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USDA Official Saying She Didn't Give 'Full Force' of Help to White Farmer resigns

So you should advise people to seek out racists?

And yes, to advise someone to "seek out their own kind" is racist. Good thing Sherrod realized her mistake 20 years ago and is now teaching others that such ideas are wrong.

You just shifted my question. That's not what I asked. My question was do you think it's racist for a white person to speak in public using terms like "one of them" or "his own kind" when referring to blacks?
 
yes, seems you insist the earth is flat while the facts show that it is round
Childish, but to be expected...


no, she did not refuse to provide him assistance while she was an employee of the USDA

Thank you for finally admitting you were wrong.

yes, she insisted that the white farmer needed to also have a white attorney
appears she made that decision based entirely on the race of the lawyer and the race of the prospective client
that was a racially motivated decision. when that is found racism is exhibited
Won't argue with you there; this is a fact of record which Mrs. Sheddon openly admitted to.


i suspect you intended to make a point with that. try again
Absolutely! My point is that ever since this story broke and the truth of it came out, it has been repeated over and over and over again that Mrs. Sheddon's half-hearted initial attempts to help the White farmer was done in the capacity of her duties while employed by a non-profit organization, not while she was employed by the USDA - a fact you conveniently ignored up until now. The point is you (and others) continue to try and tie Mrs. Sheddon's past actions against the White farmer w/today's partisian politics, specifically attempting to link her with what you consider to be a racist Obama Administration. Well, you failed! The event in question did not occur while Mrs. Sheddon worked for the federal government; they occurred over two decades ago. Thanks for finally admitting that because now you have no basis from which to draw such a connection.

from your posts it is obvious you would not recognize the truth if it bit you on the ass
Interesting considering it took you two days to finally admit you were wrong about who Mrs. Sheddon worked for at the time she didn't give the White farmer the full measure of her experience. So, who was speaking the truth again?
i have cited for you the three instances in which the woman's speech as a USDA official violated the federal standards of conduct
and you only ignore those violations
it can only be assumed you recognize that those violations of federal standards undermine your very weak argument
But this thread isn't about Mrs. Sheddon's conduct while serving with the USDA. This thread is about a speech she gave before the NAACP concerning her actions 24 years ago towards a White farmer and how that incident changed her attitude about race relations. Only you and others have attempted to turn the discussion into something it's not!

you applaud an individual appointed to a position of authority in the federal government despite the evidence that she has violated the federal standards of conduct
this only underscores the widely held belief among career civil service that Obama's political appointees are as incompetent as dubya bin lyin's
that is a sad commentary on America and her future
but it is one you applaud
:doh I rest my case...
 
You just shifted my question. That's not what I asked. My question was do you think it's racist for a white person to speak in public using terms like "one of them" or "his own kind" when referring to blacks?

Sorry, misread your original question.

My answer is that it depends on the context. Here, she was speaking about her previous prejudices, how she felt 24 years ago, and how she overcame them.
 
My answer is that it depends on the context. Here, she was speaking about her previous prejudices, how she felt 24 years ago, and how she overcame them.

The question I have is was she using these terms in her speech in order to put the situation into historical context, or has she just gotten so used to compartmentalizing white people as "one of them" that she doesn't give it a second thought when speaking to a black audience? :confused:
 
The question I have is was she using these terms in her speech in order to put the situation into historical context, or has she just gotten so used to compartmentalizing white people as "one of them" that she doesn't give it a second thought when speaking to a black audience? :confused:

Well, if you'd watched the entirety of the speech you'd realize it was in historical context.

Breitbart should be in a proverbial noose for his involvement in this mess. It's the second time he's destroyed peoples' livelihood with heavily edited footage used to fabricate a scandal.
 
