Black farmers charge:
Government racist discrimination continues
By
Dianne Mathiowetz
Just months after the U.S. Department of Agriculture settled
a $2 billion dollar class-action lawsuit by Black farmers who
were denied loans and access to USDA programs, complaints about
racism in allocating disaster relief are being
investigated.
Farmers have been hit hard by drought and floods this
summer. Federal disaster aid has been provided in many states.
For most family farmers, this financial aid will make the
difference between survival and going under.
Farm Service Agency offices on the county level allocate
these funds, based on the decisions of an advisory committee of
local farmers--typically the biggest and wealthiest in the
county.
Black farmers are charging that--just as in the approval of
loans or access to USDA programs--their requests for disaster
relief are often dismissed or acted on too late, or too little
relief is granted.
The USDA Civil Rights Department is looking into the
practices of two Georgia counties and three in Arkansas.
J.L. Chestnut, an Alabama civil-rights lawyer who
represented Black farmers in the class-action lawsuit, charged
that the investigation is too narrow. "They're looking in
selected counties when the problem is universal."
Willie Adams, a beef and poultry farmer in Greene County,
Ga., describes how Black farmers are caught in a cycle of
racism. The Farm Service Agency justifies giving less disaster
aid to Black farmers because they generally have smaller
farms.
Adams says that is the direct result of having been
previously denied loans for expansion. Then, with inadequate or
late disaster relief, after a drought or flood Black farmers
have to reduce their acreage. Because of this, they qualify for
even less aid the next time around.
These recent charges of racism underscore the major
complaint of many Black farmers about the settlement of the
class-action lawsuit. Gary Grant, president of the Black
Farmers and Agriculturists Association based in North Carolina,
says nothing has been done about continuing racist practices in
the Department of Agriculture.
Grant points out that "no one has been terminated for the
actions they've taken. The Department of Agriculture admitted
it's guilty but has not done one thing to rectify it."
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