Saturday, August 21, 2010

Politico-Shirley Sherrod and NAACP Repair Relationship

Shirley Sherrod: Fox News/AP
(Story reported by Andy Barr for Politico)

Former Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod has made peace with the NAACP, forgiving the organization for condemning her remarks on what turned out to be a misleadingly edited video.

"That's behind us, and the last thing I want to see happen is for my situation to weaken support for the NAACP," Sherrod wrote in an e-mail that went out to NAACP supporters Tuesday. "Too many people confronted by racism and poverty count on the NAACP to be there for them, especially those in rural areas who often have nowhere else to turn."

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack fired Sherrod after conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted a video of an NAACP speech in that appeared to show Sherrod saying that she did not help white farmers. On the heels of her firing, the NAACP condemned Sherrod.

But when a full clip of Sherrod's remarks was posted, it was clear that the video Breitbart had posted had been misleadingly edited, and both Vilsack and the NAACP apologized for their actions. Sherrod has not said whether she would return to the department.

(Click here to read the full story on the Politico website.)

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