LA Times-Shirley Sherrod Nixes Return to Agriculture Dep't

Shirley Sherrod: Fox news/AP

(Story reported by Mary Clare Jalonick for The Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shirley Sherrod, the Agriculture Department official ousted during a racial firestorm last month, declined Tuesday to return to the agency, though she said it was tempting.

Sherrod and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that she may work with the agency in a consulting capacity in the future to help it improve its outreach to minorities. She told reporters she did not think she could say yes to a job "at this point, with all that has happened."

"I look forward to some type of relationship with the department in the future," she said. "We do need to work on the issues of discrimination and race in this country."

(Click here to read the full story on the LA Times website)