CNN 2010-07-24

We're pushing forward on the story of Shirley Sherrod. Now, she's telling us that we don't have the whole story. Sherrod used to be the USDA Rural Development Director for Georgia until a YouTube clip of her went viral. It's from an NAACP dinner in March.

 

I was struggling with the fact that so many black people had lost their farmland and here I was faced with having to help a white person save their land. So I didn't give him the full force of what I could do. I did enough.

 

Well, here is part of the statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, "There is zero tolerance¹ for discrimination at USDA, and I strongly condemn² any act of discrimination against any person." And this is from Ben Jealous of the NAACP, "Racism³ is about the abuse of power. Sherrod had it in her position at USDA. We are appalled⁴ by her actions, just as we are with abuses of power against farmers of color and female farmers."

 

But Sherrod says "hold on, there's no context with that clip" and that "it doesn't tell the entire story". She actually called CNN's American Morning this morning to give her side of the story. She talked with our John Roberts. And he joins us from New York, CNN political analyst⁵ Roland Martin, he's in Chicago. Of course he's going to weigh in on this as well. John, let's go ahead and listen to some of your interview with Shirley Sherrod from earlier and then let's talk.

 

"I was speaking to that group like I've done many groups, and I tell them about a time when I thought the issue was race and race only. And I tell them the story of how I have worked with a white farmer back in 1986. I was not working for the Department of Agriculture. I was working with a non-profit organization assisting farmers throughout South Georgia and the southeast. And this farmer came to me for help. I was telling the story about how working with him helped me to see that the issue is not about race. It's about those who have versus⁶ those who do not have."

 

1 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

2 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

3 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

4 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。