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Childish, but to be expected...
you seek to replace your desires and opinions for the facts of this matter; not a mature approach
Thank you for finally admitting you were wrong.
i was not wrong. in my first thread post it was i who pointed out that the woman had been appointed in 2009 and was still on employment probation (a two year period) at the time she was directed to resign
Won't argue with you there; this is a fact of record which Mrs. Sheddon openly admitted to.
outstanding. here is what we then both stipulate to as a fact:
yes, she insisted that the white farmer needed to also have a white attorney
appears she made that decision based entirely on the race of the lawyer and the race of the prospective client
that was a racially motivated decision. when that is found racism is exhibited
Absolutely! My point is that ever since this story broke and the truth of it came out, it has been repeated over and over and over again that Mrs. Sheddon's half-hearted initial attempts to help the White farmer was done in the capacity of her duties while employed by a non-profit organization, not while she was employed by the USDA - a fact you conveniently ignored up until now.
in no way have i ignored that fact. i have attempted to focus on the woman's actions while she was a USDA official, and identified the many aspects of her speech, presented as a federal official of the USDA (before the NAACP). while she has recognized now, what she did not practice years back, is that the white farmer deserved her 'full force'. she now recognizes that back then she failed to fulfill that fiduciary obligation to her client. however, she continues to believe - as is demonstrated in her recent speech - that it remains acceptable to use ethnicity/race/skin color as a determinant when seeking out an attorney for her client. she has never backed away from that. she sought out a white attorney to help a white farmer, as if the color/race/ethnicity of the lawyar was in any way significant. that demonstrates her willingness to disply bigotry. and that is something a federal official cannot be allowed to do.
she continues that theme, expressing a willingness to engage in disparate treatment, again within her NAACP speech, by noting that she came to realize she should focus on assisting poor people. just as a federal official cannot detemine the extent of their assistance based on a client's race, neither can they do so based on their economic standing.
finally, she engaged in proselytization within her NAACP presentation, when she encourages her audience to follow the path of God. no federal official should - in their official capacity - be found advocating for or against any form of religion. but she did
as i have said, i have no doubt that she is well intentioned
but she clearly has no ability to conform to the standards of conduct required of all federal employees. those three instances immediately above disqualify her for federal employment
The point is you (and others) continue to try and tie Mrs. Sheddon's past actions against the White farmer w/today's partisian politics, specifically attempting to link her with what you consider to be a racist Obama Administration.
that would be a very wrong conclusion on your part, recognizing that i am a very ardent Obama supporter
Well, you failed!
one of us failed, and you are the one found with a string of such failures during this particular debate
The event in question did not occur while Mrs. Sheddon worked for the federal government; they occurred over two decades ago. Thanks for finally admitting that because now you have no basis from which to draw such a connection.
the fact you conveniently - and consistently - ignore are those statements the woman made in her recent NAACP speech as a USDA federal official. in that speech she proseletyzes for religion, she sees no problem with using ones skin color when selecting an attorney, and she differentiates between the rich in the poor when offering her assistance. that speech was recent. that speech was given while she was a USDA official. that speech incriminates her as one who does not conform to the requirements of the standards of conduct for federal employees
Interesting considering it took you two days to finally admit you were wrong about who Mrs. Sheddon worked for at the time she didn't give the White farmer the full measure of her experience. So, who was speaking the truth again?
as i noted above, i was the one who articulated that the woman had only been with the USDA since 2009. i had in an earlier post identified her as a former employee of a nonprofit, government-funded to assist those who were dealing with the USDA. so, where was i wrong?
But this thread isn't about Mrs. Sheddon's conduct while serving with the USDA.
you are consist - consistently wrong - again
this has everything to do with the woman's actions as a USDA official
if she were not a resigned USDA official this thread would not exist
This thread is about a speech she gave before the NAACP concerning her actions 24 years ago towards a White farmer and how that incident changed her attitude about race relations. Only you and others have attempted to turn the discussion into something it's not!
this thread is about the woman being called to resign because of the perception that she was engaging in inappropriate actions while a USDA official
and she was unfairly treated in the initial - highly edited - youtube by giving the inaccurate appearance that she had refused to provide the full force of her USDA office recently rather than the admission that she had done this many years ago - then NOT as a USDA official. and the full video of the NAACP speech reveals that she illustrates this as an example of her growth from one who was willing to discriminate against a farmer because he was white
unfortunately, that growth was incomplete. she continues not to recognize that it is inappropriate to select an attorney for her client based on race. she continues to believe it is OK to distinguish between those who deserve her help and those who do not on the basis of their perceived wealth. she obviously has no problem, as a federal official, proselytizing for God, even tho that is a prohibited activity in one's official capacity
those admissions are to be found in her recent NAACP speech - not decades past. this woman, despite her good intentions, does not demonstrate the ability to conform to the standards of conduct required of all federal employees
:doh I rest my case...
your case was DOA. it deserves to rest in peace
 
I'll just let the transcript from the Q&A Mrs. Spooner just conducted w/the Washington post on this matter speak for itself.

Farmers defend Shirley Sherrod: Eloise and Roger Spooner take questions

Roger and Eloise Spooner
Farmers, Iron City, Ga.
Thursday, July 22, 2010; 2:00 PM

Transcript

Eloise Spooner: We've got four semis and my husband Roger is driving a Peterbilt with our sons, David and Dennis, and our grandson Jake ... the twins they're all hauling fertilizer today to different farms. We haul for a big company up in Colquitt, Ga., and Donaldsonville, Ga. So I'll be doing the interview.

