Sherrod: Killing racism can revive rural U.S.

Shirley Sherrod, who lost her job in the U.S. Department of Agriculture after she was falsely accused of racial discrimination, "believes the key to reviving rural America lies in moving past the racism that has plagued the South and was the cause of her own USDA ouster," Mike Mueller of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis reports after hearing Sherrod speak at Metropolitan Baptist Church in the city.

"We have gotten to the point that poverty is the issue. We have got to work with other racial groups, other ethnic groups to make our communities better," said Sherrod, who grew up in rural Baker County, Georgia. "We need to deal a deathblow to racism. We can do a better job working together than we can trying to fight each other." (Read more)