The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.28           July 28, 1998 
 
 
Black Farmers Win Round Against U.S. Agricultural Dept.  

BY ARLENE RUBINSTEIN
ATLANTA - Black farmers have won a round in their $2.5 billion class action suit charging the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with racial discrimination. The lawsuit - Pigford et al. vs. Glickman - asserts that between 1983 and 1997 the USDA failed to investigate hundreds of discrimination complaints resulting in foreclosures, bankruptcies, and other serious economic problems.

The Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association (BFAA), the group that has been organizing actions to call national attention to this fight, intensified its protests when the U.S. justice department ruled that a two-year statute of limitation had expired, leaving many of the 2,500 plaintiffs with no legal recourse. On June 25 the House of Representatives voted to waive the statute of limitation provision. The waiver still must be approved the Senate and signed into law by President William Clinton.

Obie Beal, a plaintiff in the suit from Montezuma, Georgia, said, "I had a contract with the local frozen food company to grow squash, I had farm experience - but these weren't good enough reasons to give me the loans I needed to farm successfully." He was denied two loans from 1987 to 1990.

At the July 11-16 convention of the NAACP in Atlanta, the farmers will speak at a plenary session on July 15 entitled "A Journey - A Challenge - A Commitment: In Support of America's Black Farmers." Gary Grant, president of the Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association, John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, Ralph Paige, executive director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Kweisi Mfume, president of the NAACP, and Dan Glickman, secretary of the USDA, will address the session, followed by a question and answer period.

Arlene Rubinstein is a member of the International Association of Machinists in Atlanta. She is the Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Congress in the 4th C.D.

 
 
 
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