Karl Rove

Karl Rove: They're Trying To Intimidate Us, Just Like They Did With The NAACP (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | April 2, 2012, 3:05PM

Karl Rove

Karl Rove said Monday that efforts by state treasurers to make hedge funds that manage state pension funds disclose donations to "super PACs" are meant to intimidate donors, comparing the situation to efforts by segregationists to scare NAACP donors in the 1950s.

"In the 1940s and 50s, a number of states attorneys general attempted to force a particular 501(c)4 to disclose its donors, the purpose was to intimidate people into not giving to that organization," Rove said on Fox News.

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Welfare

Bizarre Anti-Welfare Board Game Re-Released With 'Obozo The Marxist Clown'

Jillian Rayfield | October 27, 2011, 5:55AM

There is no "Go" space in the anti-welfare board game "Obozo's America," but rest assured -- you can still collect welfare benefits as you pass the "First Of The Month" space.

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Andrew Breitbart

Breitbart Changes Tune On Why He Released Sherrod Video

Eric Lach | February 14, 2011, 3:28PM

Shirley Sherrod and Andrew Breitbart

When TPM asked Andrew Breitbart last July if the release of an edited video of Shirley Sherrod was timed to impact a Senate vote on restitution for black farmers, he said no. Now that she's suing him for defamation, he's making that restitution the issue.

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Andrew Breitbart

Shirley Sherrod Sues Andrew Breitbart Over Video

Eric Lach | February 14, 2011, 10:36AM

Shirley Sherrod and Andrew Breitbart

Shirley Sherrod, who was fired from her USDA job last year after Andrew Breitbart posted online an edited video of her, has filed a lawsuit for libel and slander against Breitbart in D.C. Superior Court. The suit was filed on Friday, and Breitbart was served with it this weekend, while attending the Conservative Political Action Conference, according to The New York Times.

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Sons of Confederate Veterans

Confederate Group In Mississippi Proposes License Plates To Honor KKK Member

David Taintor | February 11, 2011, 8:31AM

Civil War reenactors in Columbia, S.C.

A Confederate group in Mississippi wants to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War ... from now until 2015.

The Mississippi Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans is proposing a series of license plates to commemorate the war, with a new one being introduced every year, the Associated Press reports.

One of those designs -- slated for a 2014 release -- commemorates Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who served as a Ku Klux Klan grand wizard after the war.

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Benjamin Hooks

Civil Rights Activist Benjamin Hooks' FBI File Details Racist Threats Against Him

Ryan J. Reilly and Melissa Jeltsen | January 25, 2011, 8:50AM

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had two major roles in the life of the late Benjamin Hooks, the lifelong civil rights activist and NAACP director who died in 2010.

The FBI investigated multiple threats against the life of Hooks, who directed the country's oldest civil rights organization from 1977 to 1992. They also had a confidential informant photograph Hooks (and other civil rights activists) in the wake of the shooting of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and later did an extensive background check on Hooks -- as a White House nominee -- flagging his alleged ties to communists and noted his involvement in fried chicken restaurants which went bankrupt.

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North Carolina

Republican School Board In NC Throws Out Integration Policy

Jillian Rayfield | January 14, 2011, 11:43AM

The Republican-dominated school board in Wake County, North Carolina has thrown out a policy meant to promote racial and socioeconomic diversity in Raleigh, prompting a complaint by the NAACP and an op-ed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan calling the decision "troubling."

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Secession

South Carolina NAACP President Rips Secession Ball Gala

David Taintor | December 23, 2010, 8:30AM

Several new details have emerged from the divisive secession ball held Monday in Charleston, South Carolina -- a gala dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the state's signing of the Ordinance of Secession.

About 120 protesters marched in opposition to the event, carrying signs of protest and singing "We Shall Overcome." South Carolina NAACP President Lonnie Randolph, who joined the protest, told TPM in a phone interview this week that he felt the need to speak out against the ball, calling the secession "the greatest act of terrorism" waged on America.

