Black farmers claim discrimination in federal crop loans

Jet, July 22, 2002

A group of nearly 300 Black farmers, claiming discrimination in federal crop loans, recently staged a sit-in protest and quietly shut down the U.S. Department of Agriculture office in Brownsville, TN.

The protest centered on claims that led to a multimillion dollar settlement three years ago of a class-action lawsuit brought by Black farmers from across the country.

Protesters said that settlement has failed to stop unfair treatment and the government has been slow to process loan applications from growers who were counting on the money to plant this year's crops.

The angry farmers first held a rally outside the small USDA office and then they poured inside, sitting in the lobby, at desks and taking over a conference room. Most of the staff went home. Some of the protesters remained at the office past closing time and spent the night there. Authorities reported no injuries in the building's takeover.

"They were very nice," said Gary Grant, a North Carolina farmer and president of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists. "They had been very accommodating ... We didn't come to use the bathroom and the water fountain. The men came for their money."

As the protest continued Grant received a letter from Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman who promised a new investigation into the complaints

In 1999, the USDA settled a class action lawsuit brought by African-American farmers who said they had been denied loans by regional bureaus when White farmers had not been. As of February, the agency had paid more than $615 million on slightly less than half of the 22,600 claims filed, according to statistics posted on the agency's Web site.

Under terms of the settlement, farmers who could show some evidence of discrimination were entitled to $50,000 each and had outstanding loans forgiven. An additional $12,500 was to be sent to the Internal Revenue Service in the name of each farmer to cover the federal income taxes that he or she would owe on the settlement (JET, Dec. 13, 1999).

Over the years, the lawsuit said, loan rejections to African-American growers, which often came under catastrophic conditions, led to massive losses, foreclosures and, ultimately, the loss of farms. In 1920, there were 925,000 Black farmers, according to USDA and Census records. Today, there are about 15,000.