I blame the 24-hour news cycle
Racism had a lot to do with the Shirley Sherrod ridiculousness this week, sure. But I don’t think it was a white person trying to ruin a black person’s life. It was more about a faction of the Tea Party trying to smack Liberals in the face with “everyone’s racist.” Truth is, no one political party or interest has the corner on the market of isms. In any group, there is someone who doesn’t like someone else because of stereotypes.
I don’t think it’s racism that got Shirley Sherrod fired. It’s the 24-hour news cycle. As soon as the offending clip was posted by Andrew Breibart, the clock was running. As cable news channels picked up “the story,” the NAACP and the federal government scrambled to make a statement and take a stand.
There was no time for “fact checking”! Fox News was calling it a cover-up! That the Obama Administration was turning the other way! Quick, fix it! Fixit fixit fixit!!!!
There was a time when there was a cooling off period on stories and maybe there should still be. A story like Shirley Sherrod’s is like a loaded gun. And it backfired on everyone.
