ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 12, 1996 TAG: 9612120018
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ROBERT GREENE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BLACK FARMERS ALLEGE the USDA has given them smaller loans, delayed loans, shelved applications and entered false data.
Agriculture Department investigators will seek a way to resolve more than a decade's worth of discrimination complaints by black and other minority farmers in farm loan and other programs.
The announcement Tuesday by Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman comes as a federal judge prepares to rule on whether a discrimination lawsuit by six black and Hispanic farmers should be expanded to include hundreds of possible victims.
A hearing is scheduled Friday in U.S. District Court on the suit, which claims the department should award damages and take other actions, such as stemming foreclosures. In some cases, the department has acknowledged discrimination.
A newly formed group of black farmers, organized with the help of the lawyer in the case, also planned a demonstration Thursday in front of the White House. The group claims the administration has done little to address the complaints, most of which originated before the Clinton administration took over.
The announcement was also prompted by an outside consultant's report that found low participation by blacks, Hispanics, Indians, other minorities and women in farm programs and smaller loans to those groups. The report, obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, could not document overt discrimination, however, and suggested the reasons for differences were complex and difficult to trace, if not impossible.
Still, Glickman said he has asked the Office of Inspector General to investigate immediately the status of individual discrimination complaints and recommend a plan for promptly resolving them.
The investigation will also look at farm program participation.
Glickman said he will open ``a national dialogue'' that includes national and state forums early next year on improving services to minorities and women. The three farm program agencies will also open an ``outreach office'' to improve contacts.
``I am committed to creating an environment in which every customer who comes to one of our offices is treated fairly, effectively and efficiently,'' Glickman said in a statement.
The report, by D.J. Miller & Associates Inc. of Atlanta, noted the steady decline in black farmers to 18,816 in 1992. There were 21,000 Hispanic-run farms, up from five years earlier, the Census Bureau says, and 145,000 female-run farms, also up.
In advance of Friday's hearing, the Justice Department opposed turning the lawsuit into a class action. It says there is no way to sort out who would be covered without reviewing hundreds of detailed complaints that would force a probe into personal financial management and dealings with thousands of county-level officials.
However, attorney James Myart Jr. of San Antonio said in newly filed court papers that the Miller study found a common thread to the discrimination complaints. So did a 36-page report done in April 1993 by the Virginia Farmers Home Administration, he said.
Complaints include smaller loans, delayed loans, denial of technical help with applications, shelving the applications, and putting in false data.
Myart also spoke as representative of the National Black Farmers Association, a group formed with about 50 of his clients, mostly in southern Virginia. The group plans Thursday's demonstration in front of the White House.
A settlement could prove expensive. And the department is already under pressure from Congress to curb the billions of dollars in losses from loans made to all farmers.
Myart said in court papers that former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy tried to settle one case for $570,000 in December 1994, just before his resignation, but the settlement was rejected by Glickman.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. John W. Boyd Jr. poses in his Baskerville chickenby CNBhouse. He faces foreclosure because of problems with USDA loans.