Obama Must Speak Up for Black Farmers

Date: Friday, May 21, 2010

By: Michael H. Cottman, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Memo to Congress: Enough of the political procrastination. Pay the black farmers – now.   

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill won’t cut a check to the 16,000 black farmers who are owed more than $1 billion. It’s one of the largest civil rights settlements in history, and there’s no legitimate excuse for withholding payment.

So what’s the problem? Black farmers can’t get a straight answer from anyone in Congress or the White House. They’re getting hoodwinked, bamboozled, okey-doked — and it’s shameful.

Some black farmers believe President Barack Obama is reluctant to weigh in publicly on the issue because of his tendency to shy away from controversial cases that focus on race. 

“I do think that the administration doesn’t take it head-on because it’s solely a black issue,” John Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, told CNN. “How can you get away [from] race on this issue where we were discriminated against by the federal government?”

Boyd makes a convincing argument. Still, black farmers are hoping that Obama will get tough on Congress and take ownership of issues where there is clear evidence of discrimination against black citizens. In the meantime, Obama should meet with Boyd at the White House, offer him a beer, and talk to him man to man, brother to brother. He owes Boyd a sincere explanation for the government’s callous disregard for farmers of color.  

Black farmers have been involved in a decades-old confrontation with the government since they first settled a portion of their law suit in 1999 claiming – successfully – that the Department of Agriculture discriminated against them over the years by denying them federal loans because they are black. And because Congress missed a March 31 deadline for the $1 billion payout, black farmers are frustrated, impatient – and angry.  

“We want our damn money, and we want it now,” Boyd said. “This is not about us complaining; this is about the government not doing what they promised they were going to do time and time again.”

Sound familiar? It should.

The U.S. government has a sordid history with African-Americans and land. There were promises made and promises broken. In the mid-1800s, freed slaves were promised 40 acres and a mule until President Andrew Johnson reversed the order and returned the land to its white owners.

Today, more than 200 years after 10,000 black settlers were coldheartedly thrown off their land in Georgia and South Carolina, the federal government is again systematically ruining the lives of black citizens by reneging on a legally-binding commitment.

Earlier this week, in his daily briefing with reporters, White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs was asked why Obama hasn’t been more vocal in his support of black farmers.   

“On the black farmers, John Boyd, who is the chief lobbyist, has expressed concerns about the pace of getting them what they are owed. And his claim is that the administration, the president in particular, is slow in moving in this direction because this is a black issue; it has to do with race. Is there any truth to that claim at all?” asked one reporter.

“I think precisely because this shouldn’t have anything to do with race is exact why the president is involved in this issue,” Gibbs responded. “This is a lawsuit that dates back to the late 1990s, that also includes – there’s a separate case, the Cobell case, that includes Native Americans, who sought and were – the case was settled for discrimination against the Department of Agriculture dating back many years. So the president’ approach to this is not based on the color of skin, but because of what is right.”

In reality, Obama can’t pay black farmers; the payout has to come from Congress. The president, however, can use his White House bully pulpit to put pressure on congressional lawmakers. And he can turn up the volume.

“The black farmers don’t have their money, and the person to grieve to is the president, a black president that has been supportive in the past,” Boyd told CNN. “We need him to help us finish the job. I don’t think Congress is going to do it on its own without the president from the microphone saying he would like to see black farmers get justice from the government.”

He’s absolutely right.

Valerie Jarrett, a senior White House advisor, says the president asks his staff for daily updates on the black farmers’ situation. So since Obama talks privately about standing with the black farmers in their struggle, the president should stand where they can see him.

Source:Blackamericaweb.com