BY JAMES HARRIS
ATLANTA - Georgia farmers and workers held a lively and
informative discussion at the Militant Labor Forum here March
20. The forum, titled " `We want our land back!' Black farmers
speak out," was the first opportunity that many of the farmers
present had to come together following the successful
demonstration at the March 2 "Fairness Hearing" in Washington,
D.C.
Farmers and their allies held a protest rally and then participated in that hearing to show their opposition to a proposed consent decree negotiated by lawyers in a class-action suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for discrimination against farmers who are Black. Many farmers are opposed to the decree because it is totally inadequate to meet their needs, compensate for the discrimination they suffered, and put measures in place to prevent future discrimination.
The four featured speakers at the forum, all from different towns in Georgia, were Willie Head, a leader of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and vegetable farmer from Pavo; Carl Parker from Ashburn; Lee Dobbins, secretary of Georgia Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association (BFAA) from Conyers; and Eddie Slaughter, national vice president of BFAA and a farmer from Buena Vista. Melvin Bishop, the president of Georgia BFAA, also attended and spoke during the discussion period.
Many of the other farmers present also spoke in the discussion. Eleven farmers attended the meeting along with a number of union members, activists opposed to the U.S. policies against Cuba, and interested youth.
"Many think that their food is grown in a department store," said Willie Head to laughter in the audience. "This has a detrimental effect. We don't just make crops grow out of the ground for economic reasons. We insure that healthy babies are born. We don't pour all these dangerous chemicals on our crops to make them grow six weeks earlier. I don't believe in that. Economics is not what we are just interested in. But we need money to stay in farming."
Referring to the county committees that administer agricultural policy and have systematically denied Black farmers loans, Head explained, "We have farmers down there now that are sitting on these local committees who I worked with in the mobile home plant. At one time, they didn't have any more than I had. Then they get on these local boards and now they own 2,000 acres of land.
"The farmer takes what is given to him for his produce, for his cotton, for his corn. But then when I go down to buy fertilizer and chemicals, I have to give him what he tells me to give him. Is that fair? Is it fair for hogs to go to eight cents a pound and when you go down to the market to buy something for your family the meat is still $2.25 a pound?
"All this is tied in with the land - with capitalism. They got a book on display here we need to read," said Head referring to the book Capitalism's World Disorder - Working- Class Politics at the Millennium on the podium.
Carl Parker recounted his fight to retain his land against the best efforts of the USDA and USDA officials to foreclose on him. "The main thing is that we [farmers] stick together," he said. "If we give up now we have lost the fight. We have to stand together. I've been talking to farmers in south Georgia about this lawsuit. We have to keep on pressing, attending the meetings and talking to farmers," said Parker referring to the meetings the lawyers have set up to sign people up under the consent decree.
Lee Dobbins, recounted his experience in the fight for school desegregation in Greene County, Georgia. "We are here because of moral and constitutional denial. I went to a newly integrated school. I had a constitutional right and a moral right to attend any school that I wished, but every day I was reminded that I had no right to be there. This was a daily thing. I never been called the `N' word so many time in my life. I should have gotten combat pay.
"All my life I've wanted to champion a cause and BFAA is it," Dobbins added. "Because it takes a lot of daring to go against the power of the system and stand up for something you believe in."
What's on the horizon for farmers? Dobbins asked. "My answer is it's up to us to determine."
Describing the media coverage that tried to sell the consent decree after it won a judge's preliminary approval in early January, Eddie Slaughter began, "For all of you who are not farmers or don't already know, as of January 5, 1999, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN NEWS, and the New York Times are some of the most viscous liars in America. We did not accept that lawsuit, we did not settle that lawsuit."
"We need to explain that everyone is not guaranteed the $50,000 dollars [in compensation]. This is not a settlement, this is a cover up. We want our day in court. Forget about the money, let's talk about justice. We should go to court and demand discovery and demand that the books be opened. We must demand that the county committee system be destroyed," said Slaughter.
He urged participants at the forum to join with workers who are struggling for their rights. Paraphrasing Fidel Castro, who Slaughter described as one of his heroes, he stated that only those who defend others will be capable of defending themselves. "You need to go out and support the catfish workers in Belzoni, Mississippi, and you need to go to Texas for the locked-out Crown workers on May 1 in Pasadena, Texas."
One of the first to make a comment in the discussion was Gary Washington, a worker at Mead paper plant, who said he had invited co-workers to come. Some asked "what about the white farmers, were they giving support" to the Black farmers?
Head responded, "maybe in other places they are, but where I am from they are not. Because we had to organize our very own cooperative." Head explained that Black farmers had been kept out of the white cooperative in his area.
"Is there a difference between the big white farmers and the small white farmers," asked a participant.
"Yes, there is a big difference," said Slaughter. "Eleven percent of the biggest farmers in the United States get 90 percent of the government subsidies. Most of the biggest farmers control the county committees so the small white farmers suffers what we suffer. A lot of them now are saying they are facing the same thing we are facing."
James Harris is a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.