BASKERVILLE, VA – A new report released this morning by the United States Government Accountability Office summarizes the role played by the Court-Appointed Monitor in the landmark settlement of a major discrimination suit by black farmers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It adds new information that supports Black farmers who are calling on Congress to act to halt farm foreclosures and re-open the cases of thousands who experienced discrimination within the USDA system. The farmers will hold a rally and march to mark the ten year anniversary of their struggle in Washington, DC beginning at 10:30 am on Wednesday, April 26 at the USDA headquarters.

The report, which is available for download on the GAO website (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06469r.pdf), finds that tens of thousands of farmers were left out of the settlement process and many hundreds or thousands more had their cases denied. The GAO team behind the report explains that they “did not review specific cases nor assess case decisions made under the settlement agreement.”

The GAO report also explains the value of creating an ombudsman for civil rights issues at the USDA. The report notes that “the voice of an independent ombudsman could potentially be useful in addressing concerns about equitable access to programs and other civil rights issues at USDA.”

John Boyd, president and founder of the National Black Farmers Association issued the following statement this morning:

“This new GAO report reminds our friends in Congress of the bureaucratic mess that was created and the enormous obstacles placed between the nation’s Black farmers and justice.

As the GAO report shows, numerous mistakes made throughout the process, many that we believe require Congressional action to re-open the cases of thousands of Black farmers. For example, Black farmers were required to locate “similarly situated” White farmers which ignore the realities of racism that continued to exist and made it impossible for many to have their cases heard on their merits.

The GAO explains that in 1999 the court appointed a class action litigation firm with zero knowledge of the farming communities to promote the process of settlement to the nation’s farmers. The report shows that the firm, Poorman-Douglas Corporation, and the USDA, failed miserably in developing a grassroots strategy to reach the thousands of  Black farmers across the nation eligible for compensation for systematic discrimination within the USDA system. The company paid for expensive advertisements in TV Guide yet failed to develop or carry-out a series of local informational meetings across the nation that would have helped ensure the more than 70,000 late filers would have their cases heard.

Everyone deserves to have their case heard on the merits. The process must be transparent and bureaucratic barriers need to be eliminated.

This timely report demonstrates the need for Congress to take action. And this is precisely why all of the nation’s Black farmer organization will join together with leaders of the AFL-CIO, NAACP, Democratic National Committee and others at an important rally and march in Washington, DC on Wednesday, April 26th.”