Eva M. Clayton: “the plight of the Black Farmers continues to be fragile and uncertain in spite of the Black Farmer's Law Suit or because…”

“the plight of the Black Farmers continues to be fragile and uncertain in spite of the Black Farmer's Law Suit or because of it. The recent ruling by the U.S. Appellant Court in Washington, DC. Pigford v. Ann M. Veneman'', clearly said that the farmers have suffered double-betrayal first by the Department and then by their own lawyers. The Recent protest of Black Farmers in the State of Tennessee demonstrates that the U.S. Department of Agriculture continues to ignore minority farmers who are small and disadvantaged. The recent legislative victories for Civil Rights within the Farm Bill must be implemented immediately to ensure that passed practices of discrimination and denials are prevented and corrected. Those victories included: (1) An Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at USDA (2) Language that required the Secretary to track program participation of minority farmers; county committee elections to be fair and open; the appointment of a minority voting member when not represented (3) Provide waivers for farmers who lost their farms or who could not repay their loans due to discrimination or natural disaster. Additionally the Section 2501 Outreach Program to assist disadvantaged farmers was reauthorized and an annual funding level increased from $10 million to $25 million with approved increased funding for research and extension for Historical Black Land Grant Colleges.”