BY VED DOOKHUN AND
MEMPHIS, Tennessee - Two hundred farmers filled a room at the Agricenter International here April 12 to hear details of the options available to them under a proposed consent decree. The decree is a settlement to a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for racial discrimination toward farmers who are Black.
Many farmers who have been leading the fight to keep their land and demand justice oppose this settlement as totally inadequate. Nevertheless, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman gave it his final approval April 14.
The meeting in Memphis was one in a series of 41 that will take place in 17 states across the United States between April and August 1999. The schedule of meetings is updated every two weeks and farmers are informed by mail. The increased frequency of the meetings clearly indicates an attempt by the legal council for the plaintiffs and the USDA to expedite signing up farmers to accept the terms of the lawsuit.
Under the consent decree, the "Track A" option promises farmers a $50,000 settlement along with relief from USDA debts, provided "substantial" evidence of discrimination is presented.
"Track B" allows farmers to seek a larger monetary settlement, but they have to meet an even higher standard of documentary evidence. A third possibility is to opt out of the class action settlement and seek a private lawsuit. There are no provisions under either Track A or B to appeal rejected claims.
As Attorney O. Kendall Moore explained to farmers how to go about filing, a dozen farmers walked into the room carrying signs protesting the proposed settlement. Moore paused and said, "There are some folks who have been at many of these meetings who don't agree with us." They "are welcome here, but these folks want their land back and this settlement cannot do that." When one of the protesters attempted to explain their purpose for being there, he was told by the attorney that he had "no right to speak at this meeting."
Among the protesters were Thomas Burrell, a leader of the Concerned Black Farmers and the Tennessee Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association (BFAA) and Eddie Slaughter, a Georgia farmer who is the national vice president of the BFAA, as well as other farmers from Georgia, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
One of their signs said, "Avoid the spring round up - OPT OUT." Slaughter explained to these reporters, "We say opt out so we can have our day in court. How can these lawyers speak for us if they cannot speak to us? No Black farmer had any say in this suit."
Burrell added, "The majority of farmers have a Track B claim. The problem here is that the Department of Agriculture has admitted to discrimination, but we still have to provide proof. The burden of proof still lies on the Black farmer. This settlement is as discriminatory as the policies the original suit was against."
Unable to state their views on the floor of the meeting, the protesters talked one-on-one with many farmers as they left the Agricenter. They also gave several media interviews, some of which were aired over the next couple of days.
Many of the Tennessee farmers are veterans in the battle to win their land back and justice from the USDA. In 1982 a group of farmers occupied the Farmers Home Administration (FHA) offices for 21 days.
Alvin ÓNeal, a hog farmer from Fayette County in west Tennessee, said, "This settlement is a gimmick; we've had over 20 years of it. In 1982 we staged a protest against the FHA. They were holding up the money then, they made a few loans that year - you may have gotten your loan approved in January, but you wouldn't get your money until July, which was too late. We went into the FHA and when it came time to close, we told them we would be staying."
Joining in the discussion, George Bonner, who farmed until 1994 in Fayette County, said, "It was the lateness of loans that killed me more than anything else." Reflecting on their occupation of the FHA offices he said, "They brought in federal marshals and USDA negotiators, but we stayed and nobody got arrested. Farmers who belonged to the American Agricultural Movement from Missouri came down and helped us, also."
In a similar story J.J. Boozer, a farmer from Pulaski, Illinois, recalls how the lack of government lending, floods, and excessive charges for grain storage ended his farm career. The government finally foreclosed on his farm in 1981. "In 1973 we had 10 feet of water all over the land. The Ohio and Mississippi rivers crossed in my front yard and we lost everything that couldn't float or swim. We lost 126 head of cattle; only 9 survived. Not only were my loans held up, but I couldn't get disaster relief either."
Boozer said he is what some would call a "radical." In the early 1980s, he supported Missouri farmer Wayne Cryts and other farmers when they raided a bankrupt grain elevator to reclaim their soybeans.
He also said he once had a face-to-face run in with Earl Butz, a former secretary of agriculture who was fired due to the reaction to a racist remark he made in a public speech.
In reference to the consent decree, Boozer said, "The $50,000 is a joke - that's nothing in farming today. I am going to continue to raise hell, wherever farmers are at, I will be there."
Stephen Bloodworth is a member of United Transportation Union Local 1291 in Birmingham, Alabama.