Shirley Sherrod

Shirley Sherrod is the former employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture who, on July 19, 2010, was forced to resign her position as Director of Rural Development for the state of Georgia after conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted excerpts of a videotaped speech she made at a NAACP event in March, 2010, on his blog. The video had been edited to make it look as though Sherrod,who is African-American, was racially intolerant of caucasian people. The NAACP denounced Sherrod for her comments, and she was forced to resign. The unedited video revealed, however, that Sherrod's speech was one of redemption in which she explained her experience learning and applying racial tolerance. The NAACP, the White House and her employer, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack apologized and soon after, Sherrod was offered a new position.

The episode was considered emblematic of the deterioration of journalistic integrity, and of the rise of sensationalism and race-baiting in American news reporting.

Sourcewatch resources

 * Andrew Breitbart

External resources

 * Wikipedia article on Shirley Sherrod