For Immediate Release                                    Contact: Steve Smith (202) 637-5018

The National Black Farmers Association and the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association will hold a rally and March for Justice beginning at 10:30 a.m. on April 26 at the USDA (1400 Independence Ave.) in Washington, DC

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
On Support of Black Farmers’ Fight For Justice
April 3, 2006

The AFL-CIO joins our nation’s African American farmers in calling for the U.S. government to end decades of discriminatory and unjust practices that have forced hundreds of thousands of black farmers to walk away from their land and abandon their livelihoods.

It’s been seven years since black farmers who experienced discrimination won a historic settlement against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in which the USDA agreed to pay $50,000 and debt cancellation to each farmer who established his or her case.  Yet in that time 81,000 of the 94,000 black farmers in the class-action suit have received no compensation from our government.

It’s a national disgrace that the USDA under President Bush continues to turn a blind eye to black farmers by failing to resolve court-sanctioned outstanding claims. The Bush administration must act immediately to ensure black farmers are paid what they are owed and address continued allegations of discrimination by the USDA.

The AFL-CIO joins the National Black Farmers Association in demanding that the Department of Agriculture also re-open claims that have been rejected, provide black farmers with equal credit opportunity and include black farmers in subsidy programs.  We further call on the Bush administration to provide restitution or remedy for black farmers whose land has been seized unlawfully.

By addressing the longstanding abuses suffered by black farmers, our government has an opportunity to provide a measure of justice to a group of hard-working Americans who’ve been systematically and unfairly denied their right to pursue the American dream. By failing to act, the Bush administration risks dishonoring the sacrifice of generations of black farmers and making permanent on our nation’s fabric yet another stain of racial inequality.