Burned by an edited video, former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod says she will sue the blogger who posted footage that showed her making racial remarks that were misinterpreted and cost her a federal job.
Sherrod, who was the Agriculture Department’s head of rural development in Georgia, said in San Diego Thursday that she would “definitely” file a lawsuit against Andrew Breitbart, the Associated Press reported. Breitbart put up a part of her March speech to the NAACP on his BigGovernment.com website. In it, Sherrod said she had not used all of the resources at her command to help a struggling white farmer in Georgia — but the incident occurred in 1986, before she worked for the federal government. And she went on to explain in portions of the video that were not posted that she realized her mistake and went on to assist and befriend the farmer.
She was fired by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack before the misunderstanding was cleared up. Vilsack subsequently apologized and offered her a new job at the agency, but Sherrod has not decided whether she will accept. In disclosing her intention to take legal action in a talk before the National Association of Black Journalist, Sherrod said she has not received an apology from Breitbart and no longer wants one.
We wish Mrs. Sherrod the best of luck.
