the hogs had to have water. the chickens had to have water. so you know, you re pumping water for everyone. we were so happy when we got an electric pump. we no longer had to pump water. so that was your upbringing? yes. and church. oh, don t forget church. every time the church doors opened, we were there. sherrod s father was a deacon. she believes it was that devotion that got their family through tough times. the lord will make a way somehow. my mother used to sing it around the house all the time. you d hear her singing that, i think i know why now, times were so hard. and she would always sing that song. the lord will make a way somehow. reporter: the farming was hard. being black, even harder.
the racist mess. this is a good woman. she s been put through hell. at the center of this fury and frenzy. please welcome shirley sherrod. shirley sherrod, an unassuming woman from rural georgia. now a household name. shirrey sherrod. shirley sherrod. burning up the airwaves. racial controversy. thrust into a political firestorm. was there ever a discrimination claim filed against you? never. turning up the heat on the white house. on behalf of the administration, i offer our apologies. all this attention couldn t be farther from sherrod s humble roots. roots, though, that grounded her in the dangerous, even deadly world of racial tensions. newton, georgia, the deep south. 180 miles south of atlanta. a typical southern farming town.
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so, you know, we were pumping water for everyone. we were so happy when we got an electric pump. we no longer had to pump water. so that was your yub bringing. and church. oh, don t forget church. every time the church doors opened, we were there. sherrod s father was a deacon. she believes it was that devotion that got their family through tough times. the lord will make a way somehow. my mother used to sing it around the house all the time. i think i know why now she would sing it because times were so hard. she always sung the lord will make a way somehow. reporter: the farming was hard. being black, even harder. the 1960s, jim crow laws divided
rights, there was one life-changing moment. a story about her personal struggle over race. the story of that white farmer who came to her for help decades earlier. reporter: when this short, edited version of the speech was posted by a right-wing blogger shirley sherrod was labeled a racist and asked to resign. but there was much more to the story. that s when it was revealed to me that it s about those who have versus those who have not. and not so much about white and black. it s not, you know it opened my eyes. reporter: the next day,