_______________________

Burbank, Calif.: Thank you for agreeing to take questions. Let me please let this open ended: what do you most want the public to know about the situation that has brought you into national news attention?

Eloise Spooner: Shirley helped us when we really needed help and when we listened to the tape we felt we really wante to help her. It started Tuesday morning. Our son came up here and said Mother turn on the TV at CNN, your friend Shirley is on and we did and we listened and we knew instantly that it was us they were talking about.

So we listened and me and Roger looked at each other and we said that she helped us when we really needed help and we were gonna try to help her.

And then my son, he called CNN and told 'em that we were the couple they were talking about and if they wanted to talk to us he gave them our telelphone number.

Roger had two loads to haul so after all that he said he had to go on out and then our telephone started ringing and ringing and ringing.

We get this little paper from Atlanta, the Market Bulletin, and it had a little note in there and said if you were having and about to lose your fame ... they had a toll-free number. So I decided to call and he told us to go to this lawyer in Cairo and we did and he knew the woman who was in charge of the FHA.

_______________________

Eloise Spooner: So he said you might as well go ahead and do what Diane suggested (the FHA supervisor). I was so mad when we were driving home. Then in about a few weeks, a man called to see what you guys have done. He didn't do one thing for us. He said I'm gonna give you one more number for someone who could help you. That number was Shirley Sherrod. So we talked to her and we went up there to Albany, Ga. She said we've got two lawyers: one is a black lawyer and his name was Black and the other was Dan Easterlin in Americus, Ga.

We said we'd just try this one in Albany. So we went to see him and we had to scrape up some money and see him. We went to him for six months. But he wasn't getting anything accomplished.

After about six months, he said he couldn't help us on our case. I have another client. I called Shirley and told her and she asked me if she wanted us to call the other one. She asked us if she wanted her to go with us and we told her yes. She went up there two or three times.



_______________________

Eloise Spooner: We told Mr. Easterlin that we had some rough nights and couldn't sleep because we were worried and Mr. Easterlin told us to go home and get a good night's sleep and he'd take care of that. He managed to get us a Chapter 11 and we got that all settled. Then it began to level off, everything got better.

_______________________

Eloise Spooner: That was just about two weeks before they were gonna sell our farm up at the courthouse. He got the Chapter 11 to stop it and Shirley Sherrod arranged it all and got it going. We would have lost everyting if it hadn't been for Shirley.

_______________________

Atlanta, Ga.: Hi Mr. and Mrs Spooner,

I was raised in south Georgia and understand the struggles farmers go through every day. Do you think people from cities have any idea the struggles of rural America (black and white), particularly farmers, to make ends meet every day? I say this because so many times the media focuses its attention on the struggles of people living in cities.

Thanks for every thing you do.

Eloise Spooner: They need to visit the farmers and see how they have to work and worry and everythning. You gotta love it to want to stay in farming.

_______________________

Maryland, Md.: Mr. Spooner, when you first met Shirley Sherrod, she thought you were showing her that you're superior to her. Is that what you were doing?

Eloise Spooner: That's what the tape said but he's really not. You just have to get to know him. He's hard of hearing and he talks loud. After she got to know him, she changed her mind, I think.

_______________________

Arlington, VA: First, thank you so much for stepping forward to tell your side of the story - were you surprised at all the news coverage given this happened so long ago?

Eloise Spooner: I had packed up all of our papers and I thought I'm putting these away, I'll just have them here, I'm not gonna need 'em, and then all this broke out.

We've had so many people call us telling us that they were glad we stepped up to speak up for Shirley and tell people what kind of person she was. They said they didn't think Shirley had helped us like she should have but anyway, she did enough for us in that she got us in touch with Ben Easterlin and saved our farm.

_______________________

Orlando, Fla.: Do you feel that the rush to judgment resulting in Ms. Shirley Sherrod's firing was but another example of the out of control "Political Correctness" afflicting America today?

Eloise Spooner: She was driving home and they called her on her cell phone -- and you're not supposed to be talking on your cell phone while you're driving -- three times, they called her and told her that Washington was wanting her to resign. She wasn't treated right. They finally told her to pull over and type up her resignation. I wouldn't have done anybody that way.

I never dreamed that it would be like this. One reporter I heard said something about us wanting our 15 minutes of fame. Let me tell you something I would do the same thing again to help Shirley.

They didn't have the whole story; they just got parts of the story.

_______________________

Gray, Germany: Mr. and Mrs. Spooner, based on your personal experience, do you think that family businesses have a future in agriculture nowadays? What would you like Congress or the president to do to give farms like yours a better chance in the competition with the big corporations?

Eloise Spooner: You have to have a lot of land to be able to have a voice really. I have heard where a lot of times if you're a big, big farm you get deals. But just a farmer trying to make a living, they have to pay more than if you've got a bunch of land.

