" After Phone Call with Obama
Updated 2:33 p.m. Eastern Time
Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod, who was fired over an out-of-context video of remarks she made about race posted to a conservative website, spoke with President Obama over the phone early this afternoon.
"The President reached Ms. Sherrod by telephone at about 12:35. They spoke for seven minutes," the White House said. "The President expressed to Ms. Sherrod his regret about the events of the last several days. He emphasized that Secretary Vilsack was sincere in his apology yesterday, and in his work to rid USDA of discrimination."
"The President told Ms. Sherrod that this misfortune can present an opportunity for her to continue her hard work on behalf of those in need, and he hopes that she will do so," according to the White House.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters following the call that Sherrod accepted the president's apology.
"He expressed his apologies for the events of the last several days," Gibbs said, adding: "He thought she was very gracious."
Sherrod was reportedly "very pleased" with how the conversation went, according to CNN, and found the president to be easygoing. She confirmed that the president told her that Vilsack, who ordered her firing before reversing himself and offering her a new job, was very sincere in his apology.
An administration official told CBS News the president tried to reach Sherrod twice last night but was unable to leave a message. The official said Sherrod did not make any indication about whether she would accept the job offer during the conversation today.
The president made comparisons between his discussions of race in his books and Sherrod's comments in the wake of her firing, Sherrod told the CNN reporter, and brought up lawsuits put forth by black farmers against the USDA.
The two reportedly did not get into a discussion of any White House involvement in Sherrod's firing. Gibbs said at his press briefing that Mr. Obama did not invite Sherrod to the White House.
Sherrod requested that cameras not record the conversation.
The USDA asked Sherrod to resign Monday after a conservative blog released an edited video of remarks she gave at an NAACP conference that gave the impression she discriminated against a white farmer. Her full remarks, however, made clear she was relating a story from two decades ago -- long before she joined the USDA -- and that she ultimately learned an important lesson to disregard race. The wife of the farmer in question stated yesterday that Sherrod is a "friend for life" who helped save their family farm.
Sherrod said the USDA pressed her to resign without listening to her side of the story or taking the time to review the remarks she gave to the NAACP. She said the USDA official who contacted her said she was acting at the behest of the White House.
Vilsack told reporters yesterday afternoon that he has offered a "personal and profound" apology to Sherrod for forcing her to resign, stating that he will "have to live with that for a long, long time."
Vilsack said he offered Sherrod, who had been Georgia State Director of Rural Development, a new position at the USDA, though he declined to specify the nature of that "unique" position. Sherrod indicated to him that she wants time to consider his offer.
Earlier Wednesday, Gibbs apologized to Sherrod, stating that "a disservice was done" in her firing. Sherrod accepted the apology.
Calling the situation an "injustice," Gibbs said that "a lot of people involved in this situation, from the government's perspective on through, acted without all the facts."
At his briefing today, he said the situation reflects "a moment that I think provides us an opportunity to reflect and change." He said it will help both the White House and media make better choices and act less rashly in the future, and that there are lessons about both race and the media environment to take from the incident. At one point, he complained of a "reality TV culture."
Sherrod said Thursday on CBS' "The Early Show " that she would consider legal action against the conservative activist and blogger who posted the video that led to her ouster, Andrew Breitbart. (Watch in first video.)
Breitbart said on CBSNews.com's "Washington Unplugged" today that he stands by the video and said the NAACP was the target, not Sherrod. (Watch above.)
"This is an attempt to try to focus this on a likable person, Shirley Vs. Andrew, not about the NAACP's attempt with a willing media to try and frame the Tea Party as racist," he said.
He added that he believes "Shirley sees things through a racial prism."
More Coverage of Shirley Sherrod:
Sherrod: I'd Like to Talk Race with Obama
Sherrod: I'd Consider Legal Action against Breitbart
Sherrod: Administration Too Sensitive to the Right
Sherrod Story Shows Ugly Side of 24-Hour News
Washington Unplugged: Analysis, Reaction
Vilsack: I Will Have to Live With My Mistake
Breitbart: Video Was Meant to Target the NAACP
Case Exposes Raw Wounds About Race
More Coverage in Hotsheet Blog
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corneliusvansant said, "One has to ask, what is the cause of the hyper-racist environment?..."
---
You widen your eyes, and raise your brows in horror that someone in the GOP camp might be racist.
You pretend blissful ignorance the GOP first gained power in the American South by a strategy of undeniable racism-- compounding the social, economic and political legacy of centuries of racism across the nation.
Modern Racism, as GOP Party History---
Yet, it is a matter of record that from the first mention of civil rights legislation in the 1950's, GOP figures began to observe sagely racism was a built-in human trait which no law could eradicate. Meanwhile, the same GOP continued to push for tougher penalties for rape, robbery and murder, also time-tested human traits.
And in the late 1950's, since openly stating racist beliefs was uncomfortably ugly to some white politicians, the GOP and fellow Dixiecrats adopted the abstruse rhetoric of "states' rights", under which certain federal law-- especially about civil rights under the US constitution-- would be ignored on "principle".
George Wallace, for example, preferred not to admit he was a racist-- instead, he became a patriot in white robes defending the American constitution, courtesy "states' rights".
But however parsed for the press and public, the principle worked out to this-- in 1960 and 1964, the GOP quietly embraced opposition to federal civil rights law as a party platform.
In Philadelphia, MS, where three civil rights workers were executed by local Klan death squads, Reagan launched his campaign of 1980, assuring the crowd of whites he was a champion of "states rights"-- the same code used by every Southern racist apologist for segregation.
The white crowd cheered, knowing Reagan's was a promise not to enforce federal civil rights law. And they comforted their nagging doubts with Reagan's catch-all rationale (so abused by the GOP)-- this was not about racism, but about "American freedom".
