Sherrod turns down new job offer from USDA

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Agriculture Department Administrator Shirley Sherrod said Tuesday she has decided not to accept a new job as head of an outreach office.

Sherrod talked to the news media after a meeting with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, CNN reported. She was offered the position of deputy director in charge of the Office of Advocacy and Outreach, a job created since her dismissal in July.

Both Vilsack and Sherrod suggested she will advise the department unofficially.

Sherrod said she also does not plan to resume her position as USDA head of rural outreach in Georgia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said. She said rejecting Vilsack's offer was a tough call.

"The secretary did push really, really hard for me to stay and work from the inside," Sherrod said. "I was tempted."

Vilsack demanded Sherrod's resignation after a right-wing Web site posted an excerpt from a speech she gave in March to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The clip showed Sherrod talking about how she had been reluctant to help a white farmer several decades ago, omitting her discussion of how the experience had helped her move beyond race and how she eventually did help the man.