Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama, Race and Civil Rights
First, John Boyd Jr. brought his mule named Struggle to New York City to pressure senators to fund the settlement of a discrimination lawsuit filed by black farmers. Now, he's driving up and down Capitol Hill on a tractor called Justice.
Either way, Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association and a Virginia farmer, says he won't stop until black farmers receive a $1.25 billion discrimination settlement promised to them by the federal government. He says he will make the ride from Virginia to Capitol Hill every day until the Senate session closes in October.
Boyd is applying the pressure to President Obama in the hopes that he will push the Senate to fund the discrimination settlement.
"We've been waiting for years," Boyd told CNN. "And when we entered into this settlement agreement back in February, yhe administration announced it like it was a done deal."
"They put out in the media that they were 'turning the page' at the USDA," Boyd continued. "But the bottom line is that the black farmers don't have the money."
Black farmers successfully sued the federal government and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for blatantly denying them access to low-interest loans and farm subsidies, while granting these same benefits to white farmers. When black farmers did receive loans, they were often at a rate higher than those offered to white farmers. Equipment grants and subsidies often came too late.
The federal government first settled Pigford v. Glickman in 1999, paying out more than $980 million to 16,000 farmers, but many of the black farmers who were discriminated against were not properly notified or given enough time to join the suit.
As a result, a 2007 farm bill introduced by then-Senator Obama reopened the settlement, and the $1.25-billion figure was agreed upon. However, the bill to fund the settlement has passed the House twice but failed seven times in the Senate. Boyd believes the bill is caught up in bipartisan politics and political posturing that is occurring before the November midterm elections.
Boyd has called for a vote on a stand-alone bill because previous bills have been attached to larger funding bills. Senators often tell him that they support the farm bill but objected to other spending measures.
"I decided to drive my trusty tractor here -- Justice -- all over Washington, so people can see what a real farmer looks like," Boyd told CNN.
"It's about a group of people who've proven their case in front of a court, who've won time and time again in Congress," he added. "Now we have a bill, a passed bill, and Congress should enact it. We already have a $100 million out there. Where's that at?"
Black farmers, many of whom have lost their farms or are in the process of being foreclosed upon, are dwindling by the day. Those who aren't losing their farms are dying, Boyd said.
"When you lose your farm, you don't just lose a job, you lose a way of life. You lose your family name and your standing in the community. This settlement would put money in the poorest counties in the country where these black people live," Boyd told Aol BlackVoices in a recent interview.
Obama, said Boyd, can use the bully pulpit to force a vote on the bill.
"He is the world leader. We know he is busy, and we support him, but I need help. I clearly need help in the Senate, and I think he can push the legislators there," Boyd told AOL. "It's discouraging to some people that even with a black president, we still have these problems. We want to keep him focused on the issue. I would like to sit down with him and see where he thinks he can be a little more helpful in getting this done. This thing has failed seven times, and I think we need the involvement of the president."
Obama recently called the settlement a "priority" of his administration.
Boyd said It's discouraging to see the administration provide $1.5 billion in disaster assistance to large farmers in Arkansas at the request of Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln who is in a tough re-election battle. The USDA used administrative funds, which don't require Senate approval. Boyd thinks the president should push for something similar to be done for black farmers. In Arkansas, large farms could receive anywhere from $100,000 to $800,000 in disaster aid on top of existing subsidies. The payout to black farmers is expected to average only $50,000 per farmer. It's a sum Boyd called "half a loaf" that won't adequately compensate farmers for the magnitude of their losses but is still desperately needed.
Boyd said he may remain in Washington, D.C., until a bill is passed. He's going to ride Justice to the Supreme Court and then to the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic committees.
"Why can't we get this done if we have the support they,\ say we do among Republicans and Democrats and the president? Why are we still out here chasing our tail in the Senate, begging and pleading for leaders to do the right thing?"