Shirley Sherrod

     Racism not only remains am ugly stamp stuck on our nation's history but it will continue to be evident despite any or all progress made. My last blog post as well is this one will hopefully illuminate the ignorance and hatred that still lives throughout our society. Shirley Sherrod was an official working with the U.S Department of Agriculture. Sherrod made a speech at an NAACP meeting ( Mar27) and when her words were twisted into a reverse racism claim, she was forced to resign; uncovering the dangers of the media, FOX news, and ignorant bloggers. Her father was killed by a white man when she was a child, and some of the comments in her speech regarded not helping a White farmer as much as she could have; although she was discussing a dilemma faced 24 years ago. Later in the speech she goes on to explain that she eventually did help the White farmer, and came to acknowledge that she wanted to help all people in need, regardless of race. Right wing blogger, Andrew Breitbart released an edited video of her speech, leaving out the whole second half where she explained how she brought the White farmer back on his feet. He then posted this video on his blog describing Sherrod and the Obama Whitehouse as supporting reverse racism and having only the interest of Black America. Before long, the video began to appear on FOX news what seemed to be on repeat.  The release of this video and lack of investigation led to her being fired from the USDA and the NAACP publicly critizing her on behalf of these "racist remarks." But, as usual, the truth emerged and the full length, un-edited version appeared. Within the last couple days, the apologies began flowing in. Tom Vilsac, the Sec. of Agriculture offered her a higher position in the USDA and the NAACP President Banjamin Jealous explains "Having reviewed the full tape, spoken to Ms. Sherrod, and most importantly heard the testimony of the white farmers mentioned in this story, we now believe the organization that edited the documents did so with the intention of deceiving millions of Americans." President Obama goes on to say, “He jumped the gun, partly because we now live in this media culture where something goes up on YouTube or a blog and everybody scrambles,” in response to Sherrod's forced resignation. This entire story goes on to portray the media take-over and lack of investigation in today's politics. I believe the NAACP and the USDA were both entirely wrong in garnishing her reputation for believing a video a RIGHT wing blogger and FOX news put out. This story also goes on to show how conservatives are dying to blame race for everything wrong in America. Although racism will continue to remain evident, it is up to the younger generation to be more tolerant of eachother and embrace diversity as the only source to improving society as we know it.

Tea Party Racism

     There has been A LOT of buzz lately surrounding the NAACP, racism, and the Tea Party. The 'Tea Party' is a fairly new term so I'll define that first. The Tea Party is a socio-political movement that aims to protest several economic Federal bills including health care and taxes. TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already and also refers to the Boston Tea Party of 1773. The Tea Party is a "Grass-Roots Movement" and a mainly conservative party. It has several groups, one being the Tea Party Express. The racism claims began last week after the NAACP wrote a resolution that asked, "all people of good will to repudiate the racism of the Tea Parties, and to stand in opposition to its drive to push our country back to the pre-civil rights era"; along with exclaiming several heads of the Tea Party as portraying racist elements. These claims drove Mark Williams, leader of the Tea Party Express to write an extremely outlandish and bigoted blog entry. The entry was in the form of a letter to Abraham Lincoln accusing the NAACP as racist and reffered to blacks as "colored". A little after the blog entry, he removed it saying, "It's time to move on." The same day Mark Williams and the Tea Party Express were "expelled" from the Tea Party Federation. It's not like he was being paid or in an actual position so I'm not exactly sure how he was expelled...but alright. Mark Williams along with other Tea Party spokesmen have since made various talk show appearances to rebute the claims of racism. However, if the Tea Party promotes children holding signs that compare Obama to Hitler, I do feel the Party as a whole is racist. Although i'd rather not make generalitzations about the entire movement, they have not done a good job of convincing me otherwise. Also, it is never okay to call the NAACP as "making money off of race," as seen in the video below. The debate between who is really racist will continue to be heated and shows no end especially with November elections ahead.

Nelson Mandela

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone! But, in other birthday announcements, Nelson Mandela turns 92 today! CLICK HERE to see the card signed by over 27,000 ONE members from all across the world.

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

Sorry I haven't posted today or yesterday but I've been getting ready for my 17th birthday, which is today! Oh and apparently the oil spill was capped, but for how long? BP will forever have making up to do! More posting to come;  had an amazing day though =D

Argentina!

     Today, Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize gay marriage. There was a 16 hour debate prior to the vote, which resulted in 33 for and 27 against. The law declares that, "marriage provides for the same requisites and effects independent of whether the contracting parties are of the same or different sex." As most know, Latin American countries tend to follow the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church does not support gay marriage so naturallly there will be opposition to such a bill. "They want to convert this city into the gay capital of the world," said a teacher, Morales of San Luis province. No, they just believe in equal marriage rights for all their citizens and improving the diversity of their country. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is currently traveling but will make sure to sign the bill into law immediately when she returns.The Catholic Church along with 60,000 protesters marched along Congress this week to rally against the bill. However, Argentina is paving the way for other Latino countries and hopefully the United States as well. "What defines us is our humanity, and what runs against humanity is intolerance," said Sen. Norma Morandini. "Argentina, from today forward, is a more just country for all families" added Maria Rachid, President of the Argentine Federation of LGBT. I follow the Catholic religion but do support gay rights. Not everything in the bible is to be meant literally, and I believe in equality for all. So, power to the people!

Picture Credit: Juan Mabromata, AFP/Getty Images / July 14, 2010