I hope the government or somebody does something someday soon so the little guy can make a living this way. We don't farm; we rent our land out. Roger was in the Navy and he was on the Yorktown that sunk in WW II and then he went in the submarine division and then when he got home he started farming. We farmed until about 1981 or '82 and then Roger started renting it out.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Hello Roger and Eloise, I believe most people's views on race have changed in the last twenty or so years, my question -- Are your views on race the same as they were doing the time you were about to lose your farm?

Thank you, Larry

Eloise Spooner: Roger was raised on a farm larger than the one we have and they had black people who were paid to farm with them and they had children and all of them worked together. They all got along, they were friends for life. As they got older and they still lived on the farm some of the Spooners would take them to the doctor.

Roger never meets a stranger. Before anytime has pased, they're talking like they've known each other.

_______________________

Mt. Holly Springs, Penn.: Where the Spooner's aware that Mrs. Sherrods father (Hosie Miller) had been killed by a white man, and did she (Shirley) ever speak about it to them?


Eloise Spooner: She never told us about it. We heard it on TV.

_______________________

Lawrenceburg, Tenn.: Mrs. Spooner, Were you surprised at how the short tape showed Ms. Sherrod? What would you like to say to those that presented the shortened tape?

Eloise Spooner: They didn't have the whole story there. You can't much blame her, somebody killing her daddy ... she did have a lot to overcome. I don't know what their purpose was in doing that but it harmed her. It shouldn't have been that way. It wasn't the whole story.

_______________________

Steel City, Pa: How many acres are you farming?

Eloise Spooner: Here where we live a mile and a half out of Iron City and about five miles from the farm Roger was raised on ... it's 100 acres and something here and 400 or so down the road about five miles. In the neighborhood of 500 acres.

_______________________

Kanab, Utah: Do you pay much attention to news? What do you think about the quality of the news media?

Eloise Spooner: I watch some of it sometimes, yes, it's according to what it's about. Most evenings we watch it together.

This particular thing, they need to get the whole story, don't just put parts of it in there. Too many commercials.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: No question, just thanks for stepping up. I'm bothered by the administration's willingness to jump the gun, downright angry at the media for both latching onto the edited video and then later pretending they had nothing to do with the scandal, and frustrated that anyone still takes this Breitbart guy seriously. So it's refreshing to see you standing up and cutting through all of that with the truth.

Eloise Spooner: The reason we got involved in it was help Shirley. That's just about it.

_______________________

Eloise Spooner: I just wish the world would get better for everybody.

Shirley called me today and told me she talked to the president. She wanted to come over tomorrow but we're gonna be busy; Roger's got to go to the doctor and then Saturday we've got funeral. Sunday she's gonna call me we'll decide then when we can get together. We didn't talk a long time. She said I know you're like me and we're both tired. She said it would be good to sleep in own tonight.

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: This concludes our discussion with Eloise Spooner. Thank you for joining in.
 
Well, if you'd watched the entirety of the speech you'd realize it was in historical context.

Well, I watched a good bit of it on the NAACP's website. (The entire speech was about three quarters of an hour long. Sorry, but my time it limited. At one point she said it's not about white or black, but then she corrected herself and said that it is. Perhaps you can you direct me to the part of the speech where she elaborates on that comment? :confused:) Normally, one would expect that when making a comment like that the speaker would make some sort of gesture like an air quote or emphasize the word or phrase when saying it, as in "one of those people." I didn't notice her trying to distinguish the words in question in any way.
 
nyone that DOESNT believe that ALL PARTIES...ALL RACES...
 
Well, I watched a good bit of it on the NAACP's website. (The entire speech was about three quarters of an hour long. Sorry, but my time it limited. At one point she said it's not about white or black, but then she corrected herself and said that it is. Perhaps you can you direct me to the part of the speech where she elaborates on that comment? :confused:) Normally, one would expect that when making a comment like that the speaker would make some sort of gesture like an air quote or emphasize the word or phrase when saying it, as in "one of those people." I didn't notice her trying to distinguish the words in question in any way.

Then you really should watch the entire video before passing judgement. Don't watch it and attempt to single-out any particular issue. Watch the entire thing, listen to her story, pay attention to the history she gives on race relations and racial injustice, then listen to the overall theme of her speech. Once you've done that with an open mind and giving Mrs. Sherrod the full measure of inpartiality, then and only then can anyone truly speak out on this matter. I'm sure afterwards you'll come away with a different perspective. If not, well...you are who I said you [sic] are.
 
Grim sure got quiet on this thread once he tasted the mud all over his face.
 
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