Tea Party Vs. NAACP

The new tea party movement hasn't taken kindly to a declaration made by one of the oldest civil rights groups in American history. The NAACP has declared that some "elements of the tea party are extremist." The official text of the declaration hasn't come out yet, but media outlets have made it out to be a declaration of racism within the tea party. To make matters a little more interesting, Fox News and other right leaning media outlets have come out with a tape that supposedly shows racism within the NAACP. The tape is of a speech given to the NAACP by an employee of the USDA in Georgia.



In the video Sherrod says "she didn't give him (a white man) the full force of what she could do." The tape ends there, and it seems as if she is guilty of not helping the farmer because he was white, but that is not the end of the story.

With a little bit of context things become more clear. Sherrod's story occurred 24 years ago. She told it to show that she had once been bias, but she learned from the experience. If you keep listening to her speech you will here her say “working with him, made me see that it is really about those who have and those who don’t, they could be black they could be white, they could be Hispanic. It made me realize then that I needed to work to help poor people. Those who don’t have access the way others have.” She goes on to describe how she helped that farmer, and how he was able to save his farm. The entire point of her speech was to show that the poor should be helped no matter what race they are.

Just to add more credibility to Sherrod's side of the story, that same white farmer she helped 24 years ago went on CNN to defend her.



Here are a few excerpts from Sherrod's speech and a link to the speech in its entirety.

“there is no difference between us.” 

 “its not just about black people, it is about poor people.” 

“white people, black people, Hispanic, people, we all have to do our part” 

 In referring to how blacks can overcome poverty, Sherrod pointed toward self reliance and hard work in school. "Parents, you have to set some goals for your children” She called on parents to help children succeed in school. She never once mentioned the government helping, only family and neighbors helping each other. 

http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/video_sherrod/