Black farmers reject USDA offer
By
Dianne Mathiowetz
Atlanta
Black farmers meeting Feb. 19-20 in Durham, N.C., rejected a
proposed settlement of their class-action lawsuit that charges
the U.S. Department of Agriculture with racist discrimination
in denying them loans and access to USDA programs.
In early January, the USDA had offered an out-of-court deal
that would pay some of the farmers $50,000 and cancel certain
debts they owed the department. The initial 600 Black farmers
who filed the lawsuit had sought $2.5 billion in damages. Many
thousands more are eligible to be a party to the case.
Eddie Slaughter of Buena Vista, Ga., vice-president of the
Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association and one of the
original plaintiffs, explained why the farmers rejected the
settlement: "There is no justice in this consent decree. It
doesn't hold anybody accountable for violating the law.
"The same county supervisors and board members who denied
loans and seized our property would still be in office. The
$50,000 payment won't even buy a good used tractor. And it does
nothing abut the land that has been taken from us."
Farming has become a very expensive business as high-tech
solutions are applied to agriculture. All farmers are having a
tough time, putting in long hours and often working two jobs to
keep their heads above water.
They survive from harvest to harvest by taking out
loans--and the only loans they can really afford are the
low-interest ones arranged by the USDA.
But while all farmers suffer uncertainty and the squeeze of
agribusiness competition, it is Black farmers who find the deck
most stacked against them.
Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman has publicly admitted
that the USDA has engaged in racist practices for many decades.
Several recent studies have exposed the way many local, state
and federal officials of the Agriculture Department denied
Black and other farmers of color equal access to loan and
technical assistance programs.
During the same period, more than $130 billion has flowed
into the pockets of big and corporate farmers.
In 1910, more than 1 million Black farmers owned 15.6
million acres of land. Today, there are fewer than 20,000 Black
farmers. They own less than 1 million acres.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman has scheduled a fairness
hearing for March 2 in Washington before deciding whether to
formally approve or reject the settlement.
"How can there be a settlement when Black farmers haven't
participated in it? We want our day in court," says Slaughter.
"This is just an attempt by the USDA to cover up their crimes,
all the injustices that have been done to Black farmers by this
system. They can agree to try it in the courts or we'll try it
in the streets."
The Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association, whose
members initiated the lawsuit, will demonstrate March 2 in
Washington in front of the federal court building at
Constitution and Third Avenues at 9 a.m. before going inside to
present their opposition to the judge.
For more information, readers can call the BFAA at (252)
826-3017.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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