Sherrod and a Lesson in Using the Race Card

Apparently Shirley Sherrod is not a racist woman who was using her position of power to block people from getting equal treatment under the law.  The full video has been released and apologies have been made.  But it shouldn't be the end of the story. 

The story really isn't about Sherrod, she just got caught in the middle of it.  The story is about people who are all too willing to label someone a racist and the fear that it brings out in people.  This happened because the NAACP is starting a fight unnecessarily with the Tea Party movement. 

Sherrod's side of the story is that the Obama administration pressured her into resigning; a charge they deny.  She also said that the NAACP never contacted her before releasing it's original statement condemning her statements of not helping a white man save his farm.  Both of these things are just as disturbing as Andrew Breitbart releasing a video without the full context, and not reporting it in such a way that made that clear. 

Calling someone a racist or even implying it can have very damaging results.  This woman has been publicly ridiculed across the blogoshpere and national television.  She has lost her job (something that should be corrected immediately), and she has been thrust into  a spotlight that she neither asked for or deserved.  This is a lesson in why using the race card should only be done with careful consideration and more than just a single soundbite. 

If you take a look around the conservative blogosphere, you will see the apologies to the unnecessary interruption to Ms. Sherrod's life.  I am still waiting for the left to apologize for the non existent N word incident at the Tea Party Protest in March.