Agriculture secretary to discuss job offer with ousted employee Shirley Sherrod

Ag secretary to meet with Shirley Sherrod

WASHINGTON — The USDA employee who was pushed out of her job during a racial firestorm last month is set to meet with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to discuss coming back to work at the agency.

Shirley Sherrod (shuh-RAHD’) has appeared reluctant to accept Vilsack’s offer of a new job and has kept quiet about her plans. They are to meet Tuesday.

Formerly the agency’s director of rural development in Georgia, Sherrod was forced to resign after a conservative blogger posted snippets of a March speech in which she appeared to make racist remarks. Vilsack and others, including the NAACP, condemned the remarks before grasping the full context of the story, which was meant as a lesson in racial healing.

The White House and the NAACP have since apologized.