Taking into account the fact that her father was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan, Ms. Shirley Sherrod’s story of her own personal growth and racial transformation epitomizes the change many of us hope for in America and have worked for over the years.

As an African-American wo­man in leadership, I have to wonder if a man would have been humiliated and asked to pull over to the side of the road to text a resignation without the opportunity to tell HIS side of the story.

The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation calls on the USDA to make every effort to right this egregious wrong by offering Ms. Sherrod her job back, and making her feel secure that she will suffer no further repercussions due to their rush to judgment.

Ms. Sherrod deserves an apology from  USDA, the media, and every individual and organization that reported the story or publicly admonished her without a thorough investigation of the facts. A fast food worker would have received more respect and due diligence.

The lesson here is that if we strive to be legally and morally correct rather than politically correct, and take the time to be right instead of first, we will not taint the reputation of a reputable wo­man based on comments taken out of context with the intent to incite racial discord.

Melanie L. Campbell
President/CEO
The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation

This article was originally published in the July 26, 2010 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper