*In a move that screams “we jumped the gun,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he will reconsider his department’s decision to fire a black employee over racially tinged remarks after learning more about what she said.
Vilsack issued a short statement early this morning regarding Shirley Sherrod, who until Tuesday was the Agriculture Department’s director of rural development in Georgia. She said she was pressured to resign because of her comments that she didn’t give a white farmer as much help as she could have 24 years ago.
Sherrod has maintained that her remarks, delivered in March at a local NAACP banquet in Georgia, were part of a larger story about learning from her mistakes and racial reconciliation, not racism, and they were taken out of context by a conservative blogger who posted only part of her speech.
Vilsack’s statement this morning came after the NAACP posted the full video of Sherrod’s comments last night. (Scroll down to watch.)
“I am of course willing and will conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts to ensure to the American people we are providing services in a fair and equitable manner,” Vilsack said.
The Obama administration’s move this morning to reconsider her employment was a complete reversal from hours earlier, when a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said President Barack Obama had been briefed on Sherrod’s resignation after the fact and stood by the Agriculture Department’s handling of it.
But as the story gained traction on Tuesday – reaching a peak when Sherrod’s full, unedited statement was released – growing calls for the administration to reconsider the decision put pressure on Vilsack, who stressed that the decision to ask for her resignation was his alone.
The NAACP, which initially condemned Sherrod’s remarks and supported her ouster, later said she should keep her job. The civil rights group said it and millions of others were “snookered” by the conservative website that posted partial video of her speech on Monday.
Read more of the story right here: http://www.eurweb.com/?p=37641
