A throng of Black farmers made its way from the U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters to Capitol Hill to demand justice for some 80,000 farmers who have been waiting to receive damages related to the USDA’s racist practices in the disbursement of loans and aid.
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Watch video of the march and press conference |
John Boyd, the head of the National Black Farmers Association, led the march in his tractor, followed by a large banner that read “Black Farmers Demand Justice.”
“We are not asking for handouts,” shouted a farmer over militant chants as the group of Black farmers and their supporters made their way down the National Mall. Upon reaching Capitol Hill, they were joined by Congressional supporters for a press conference.
“We’re at a crossroads,” Boyd told the media. “These farmers are dying, and the recent funerals that we’ve been going to, those were farmers that were eligible to take part in this measure that we’re fighting for.”
Black farmers never had it easy. In the aftermath of the Civil War, many newly freed slaves entered into sharecropping arrangements that amounted to little more than indentured servitude. Systemic poverty among Black farmers has endured—and the USDA has played its part in keeping things that way. According to the National Black Farmers Association, for decades, USDA had an unwritten policy against giving Black farmers the same educational, credit and financial resources that it extended to white farmers.
The farmers scored a major victory in 1999, with the settlement of the Pigford vs. Glickman lawsuit. The government paid out nearly $1 billion in damages that were distributed among some 16,000 claims.
However, many farmers were not even aware of the lawsuit and had no idea they could file a claim. A tight deadline effective shut out nearly 80,000 farmers who would have been eligible for compensation. The Pigford victory marked the beginning of a new struggle to compensate those who were denied justice in the original settlement.
The outcome of the new litigation, known as Pigford II, was a new settlement in the amount of $1.25 billion dollars to be distributed among those who were kept out of the original Pigford case. That might have been the end of it—except Congress has repeatedly blocked funding for the settlement.
The USDA’s discriminatory policies, the courts’ sluggish proceedings and onerous settlement procedures, and Congress’s unwillingness to disburse the funds have added insult to injury to the farmers, many of them now seniors and struggling to make ends meet. These different government agencies and arms of the state act in lockstep to perpetuate racist injustice.
But the farmers are not going down as victims. Boyd has vowed to keep driving his tractor to Capitol Hill for as long as it takes to win this battle. And judging by the fighting mood of the demonstration, Boyd will be in good company.
