It wasn't racism. It was an epiphany.
It wasn’t racism. It was an epiphany.
Firing of USDA official highlights larger political problems involving race
By Karen Tumulty and Krissah Thompson
(Washington Post) A video of the full speech — which runs more than 45 minutes — shows that Sherrod was trying to make a very different point from the one her critics saw in her inelegantly worded account of the episode with farmer Roger Spooner. An examination of her own prejudice, she said, taught her that “there is no difference between us.”
“The only difference is the folks with money want to stay in power. It’s always about money, y’all,” she said. “God helped me to see that it’s not just about black people. It’s about poor people. I’ve come a long way.”
Ultimately, she did help the farmer — and on Tuesday, his family was among those who came to her defense. “She’s a good friend. She helped us save our farm,” Spooner’s wife, Eloise, told CNN. “She’s the one I give credit for helping us save our farm.”
Read the rest on WashingtonPost.com.
Update: The farmer and his wife speak out:
