Sherrod says she'd love to talk race with Obama

[July 22, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she wants to discuss racial issues with President Obama, but "I really would not want the president to apologize" for her wretched week.

Making appearances on network news shows, Sherrod repeated that she isn't certain she'll return to the Agriculture Department, which forced her out earlier this week and then invited her back. Sherrod got in trouble over comments she made in a speech indicating she didn't give a white farmer as much help as she should have 24 years ago.

Sherrod got apologies from press secretary Robert Gibbs and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, but says, "I can't say the president is fully behind me." She says Obama is not a person who "has experienced some of the things I've experienced in life."

Sherrod appeared on CNN, ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" show.

[Associated Press; By MARY CLARE JALONICK and BEN EVANS]

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