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Shirley Sherrod

Shirley Sherrod Encourages Supporters To Keep Backing NAACP

Jillian Rayfield | August 18, 2010, 12:05PM

Former USDA official Shirley Sherrod

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod wrote an email yesterday on behalf of the NAACP, urging supporters to "move forward." Sherrod wrote: "The last thing I want to see happen is for my situation to weaken support for the NAACP."

Sherrod was forced to resign from the USDA after Andrew Breitbart released an edited video that showed her describing a time when she considered denying aid to a poor farmer because he was white. As Sherrod put it in her letter, Breitbart released the "intentionally deceptive, heavily edited clip from that speech to make it look as if I was delivering exactly the opposite message."

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Andrew Breitbart

Breitbart: I Was Targeting The NAACP. Honest!

Rachel Slajda | July 23, 2010, 9:19AM

Andrew Breitbart

After we reported yesterday that the Shirley Sherrod scandal came the same week as the Senate may vote on authorizing $1.15 billion in restitution for black farmers, Andrew Breitbart wrote us that that had nothing to do with it.

"No. Seriously. On everything I hold dear," Breitbart swore in an email to TPMmuckraker. As he has since the full-length video of Sherrod's speech came out, sparking a backlash against him, Breitbart reiterated that none of this was ever about Sherrod personally.

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Shirley Sherrod

Gibbs Apologizes To Sherrod; She May Get Her Job Back (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 21, 2010, 3:01PM

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today offered an apology to Shirley Sherrod on behalf of the Obama administration.

He said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is trying to reach Sherrod as well, to offer his own apology and to "talk about their next steps."

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Shirley Sherrod

Breitbart Feels Sorry For Shirley Sherrod (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 21, 2010, 11:52AM

Andrew Breitbart

Andrew Breitbart, who posted the clip of USDA official Shirley Sherrod that got her fired, said today that he feels sorry for Sherrod.

"I feel bad that they made this about her, and I feel sorry that they made this about her," he told MSNBC. "Watching how they've misconstrued, how the media has misconstrued the intention behind this, I do feel a sympathy for her plight."

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Shirley Sherrod

Vilsack Reconsidering On Sherrod, But Does She Even Want Her Job Back?

Rachel Slajda | July 21, 2010, 9:14AM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

In a statement sent at 2 a.m. today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack backed off his previous statements defending the forced resignation of Georgia rural development director Shirley Sherrod and said he's willing to reconsider.

"I am of course willing and will conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts to ensure to the American people we are providing services in a fair and equitable manner," Vilsack said.

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Shirley Sherrod

WATCH: Full Video Of Sherrod's Speech

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 7:40PM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

The NAACP just posted the full video of Shirley Sherrod's speech in front of the Coffee County NAACP this past March.

The relevant part starts about 16 minutes in. Sherrod is talking about how her father was killed by a white man when she was 17; that night, she says, she made a commitment to stay in the South and work toward change.

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Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck Defends Shirley Sherrod: It's Possible 'This Woman Deserves Her Job Back' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | July 20, 2010, 6:44PM

Shirley Sherrod may have found an unlikely ally: Glenn Beck.

Beck defended the USDA appointee, who resigned after Big Government posted a controversial video clip of a speech she gave to the NAACP earlier this year. In the clip, she described an incident when she debated how much to help a white farmer in need of assistance, though she has said that her remarks were taken out of context.

Beck said today that it's possible she "deserves her job back."

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NAACP

NAACP Backs Off After Watching Full Tape: 'We Were Snookered'

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 6:21PM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

In a new statement, NAACP president Ben Jealous has backed off his original criticism of Shirley Sherrod after watching the full tape of her remarks.

Jealous, who originally called Sherrod's actions "shameful," now says the whole thing a "teachable moment."

Jealous said that, after reviewing the full tape (which we still haven't seen) and speaking to Sherrod and the white farmers in question, the NAACP has realized it was "snookered by Fox News and Tea Party Activist Andrew Breitbart into believing she had harmed white farmers because of racial bias."

