| BASKERVILLE, VA - Recently the National
Black Farmers Association reached out to thousands of the nation's
black farmers to provide food for the victims of hurricane Katrina.
Unfortunately the Administration has turned a blind eye and has
refused any contracts with the black farmers; meanwhile they have
already begun giving no-bid contracts to Bush's political friends
and cronies. Those most impacted by the disaster should be able
to compete for contracts to help restore the region, while helping
to restore the financial security of their families.
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National Black Farmers Association President, John Boyd
issued the following statement today:
“While the Bush Administration has
begun to mobilize the reconstruction effort in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina, in essence they are just putting a band-aid
on the over-arching issues of race and economic status in America.
The fact remains that the majority of the victims left stranded
in New Orleans were poor and black and lacked the economic opportunities
and resources to evacuate prior to Katrina. The Bush Administration's
unwillingness to contract with black farmers and provide job opportunities
for Katrina's victims is indicative of their empty apologies and
hollow rhetoric about minority outreach.
Meanwhile FEMA has begun to spend billions of dollars on the recovery
effort with most of these funds going to no-bid contracts for
financial supporters of President Bush. All the while leaving
out minority contractors and refusing to provide opportunities
that would help many of the displaced evacuees get jobs, decent
wages, and get back on their feet by helping to rebuild their
own community.
Mr. Bush even went so far as to suspend rules to ensure that workers
are paid fairly - a second slap in the face of the poor working
class in the south. While the Administration's initial response
to the disaster was slow and inadequate, they have wasted no time
in making sure that their political friends benefit from one of
America's greatest national disaster. While repairing New Orleans
and the Southern states should be the top priority, the Administration
can not escape its dismal record of contracting with minorities,
and they can not continue to claim they want to reach out to the
African American community, while refusing to let us sit at the
table.”
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