President Obama's White House failed a hard working Black woman and the nation by bowing to racism spewed by known racists, but he can turn it around.
There can be no doubt that the Obama White House acted with extreme racial cowardice.
We know that USDA officials and higher ups called Ms. Shirley Sherrod multiple times while she was driving. Ms. Cook, undersecretary for USDA, told her that the White House wanted her to resign and she should pull to the side of the road and do it.
Like a "good" Black person, Ms. Sherrod resigned. Then, she got mad. She got really mad. She contacted the media and pulled them in by telling them that the White House wanted her to resign. True or not. It got the media interested because they like nothing more than an anti-Obama slant to anything.
What we know is that Ms. Sherrod was forced to resign based upon a racial lie. She did not discriminate against white farmers. She did not discriminate against white farmers while at USDA. In fact, the very same white farmers came to her defense. They love her. She worked hard for them. She has had a stellar career.
Now the Obama White House looks like racial dupes and cowards. The actions of every White House official reeks of racial cowardice.
Today, Robert Gibbs issued an apology to Ms. Sherrod, but it is past time for this White House to talk about race. It is time for this White House to talk about the lies and racism in Fox News and the right wing media.
It is time for this White House to talk about how the media overall failed to do basic journalism and instead trusted a known source of lies. It is time for the White House to put it on the line and explain that the media is complicit in pushing a racial storyline because we have a Black President.
It is time for the White House to remove all media privileges from Fox News . . . immediately because Fox News lies. They are not news. They do not try to get facts. They bastardize facts to tell a racial story. They have done so since 2008.
It is time for the White House to start talking about race and stop running from it. The White House should put out an immediate press release saying that never again will any White House official or department rely on anything Fox news says or published by right white media with a known history of racial lies, e.g., Breitbart.
Then, reinstate, Ms. Sherrod and Van Jones, and refund ACORN.
The fact is Obama is a Black president. The fact is that numerous white people, many of whom are teabaggers, became enraged when Obama won. They want their country back where a Black man is not supposed to be President.
Ignoring that reality, ignores how deeply entrenched racism is in the USA. Step up. It is time to talk about race.
President Obama can turn this around by simply being honest. He made a mistake. His administration made a HUGE mistake. They responded to racism in the media with haste. They harmed a good Black woman who has worked most of her life fighting racial injustice. They did not even bother to look at who was involved. They ran from the white right wing media lies, trampling over a Black woman to do so.
If there was ever time for a "summit," this is it. Let's talk about race.
This administration must commit to ignoring Fox News and removing all their privileges until Fox starts acting like it is the 4th Estate and not the media arm of the teabaggers. Same goes for every other news outlet: Tell the truth and give facts or lose White House privileges.
Kudos to Ms. Sherrod: She did what the White House lacked the courage to do. She said: NO MORE. FOX LIES. I WILL NOT BE SILENT IN THE FACE OF THIS TRAVESTY.
Time for the White House to do so. I'd like to not hear crickets on this from President Obama.