Even Reagan's own campaign manager and RNC chairman, Lee Atwater, confessed on his deathbed that GOP fortunes everywhere depended on a not-so-subtle (though coded) racist appeal. Atwater was sorry, so sorry, about all the damage.
About the Recent Unpleasantness---
Aghast at the accusation of racism, you pose a flurry of wandering rhetorical questions, but without rhetoric. Your answer, awkwardly enough, is a self-inflicted wound, and levels the finger of accusation at the GOP, its SmearNet and Faux News.
For example, you claim Obama was elected to "prove" a post-racial America-- only to note a substantial number of "reactionary" Americans making jokes about black Americans, and Obama, in particular. And still pretending innocence, you ask, "What is the cause of the hyper-racist environment?"
Again, where is your finger pointed? A fair definition of racism is to use the attribute of race to qualify judgment. Such judgment is taught-- those who teach racism by their own doctrines and example are the cause of racism.
Another Teachable Moment---
Which brings up "teachable moments" and leadership. If education has any claim to promote truthful, ethical conduct, then leading America out of its racist past is its first lesson.
Yet, to the last-- no longer claiming "states' rights"-- the GOP now claims "free speech" excuses racist attitudes. Apparently, this will do for Obama haters until something more noble-sounding better masks the ugly, unpatriotic face of racial prejudice.
As a teacher of the teachable, Obama, himself, has not made an issue of overt racism displayed toward him-- from the anonymous internet "jokes" which all of us have seen, to the epithets shouted by tea baggers, to a shouted interruption of a presidential address by a southern senator whose son swears on his bible that his father hasn't a "racist bone in his body". All this is surely to Obama's credit.
Because it lets him lead by example-- a patient, forgiving example. Obama speaks as president to all Americans, not simply those who agree with him. And that leadership is not only "post-racial", for those who can conceive of non-racial relationships, but it is "post-partisan" in the sense we Americans must move beyond what you recognize as pointless acrimony.
Yes, Obama admitted a mistake in labeling the police action in Cambridge "stupid" (which it actually turned out to be), because his words seemed a rush to judgment about what actually happened at the Gates home. To admit error is a good sign in a teacher, because every teacher is an eager student.
You conclude with partisan humor, "What is the definition of racist? - a person who has won the argument with a Democrat." But now, the most difficult question-- how would you know when you "won"?
Aside from the fact no winners emerge from a national problem that is no laughing matter, you little realize the "joke" is not only at your own expense, but that of the entire country.
Sherrod should be willing to discuss this matter with Tom Vilsack, and work constructively with him-- if redress and reform is her only agenda.
If, however, Sherrod wants to make this into a grand drama, she has exceeded what conditions mandate. For Obama, or any other president, an agency chief who mishandles a situation is cause for concern and demands appropriate remedy-- but rarely is a presidential apology issued, as Obama already generously has offered.
The Sherrod incident should lead to reform at USDA and across government, without a doubt. But it also should prompt a clear understanding of what the GOP and its dirty tricks squad are capable. ACORN was only the beginning, and every "expose" in the future must be viewed as a probable hoax.
In addition, perspective is urgently needed. Viewed 10 years later, this brief episode-- staged by a GOP operator named Breitbart-- cannot retain the giant profile it enjoys now, however Faux News wishes it could.
By the same 10 years window, Sherrod should realize her injured feelings are justified, but embarrassing Obama when her redress should come from Breitbart, is counterproductive.
Seeking to damage Obama is exactly what Breitbart, the GOP and Faux news talking heads want-- to create infighting in Democratic ranks.
Are we racist as a people? Or, did we learn that that overreactions to free speech translates into division, derision and animosity? Or even more insidious, that the atmosphere has been deliberately poisoned.
One has to ask, what is the cause of the hyper-racist environment? The election was supposed to prove tolerance of the electorate and put us into a post racial age. Instead, the vitriol is more intense, more offensive and more reactionary. Why?
The charge of racist did not originate with right-wing media; they have been copiously defending themselves. The charge of racist has not been leveled by the TEA Party; they are also busy defending themselves against the stereotypical charge.
Joke going around the Internet: What is the definition of racist? - a person who has won an argument with a Democrat. The charge of racism is the final refuge of the vacuous.
corneliusvansant said, "The charge of racism is the final refuge of the vacuous."
---
The charge of racism is sometimes appropriate, just as the claim of "patriotism" is sometimes inappropriate-- particularly when made by the GOP.
Actually, the quotation you have perverted is "patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels". But you demonstrate (thank you) that aphorisms are best left to others.
Rush told his listeners not to see Micheal Moore's 911 documentary, Rush and Breibart have taken the role of censors and manipulators. I have never heard CBS tell me what I can see or what I can't see.
He did make the president and his advisors look pretty foolish.
================================================================
Yes, he did.
Hopefully a nice, fat, juicy lawsuit will give him and
his brethren at FAUX NOISE some nice heartburn.
---
To trick somebody is not the same as honest advocacy. Instead, it speaks of the GOP's firm conviction the party has no valid point to make.
In a perverse way unique to the GOP, the party indicts itself by its every hoax and preposterous claim.
By now, the modus operandi for these GOP con artists has become familiar-- they trace their lineage through Karl Rove back to Donald Segretti, dirty tricks chief for Nixon.
Obama is getting so unpopular right now - I wonder if he is going to have to flee the country when his giant tax increases hit on January 1.
Oh, well - that's his problem.
Our problem will be dismantling his destructive policies ASAP.
============================================
You Tea-Baggers have problems ... but that is not one of them.
Your so-called party is about as attractive as Radioactive Waste.