There is a curious case currently ongoing concerning Ms Shirley Sherrod. When I first heard of the incident at an NAACP speech my initial thought was that she shared this anecdote of not helping a white farmer as much as she could have as a learning point in her own career. This thought was based on the fact that the incident had happened twenty or so years ago, if it had happened again since then she would have presented a more recent case. I had not yet heard the actual recording of the speech, but before I did, Ms Sherrod had been asked to resign and President Benjamin Jealous of the NAACP condemned her actions and supported her ouster. This caused me to wonder if I had misheard the report of the speech, but still before I had a chance to listen for myself, others began to take the same opinion of “lesson learned.”

Ms Sherrod was offered not only her job back, but a job to make sure no one else did this again. B. Jealous reversed himself later in the day Tuesday, saying the NAACP had been “snookered” by a distortion of the facts. Those facts being the story edited and told by Andrew Breitbart on his website and Fox News. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and at least one official from the White House denies the White House called for Sherrod’s resignation. However, Cheryl Cook, an undersecretary, called Sherrod enroute to West Point and told her that the White House wanted her to pull over to the side of the road and resign immediately. Sherrod speaking of the calls said that, “The administration was not interested in hearing the truth. They didn’t want to hear the truth.”

The farmer in question, his wife and Ms Sherrod became friends, revealing that Ms Sherrod’s claim of the incident having been a learning point for her was truly a lesson learned. It is an excellent lesson that we should all desire everyone to learn, but the disturbing part is the part in the middle of the whole affair.

After finally listening to the clip, it was obvious to me that my first thought seemed right. It did not require listening to the entire speech, the initial clip was sufficient to get the message she intended. In her own words, “The point was to get them to understand that we need to look beyond race.” By his actions, B. Jealous would have us believe that he listened only to the initial snip, and not the whole speech, otherwise there would be no need to blame a conservative media outlet (I thought the left had outlawed Fox News anyway, how did he even see Breitbart’s spin?). In listening to the speech, others in the crowd are heard to laugh and/or murmur approval as Sherrod indicates she helped him to the bare minimum. What is certain is that the mob mentality was one of acceptance of Sherrod’s actions. The guiding mindset of the NAACP seems to have become not to end racial strife but rather to maintain racial strife because without it, there would be no point of having the NAACP. Members of the crowd approved of Sherrod’s reversed bigotry.

The most disturbing aspect of this case to me is the “great lesson” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs mentioned. In saying that in our culture things whip around and people want fast responses they want to give fast responses, “…One of the great lessons you take away from this is to ask all the questions first.” Did the administration NOT learn this one already? Was Tuesday the big epiphany day? Did a little incident in Massachusetts not shed at least a little light on this lesson previously? Can you really call your own bad actions a teachable moment since it was your action that you are demonstrating as wrong?

I would love to end by sharing Ms Sherrod’s comment that “God has a sense of humor, I oversee some of my former enemies, but I hold no grudge.” This statement succinctly wraps up the matter as I saw it from the start. I am not alone; others saw it as such, too. But ours was not the only opinion. Some thought it was a sign of something bad, and needed to make a fast reaction that would show the intolerance for divisive actions. Their knee-jerk reactions demonstrated the need (again) to fully investigate before taking action.

However, it does not end there, because when asked if Sherrod wanted to see Breitbart’s website shut down, she replied that she did because “…he’s doing more to divide us.” So Ms Sherrod has given us the first and third lesson in the matter, with Gibbs pointing out the second. Race is not a factor that should be used to determine who we help or harm, lesson one. Lesson three? Quit talking while you are ahead. I am tempted to further expound why this is the lesson, but I can learn from others’ teachable moments, and will leave it to you to draw the conclusions.

Quotes and timeline information from several different articles in this week’s Washington Post.