Shirley Sherrod

Racism is a "hot potato" issue and everyone who dares to venture close to this topic will usually be branded a "racist". 
So let's start by defining what racism is according to the dictionary as follows...

rac·ism   /ˈreɪsɪzəm/ Show Spelled[rey-siz-uhm] Show IPA

–noun
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.

2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.

3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

Origin:

1865–70; < F racisme. See race2 , -ism
Related forms
racist, noun, adjective
an·ti·ra·cism, noun
an·ti·ra·cist, noun, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged

The other day a woman by the name of Shirley , Georgia Director of Rural Development, Sherrod was called to task regarding statements she made about an experience she had 24 years ago and spoke about at an NAACP sponsored luncheon in March.  A blogger had found and taken a segment of Ms. Sherrod's speech and loaded it on to you tube ( our source for all serious news!) and it quickly produced the uproar the he surely intended, and culminated in the firing of Ms. Sherrod, and then the subsequent International discussion that ensued.
Was she being racist...the quotes that were plucked out of context would support it...check out definition #1 above...then read on... Shirley Sherrod openly admits that her experience with white people had been seriously tarnished by the murder of her father when she was young.  The killer was white...the witnesses were black...it never went to trial.  She had promised herself that she would help her black brothers and sisters whatever she did in the future.  Then the turning point for Shirley arrived...
"The first time I was faced with having to help a white farmer save his farm, he took a long time talking but he was trying to show me he was superior to me. I know what he was doing, but he had come to me for help. What he didn't know while he was taking all that time trying to show me he was superior to me was, I was trying to decide just how much help I was going to give him," Sherrod said.

"I was struggling with the fact that so many black people had lost their farmland, and here I was faced with having to help a white person save their land. So I didn't give him the full force of what I could do. I did enough," Sherrod said. "So that when he, I assumed the Department of Agriculture had sent him to me, either that or the Georgia Department of Agriculture, and he needed to go back and report that I did try to help him."

In the video, Shirley speaks about referring the white farmer to a white lawyer, thinking the latter would be more sympathetic because of his race... "So I took him to a white lawyer that had attended some of training that we had provided because Chapter 12 bankruptcy had just been enacted for the family farm. So I figured if I take him to one of them, that his own kind would take care of him."

So what do you think so far?  Sounds like she is having trouble seeing past this man's colour, and over to the issue at hand...helping him save his farm?  This is the point where your "racist" viewers turn off the video...the time when they state categorically..."See...she's a racist handing out money to black people only..."
That's at point 22 minutes...the video is 43 minutes long!! You can watch it in it's entirety...

What have they left out...the part where the white farmer comes back because the white lawyer won't help him...he doesn' have any money!!!  Shirley shares that this moment was pivotal in her life, as she realized it wasn't about race...it's about money and power vs. poor and powerless.  She determined to help anyone who was powerless to help themselves, regardless of the colour of their skin....Now that's pretty racist dontcha think?
There's one race we should all be concerned about, and that of course is the "Human Race".  We get so caught up in picking the needles out of the haystack, that we spoil the hay...the most valuable part.
None of us are immune to the effects of this skewed racism.  A few years ago Canada was sited by the UN as being "racist" for using the term "visible minority" on it's census forms.
"UN calls Canada racist for 'visible minorities' tag
Canada's use of the term "visible minorities" to identify people it considers susceptible to racial discrimination came under fire at the United Nations Wednesday - for being racist....the Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination - also questioned other terms used by the federal government, among them "ethnocultural communities."
By Can West News Service March 8, 2007 "

UNITED NATIONS - Canada's use of the term "visible minorities" to identify people it considers susceptible to racial discrimination came under fire at the United Nations Wednesday - for being racist.
The world body's anti-racism watchdog says in a report on Ottawa's efforts to eliminate racial discrimination in Canada that the words might contravene an international treaty aimed at combating racism.
Members of the watchdog - the Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination - also questioned other terms used by the federal government, among them "ethnocultural communities."
Other highlights of the report include a call for Canada to provide welfare to undocumented immigrants and failed refugee applicants; an expression of concern about "racial profiling" in Canada; and a recommendation that Canada pass laws to prevent Canadian transnational companies from trampling on the rights of indigenous peoples overseas.
Released Wednesday, the report presents the committee's findings after its members last month grilled a Canadian Heritage-led delegation on Canada's anti-racism policies.
All countries that have signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination must appear periodically before the committee to explain how they are respecting the treaty.
While the committee's recommendations are not legally binding, Ottawa says it is taking note.
"Constructive suggestions made by the committee may be useful to Canada in order to enhance its implementation of the convention," says Canadian Heritage spokeswoman Dominique Collin.
Eliminating all forms of identification would raise the question: How can minorities be helped or protected if there is no definition of who they are?
"I don't think the committee members could have realized that Canada's use of the term 'visible minorities' is aimed at ensuring positive discrimination," says Martin Collacott, a former Canadian ambassador to a number of Asian and Middle Eastern countries, and currently senior fellow at the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think-tank."

I don't know what the real answer is, because even when people are trying to help, they are slandered for the mere distinction.  My little country village has little in the way of cultural diversity, and having lived in more diverse areas, I know that we are missing the blessing that come with sharing our cultural backgrounds and traditions.  We are a village of 1000 people, but the good thing is that our town (20 min. out) is growing in diversity, and hopefully this will have an impact on our village makeup.