Shirley Sherrod Asked to Resign from USDA – Possible Fears of Another Class Action Racism Lawsuit
Posted on | July 21, 2010 | No Comments
Over the last few days many Americans are starting to get bits and pieces of the Shirley Sherrod story and why she was asked to resign from her position as the Agricultural Department’s director of Rural Development in Georgia. Sherrod feels that her “racist” comments were taken out of context which forced her to, subsequently resign. The USDA recently settled as $1.25 billion class action lawsuit as the administration faced charges of discrimination against black farmers which could be the reason for the immediate action without further research.
Sherrod was asked to step down due to comments that were made about a white farming family. Sherrod states that her comments were part of a story about racial reconciliation rather than racism. The family stands behind Sherrod and feel that she should keep her job. In a comment available at Huffington Post, “We probably wouldn’t have (our farm) today if it hadn’t been for her leading us in the right direction,” said Eloise Spooner, the wife of farmer Roger Spooner of Iron City, Ga. “I wish she could get her job back because she was good to us, I tell you.”
The NAACP was originally against Sherrod’s comments but has recently reviewed the case and has joined the support for Sherrod. The NAACP stated that they, along with millions, were hoaxed by a website that only showed portions of the video rather than all of the footage. The biggovernment.com website gained popularity last year when they showed coverage of ACORN counseling actors posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend.
Sherrod was asked to step down without her explanation of the video. Ultimately the issue of racism is a large part of the resignation but the immediacy of the actions has a lot to do with money as the USDA fears another major lawsuit and does not want to throw several billion down the drain. This issue continues to gain legs and will likely be on several major news channels today including HLN.
Author: Jesse Wojdylo
Ask Wojdylo Column – Financial, Entertainment and Sports news with a money spin.
Tags: sherrod resign > sherrod usda > shirley sherrod > shirley sherrod lawsuit > shirley sherrod resign > shirley sherrod usda > usda class action lawsuit > usda lawsuit
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