AUGUST
CHIGAN cmZEN PAG 3
Accuse·federal agencies for decline of Bla k.Farmers·
ASHINGTO , DC --We
are orking itb hundred of
Blac , family-sized farmers
bo b ve complaints and have
been treated with insen-
itivity, at best, and racial
discriminauon, at worst, by
FmHA. bat i more damag­
, g i tbat FmHA, in all of its
roce e and procedures, try
to break tbe pirit of farmers
n discourages them from as­
ing for or applying for a si -
tance to olve their problems, "
aid Ben Burkett, at a hearing
held July 25 by tbe Govern­
ment Information, Justice. and
Agriculture Subcommittee of
the House Committee on
Government Operation .
Burkett, a Mis is ippi
farmer, te tified on be�lf of
Interfaith Action for
Economic Ju rice and the
Federation of Soutbern
Cooper tives/Land Assis­
tance Fund.
bearing was called to
. examine the increasing 10 s of
minori ty farms in the Uni ted
S tes, at 3.25 time tbe rate
for other farm , and the
specific reo on for the e 10 -
e including cases of dis­
crimin tion and lack of
respon ivene s by the
Blae dollar
ek
demon tration
I
eS2Biils dS B.An-
t ny Dollars will. be available
on A t 23, 1990.
er ons wishing to obtain
more information hould call
the Ypsilanti- Willo Run
Branch t 485-7515.
F rmer Home Loan Ad-'
ministration (FmHA) and the
U.S. Department of Agricul­
ture, (USDA).
COMPLAI TS IN-
CLUDE charges of agency-
ide acq uiescence,
unwillingne to reveal per-
tinent information under the
Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA), insufficient response
to individual complaints and
improper complaint handling
in general.
Minori ty farm groups rep­
re ented at the hearing con­
cluded that FmHA practices
had not improved since the
. U.S. Civil Right .Commi sion
issued a comprehensive report
in 1982:
-FmHA as not given ade­
quate emphasi or priority to
tbe crisis facing Black
farmers; thus. despite their
di proportionate need, BJ e
f rmers are not beJlefitinl
fuJly from FmllA loaD
programs. In some ca es,
FmHA may have hindered the
efforts of small Black farmen
to rem in a viable force in
agriculture. "
Today's tesumonie meld
with a larger crusade for Black,
AACP
call
mmit
the Howard hm, A
18tb,. t d form_
coalitio that will track d
COOIrdiDaie B self-help ef­
fort , develop iDDovative
Fqv bWKhat m
elf-determin tion, NAACP
Executive Director Dr. BeD­
jamiD L. Hoo said.
• African Ameri 'ha\1e aD
ggregate annual income of
more than S250 billion a year t
the expertise of a growing
professional and
entrepreneurial class, and the
moral stren h of a v t and
powerful De ork of churches,"
Hooks aid. ·We must pa -
. onately deploy these resour­
ces to salvage a strngling Black
community.
o is the time for Black
leaders to take up the charge
and prepare to t a course of'
BI c elf-reliance: he said.
We must fight to free the less
fortunate among u from the
hac les of chemical and
psychological lavery."
and otber minor' farmers
that includes a Fr edorn of In­
formation (FO] ) suit filed
the last week of' July and a
drive by advocates and
religiou people for the pas­
sage of the Minori ty Farmers
Rights Act in Congress.
The FO]A suit has been
filed by the Mi sissippi State
Association of Cooperatives
and South Carolina State As­
sociation of Cooperatives,
again t FmHA and USDA.
"FMHA BA A long his­
tory administering it loan
program in a racially-dis­
criminatory manner. The
agency's dlscrtminatory ac­
tions and failures to act have
had an adverse impact on
Black farmer ' abi Ii ties to
own farmland and operate
By Derrick C. l..ew
. Mi£laip" Ciliull rtporter
A urvey done by thc US
Commerce Department' 'Cen­
sus Bureau indicates that
single-parent Black women
are getting th low end of the
deal when it come to receiv­
ing payments for child up­
port.
The urvc y 'ay' the
average amount of child. sup­
port payment: received hy
white women in 1987 was
double the amount received
by BI k women.
Black mother received
p yment averaging $1,SOO
compared with 2,950 for
hite mother. the urvey
found.
The survey indicated S3
percent of in Ie-parent Black
omen live below the poverty
level, a rate twice th t of
hite mothers (26 percent).
About 36 percent of the 2.1
million single-p rent Black
women were awarded child
support payment of spring
1988.
farms in Ameri
complaint by th
lives..
The complaint states tha
the organization reque ted
certain FOIA records, includ
ing records for the July 25·
bearing, in J nuary and many
of the documents were wi h­
held with no explanation.
"Eight years have pa sed
. since the Civil Right Com­
mission voiced alarm about
the loss of Black farmer in
the country - eight long years.
The finding are echoed for
other mi nori ty farmers.
Those of u who listen to the
Lord, wbo care about justice,
know this Jack of real action
cannot continue," said Rev.
Artbur B. Keys, Jr., executive
Director of Interfaith Action
for Economic Justice.
Interfaith Action ha been
wor ng for the Minori ty
Farm rs Right Act (HR 519 .
S 2881) which is the first om­
preben ive Ie gi lau ve
response to the deva ta ti n
di appearance of minority
farmers 1D the United State .
, Interfaith Action for
Economic Ju tice is a coali­
tion 0 34 Protestant, Roman
Catho ic and Jewi h organiza­
tion that work for U.S.
polici tbat promote justice.
Interf ith Action works close­
ly wit Federation of South em
Coop ratives/Land Assi­
ranee Fund hich provide
service. information, techni­
cal as istance, training, and
advoc cy for Minority
Iarrne in the South.
ClJILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS A ARDED AND ROCEIVED DY
BLACK AND WBII'2 ManIEnS: 1907
I .
I
Payments Awarded
D Payments Received
69
75 100
from obsent fother
o
% of 011 women with
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Cenau
Ne rl y 800.000 si ngre­
p rent Black womcn were
supposed -tn have received
payments in L987, hut only
about 73 percent ef them ac­
tually received it.
The award rate for while
mother in ]987 was '69 per- I
cent, but th proportion that
actually received payment
wa abo t the arne as that of
Black motller .
The survey al 0 indicated
health in urance was included
in 21 percent of child support
award to Black mothers and
43 percent of award to white
mother. •
About 8 percent of
divorced or separated Black
women were aw rded alim ny
payment. compared with 18
percent' of white, accordin
to the report.
. I
•