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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State Rep. Ronald
Waters |
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PLBC responds to aftermath of Shirley Sherrod's statements
HARRISBURG, July 23 – Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus members are responding to the aftermath of remarks made by Shirley Sherrod, who was the director of rural development for Georgia at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Sherrod was recently forced to resign from her position after a blogger posted video from a March NAACP banquet at which she described being reluctant to provide help to a white farmer who had sought her assistance. It was later discovered that the video had been edited, and her remarks had been taken out of context and misrepresented.
The PLBC's chairman, state Rep. Ronald G. Waters, D-Delaware/Phila., described the release of the edited video as an example of unethical journalism.
"The irresponsible reporting of this incident did not allow us to see the heroic part of this story, only the negative side of the human struggle. By presenting a heavily edited videotape of Shirley Sherrod’s speech, this blogger made it look as if Sherrod was poisoned with hate from her experience, but that is not the case," Waters said. "This blatant omission and failure to report the whole speech denies the American public the opportunity to see Ms. Sherrod demonstrating the ability of the human spirit to rise above and reach the high ideals that we should all aspire to."
State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas, D-Phila., another PLBC member, said the edited video led to the Obama administration's hasty decision to fire her and the NAACP's support for her dismissal. "It must be said that both the NAACP and the Obama administration committed a grave injustice to Ms. Sherrod by condemning her before they had all the facts," Thomas said. "Let this be a lesson to all who are inclined to rush to judgment before they have done their homework."
Another PLBC member, state Rep. Rosita Youngblood, D-Phila., said she hopes the White House will thoroughly investigate incidents such as this before rushing to judgment in the future.
PLBC members said they are glad USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has issued a public apology to Sherrod and has offered her a new position with the department. However, they said they believe she should be offered her old job back, if she wants it, as she was obviously very competent and devoted to it.
Waters said he admires Sherrod's courage and strength in the midst of such adversity.
"At a time when we need positive role models, I want to give kudos to Shirley Sherrod for being such a strong and positive woman," Waters said.
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