http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/22/jesse_jackson_calls_shirley_sherrod_a

For the most part, this was a ridiculous story - a case of a right-wing political hack with nothing better to do than try to assasinate a woman's character by pulling filmed words out of context. I don't think this should go by us though without listening to all of her words, and recognizing something in ourselves.

*Quick rundown - the agriculture secretary gave a speech at an NAACP meeting in which she admitted to a bout of personal racism. Her own father was murdered by a white farmer, and was hesitant to go out of her way to help an impoverished white man in all the ways she could.*

It is available here in video, radio stream and text. Here is some of it, out of context but appropriate to the spirit of what she meant:

"So I figured if I take him (white farmer) to one of them (white lawyer), that his own kind would take care of him...

That’s when it was revealed to me that... it’s about poor versus those who have, and not so much about white—it is about white and black, but it’s not...

...it’s really about those who have versus those who don’t."

She ultimately decided to help the man, since even the white lawyer she took him too didn't have the heart to do what was right and defend him.

Racism is a topic cropping up more and more in the forum lately, and we're faced with a paradox. To adjust what was said... it IS about White and Red, but it's Not. Yes - whites have oppressed native peoples in the most wretched ways for centuries; Yes, there is justifiable hatred between the people and wasicu.

But that is not what is important anymore - unless we all want to be dragged down into the depths of ourselves and never come out. No matter who or where we are, we have to always recognize when we are able to help those who do not have, directly and personally. I don't agree with donating and forgetting about things. Doing our part in the struggle, to fight for those in oppressive situations, requires that we live in a different manner.

We live so we can create and share with others, what we make, what we grow, from one person to another. We live so that we stop relying on the artifacts of an industry which is devoid of any relevant connection to being human, an industry which gives more to those who already have more than they can ever use.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/22/neither_the_destruction_of_the_9th

"My big brother Lenny fought in Vietnam, only to be gunned down a few blocks from our home."

Majora Carter is an activist who knows better than anyone how white people have oppressed african american people in New York, in the Bronx where she was raised in particular. But this woman chose to Do something about it and live differently, by turning her career into a vessel to create work for people, work with the land in the middle of a city, environmental alternatives, etc.

I know this opinion has been voiced before - just thought these news stories brought some more relevance to the discussion.