US agriculture director resigns over race comments

The Obama administration has defended its decision to force out a black Agriculture Department employee over racially-tinged remarks at a banquet, despite evidence that they were misconstrued.

Shirley Sherrod, the department’s director of rural development in Georgia, said the administration had caved in to political pressure, forcing her to resign after she said she did not give a white farmer as much help as she could have 24 years ago, when she worked for a non-profit group.