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Shirley Sherrod

Breitbart On Sherrod's NAACP Speech: 'I Did Not Edit This Thing'

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 3:58PM

Andrew Breitbart

The crux of the Shirley Sherrod controversy is what she said outside of the two-minute video clip posted by Big Government -- whether she was, as she claims, telling a story about how she overcame racial prejudice while helping poor farmers in Georgia, or whether the clip is a good encapsulation of her views. So we asked Andrew Breitbart, the founder of Big Government, why he hasn't posted the full video.

"I don't have it," Breitbart told TPMmuckraker in an interview. Breitbart said his source sent him just the edited clips at first, but is in the process of sending the full video.

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NAACP

NAACP Now 'Conducting Investigation' Into Sherrod Video

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 2:08PM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

The NAACP, which originally condemned USDA appointee Shirley Sherrod, is now saying it is conducting an investigation of her story and will issue a new statement.

"The NAACP is conducting an investigation into the recent revelations about the situation with Ms. Shirley Sherrod, including attempting to speak with Ms. Sherrod, the farmer in question and viewing the full video," the NAACP said in a statement to CNN. "Following a full and comprehensive process, we will issue an updated statement."

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Race

USDA Appointee Forced To Resign After Edited Speech Released By Breitbart (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 1:03PM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

Shirley Sherrod, an appointee to the USDA, was forced to resign yesterday after Big Government posted a video of a speech Sherrod gave in March. In the video, Sherrod, who is black, recounts how, 24 years ago, she didn't help a white farmer as much as she could.

In the speech, given to a local Georgia chapter of the NAACP, Sherrod recounts a time when, while she was working for a land assistance fund, a white farmer came and asked her for help.

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Tea Party Express

Tea Party Express' Mark Williams: King Of 'Accidental' Racism

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 19, 2010, 12:50PM

Tea Party activist Mark Williams.

Is the Tea Party Express' Mark Williams a racist? He certainly says he's not. But Williams -- the spokesman for one of the tea party movement's most Republican establishment-connected groups -- has shown himself to be a virtuoso when it comes to, I guess accidentally, writing and saying racist things. (Two quick examples: There was that time he called Muslims "animals of Allah" in an email and that other time he called President Obama an "Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug" on camera.)

This week, Williams' accidentally racist chickens have come home to roost. After posting one of his most overtly racist (accidentally, I guess) statements ever to his personal website after the NAACP passed a resolution calling on national tea party leaders like Williams to condemn racist rhetoric seen at tea party rallies in the past, Williams has found himself ostracized by a growing number of tea party groups across the country.

Not even his friends are standing up for him now. It's a surprising end for the man who helped to transform the tea party into a Republican political force.

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Immigration

Could Another Bybee Memo Help Preserve Arizona Immigration Law?

Zachary Roth | May 18, 2010, 10:00AM

Jay Bybee

A coalition of civil and immigrants rights groups has filed suit against Arizona's draconian immigration law. But efforts to challenge the law could be complicated by a memo written by one of the Bush Justice Department lawyers who also drafted some of the key opinions greenlighting torture.

Fourteen groups -- among them the ACLU of Arizona, the NAACP, and MALDEF -- filed the suit yesterday. They charge, among other things, that Arizona's law violates the federal Supremacy Clause by trying to bypass federal immigration law, and that it deprives minorities of their equal protection rights.

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Bonner & Associates

Bonner To Testify On Forged Letters

Zachary Roth | October 14, 2009, 11:16AM

Jack Bonner

Astroturf lobbyist Jack Bonner will testify tomorrow in front of a Congressional panel investigating the forged letters his firm sent this summer, according to a witness list for the hearing obtained by TPMmuckraker. Also testifying will be Steve Miller, the CEO of the coal industry group that had hired Bonner to gin up opposition to climate-change legislation.

This summer, Bonner & Associates sent forged letters to several lawmakers, urging them to oppose the legislation. The letters, sent on behalf of Bonner's client, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, purported to come from local minority, senior, women, and veterans groups. Bonner has blamed the letters on a temporary employee, but as we've shown, his firm's modus operandi makes such occurrences all but inevitable.

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