FlipFlop On USDA Firing
National News
by
Steve Handelsman
last edited on
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A former U.S. Department of Agriculture employee fired over charges of racism may get her job back. The White House admitted Thursday that Shirley Sherrod was fired without a full exploration of the facts. "Without a doubt, Ms. Sherrod is owed an apology," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at his afternoon briefing.
Sherrod says she was told that the White House wanted her resignation. Officials have denied any involvement. Gibbs went on to say that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will issue his own apology.
Sherrod's supporters rallied at the Agriculture Department building in Washington Wednesday and in Georgia, where she was the Federal Chief of Rural Development. The two-day firestorm was sparked by an internet video clip that showed Sherrod speaking at an NAACP function in March. In the clip she described her reluctance to help a white farmer while she was working at another job 24 years ago.
The clip didn't show her entire statement, in which she went on to describe overcoming her own prejudice and helping the farmer save his farm. Roger Spooner, the farmer that Sherrod helped, rushed to her defense. "I appreciate everything she done for us and we got our farm back," he told reporters. Ms. Sherrod still isn't sure she wants her job back.