By Saniya Ghanoui -- July 22, 2010
President Barack Obama spoke with a former USDA official Thursday after she resigned early this week regarding concerns of alleged racism.
Saying he has "regret" about the way the situation was handled, Obama spoke with Shirley Sherrod for seven minutes about her forced resignation.
Sherrod left the Agriculture Department after a conservative blogger posted an edited video of her, from March 2010, which appears to show Sherrod saying she discriminated against a farmer because he was white.
The complete video shows Sherrod had, in fact, been saying race does not matter.
A statement released by the White House said "[t]he president told Ms. Sherrod that this misfortune can present an opportunity for her to continue her hard work on behalf of those in need, and he hopes that she will do so."
The phone call came after Sherrod completed several network television interviews earlier in the day.
She mentioned in the interviews that Obama wanted to speak with her, but it was unnecessary for him to apologize, as she had already accepted the apologies from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Sherrod hinted earlier in the week that she is unlikely to accept the new position that has been offered to her by the Agriculture Department saying she "need[s] to think about it."
The farmer that Sherrod spoke about in the video said he has no ill feelings towards Sherrod and that she is a good person.
(Photo courtesy: AP Images)
