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Sherrod turns down offer to make fresh start at USDA
Shirley Sherrod politely declined to return to the federal government weeks after she was forced to resign amid a race-laden political controversy.
Looking weary after a 90-minute meeting with government officials Tuesday morning, Sherrod said that she thought the U.S. Department of Agriculture's leadership would have supported her in the new job but that she questioned whether that was enough for her to be effective in the sprawling agency.
"The secretary did push really hard for me to stay and work from inside, but I look at what happened to me," she said at a news conference with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "I know he's apologized, and I accept it. A new process is in place, but I don't want to test it."
In a phone interview afterward, she said: "There are many, many questions about the position. The secretary is committed to dealing with the issues of discrimination in his agency, but he is one person. You're dealing with discrimination that has been there through the years and a lot of it is systematic, so that's a tall order."