Shirley Sherrod, the former USDA official unfairly ousted from her job back in July, has declined to rejoin the agency in another capacity. Saying she has accepted an apology from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who she met with today, Sherrod nonetheless told reporters she wants to “take a little break” from USDA work.
(Vilsack sacked Sherrod after excerpts from a speech she gave at an NAACP function were posted online. The excerpts appeared to show Sherrod discussing how she gleefully discriminated against a white farmer in her job at USDA. The full speech, however, showed she was actually telling a story from decades ago to inform the NAACP audience how she had learned to see past race and grow as a person. Vilsack and President Obama both apologized to Sherrod for the flap.)
It’s never been made clear what job Vilsack offered Sherrod in the aftermath, but reports indicated it would have had Sherrod performing USDA outreach.