Please excuse yourself long enough to watch the whole speech, not just the 2:36 minute excerpted portion that has been posted all over the Internet.
She used that language describing something that happened 24 years ago to illustrate a potentially racist mindset lingering from her very sorrowful youth many long years ago. She was able to overcome it at a second thought when it was revealed to her that the situation with a White farmer losing his land was not about race.
The whole point of her speech was to caution others at the NAACP event to avoid the pitfall of viewing situations as Black versus White when they really are not about that.
The White Farmer Mr. Spooner and his wife stated today that they consider Mrs. Sherrod a good friend and are very thankful that she was able to help them keep their farm.
Also, as a Southern man born here by the Grace of God, I can attest that many Southern men above a certain age did tend to speak to Black people, and especially Black women, with condescension.
You can apply any standard for 'racism' you wish. I am not required to follow that standard.
In fact, after reading several of these threads, I'm convinced my standard is quite different, and undoubtedly more robust, than yours.
I guess we don't see eye to eye on that.