Black farmer protests USDA
Here's more detail to go with the picture I posted yesterday (at that time, the only news coverage of this event). Originally published in the Arkansas News Bureau
Black farmer protests USDA
Friday, Nov 21, 2003
By Kristen Inbody
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- From atop a green mule-drawn wagon, an earnest Virginia farmer in bib overalls struggled to be heard over the din of 12 lanes of trucks, taxies and tourist buses.
The earthy smell of the mules and hay briefly masked the exhaust fumes of a busy fall morning in the nation's capital.
The mules, named Struggle and 40 Acres, stood patiently in front of the U.S. Department of Agriculture while their owner, John Boyd, Jr., blasted the agency for what he said is a continuing practice of discrimination against black farmers.
Struggle and 40 Acres had pulled Boyd and his wagon from his wheat, corn, cattle and chicken farm in Baskerville, Va., 200 miles away.
Boyd, 38, said the nearly two-week trek through frigid wind and rain was "long and rough." But it helped gain him attention to deliver his message to television camera-wielding reporters outside the USDA building.
"The message is African American farmers are facing extinction," said Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association.
Decades of exclusion from farm loan and subsidy programs have driven farmers into debt and out of business, Boyd said. At the turn of the century, the country had a million black farmers. Now 18,000 remain, according to the USDA.
"It's a national tragedy to have programs that exclude people, after promise after promise," he said. "It's only by the grace of God we're still farming."
The Agriculture Department acknowledges and condemns "isolated instances of discrimination" and is committed to making sure all programs are operated fairly, spokesman Ed Loyd said.
"We're doing everything we can to ensure all our employees in Washington or in our county offices are doing all they can to service all farmers and ranchers," Loyd said. "We will take appropriate action if we discover otherwise."
Loyd said since 1995, loans to black farmers have increased 33 percent and now 17 percent of black farmers get USDA loans, compared with 4 percent of white farmers.
In 1999, black farmers won a class action lawsuit against USDA for discriminatory practices. Twelve more suits are pending.
Boyd has mounted other Washington protests on behalf of black farmers. He said he made this latest trip after fielding hundreds of calls from black farmers who wonder where their money is.
More than 21,000 farmers applied for settlement money, with 13,000 approved for a total cost of $631.5 million, Loyd said.
Boyd's criticism didn't stop with the USDA. He said President Bush has stonewalled the growers and called on Congress to hold the USDA accountable.
"We want the administration to be more receptive to all minority farmers," he said. "This is only going to get fixed if elected officials help."
Traveling at two miles per hour, Boyd and seven supporters he had picked up outside the USDA rolled up Independence Avenue, past 14 blocks of Smithsonian museums to the left and bureaucratic offices to the right.
At the U.S. Capitol, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, climbed aboard the wagon and said he would continue to press the Agriculture Department for a plan of action to resolve the civil right complaints.
"We've been fighting this battle for 10 years," he said. "We've been trying to help out."
Later, Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio hopped on board, too.
Kucinich said if elected president he would break up farm monopolies and work to ensure farmers had access to capital.
The wagon ride kicked off the National Black Farmers Association Conference, which runs through this weekend. Organizers expect 300-400 farmers from across the country will attend.
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