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Farmers Gathered To Discuss Discrimination
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Among
minority formers, stories of
discrimination by banks and govern
ment lenders abound, as do sad tales
of losing inherited family land to the
courts.
New congressional legislation,
drafted In consultation with minority
farmers, proposes to stem decades of
discrimination and losses that have
created an alarming decline In the
number of minorities in U S
agriculture.
About 25 minority farmers from
Southern states, farm advocacy
groups, and social and religious
organizations gathered here July 19
at the Dlrksen Senate Building to
meet with congressional leaders and
to show their support for the passage
of the Minority Fanners’ Rights Act.
' The act is aimed at addressing the
disappearance of minority-owned
farms in the United States.
U.S. Rep. Mike Espy, a Mississippi
Democrat, introduced the bill in June
as an amendment to the 1990 Farm
Bill Act. “Small farmers constitute a
dying way of life,” he said, and "have
been targets of, if not discrimination,
benign neglect. We should be con
cerned when part of our culture
diminishes."
A similar Senate bill is expected to
be introduced by Sen. Wyche Fowler
of Georgia.
According to John Zippert, director
of the Federation of Southern
Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund,
"The investigation provides a pro
gram of affirmative action and sur
vival for black, iHspanic, Indian and
Asian family farmers who are losing
their land at a rate three times faster
than other farmers."
The bill, HR 5198, provides for: im
mediate halt to minorit-owned land
loss; restoration of black land owner
ship to 15 million acres by the year
2000; increase of land ownership to
levels in line with the rural minority
population in each region of the na
tion; eradication of racial
discrimination in all U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture programs and
hiring; and assurance to minorities of
a fair share of all federal resources in
farming and rural development.
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"This legislation," said Ralph
Paige, executive director of the
Federation of Southern
Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund,
“results from hundreds of grassroots
community meetings, farmer-to
farmer consultations, administrative'
appeals with the USDA agencies,
hearings and anguished testimonies
of thousands of black and minority
farmers displaced from the land.’
Paige, a United Methodist layman
from La Grange, Ga., testified in
February before the U.S. Senate
Agriculture Committee’s Subcom
mittee on Agriculture Credit on
behalf of the federation and of Inter
faith Action for Economic Justice, an
advocacy group of 34 religious agen
cies. Paige told the committee that
“many barriers must be removed if
minority land ownership is to be
maintained and restored.”
“Our contacts with farmers in a
10-state region reaffirm for us daily
that historical patterns of discrimina
tion, lack of access to credit and other
resources, and limited education and
training still exist for the vast majori
ty of minority farmers,” he added.
Donald, Stokes, a third
generation farmer from Alabama,
spoke of instances of the USDA
withholding funds for disaster and
other farm-related programs from
black farmers “until the last
minute.”
A&M Vows Fight
Against School
Merger Attempt
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP)-Of
ficials and alumni of Alabama A&M
University are strongly objecting to
any forced merger of the school with
another college or any attempt to
close its doors.
Attorneys representing Gov. Guy
Hunt and the Alabama Commission
on Higher Education have filed
documents questioning the future ex
istence of A&M and another
predominantly black school,
Alabama State University in Mon
tgomery.
Attorneys for the state last week fil
ed a document with U.S. District
Judge Harold Murphy in response to
renewed charges by the Justice
Department that vestiges of segrega
tion remain in Alabama's public col
leges and universities.
Murphy is presiding over the
federal government’s higher educa
tion desegregation lawsuit against
the state. The case is scheduled for
retrial in October in Birmingham.
"It is admitted that desegregation
of institutions of higher education is
required," the state document reads.
"These defendants do not admit,
however, that the goal of desegrega
tion can be accomplished through the
continued existence of the present
form of governance and administra
tion of A&M and ASU, or even
through the continued existence of
those two institutions."
. The state’s reply to the court also
states that “...ASU and A&M are
governed by their boards and ad
ministrations in such a manner that
those institutions are maintained as
predominantly black .institutions,”
and that the two schools “exercise a
disproportionately large political role
in the state."
A&M President Carl Marbury said
last week that no other state involved
J in similar desegregation lawsuits has
made the existence of the
predominantly black institutions an
issue.
The state action seems to say to
A&M and ASU, "We’ll teach you.
We ll get you," Marbury told the
Huntsville Times.
Taylor Byrd, Jr„ president of the
A&M national alumni organization,
said the state’s goal is to have A&M
merge with a majority white univer
sity.
"We were not surprised," he said.
"We knew the state felt that way
about us, but we didn't think they
would have the nerve to come out and
state it publicly.”
Byrd said the alumni will oppose
the state’s attempt. “There is no way
we are going to sit by and let that hap
pen," he said.
The state's document states that
Alabama is not required by law to
operate A&M and ASU as institutions
comparable to the University of
Alabama and Auburn University as a
remedy for pre-1964 segregation.
In the mid-1980s the case was tried
and the state was found guilty, but on
appeal the trial judge was removed
and his findings thrown out.
Local Serviceman
Arrives For Duty
Army Pvt. Walter C. Haynes, Jr.
has arrived for duty at Fort Camp
bell, Ky.
Haynes is a military police
specialist.
He is the son of Walter C. and
Patricia G. Haynes of 3318 Octavia
St., Raleigh.
His wife, Amy, is the daughter of
Glenn D. Fogleman of 2113 Broad St.
and Nancy T. Fogleman of 2820
Chapel Hill Road, both of Durham.
The private is a 1987 graduate of
Athens Drive High School, Raleigh.
The Rev. Chester Jones, a United
Methodist pastor from Little Rock,
Ark., speaking at an April conference
linked to passage of the 1990 Farm
Bill, said minorities can no longer
stand by, "watching land being raped
by pimps and institutional prostitutes
[while] the church is saying there is
no word from the Lord.
"People who are part of the
religious community... have already
judged and condemned many of our
small farmers, saying they got
themselves In trouble; that they are
overextended... Can we maintain
what these small farmers gave
us—church buildings, colleges, in
stitutions—with nickels and dimes
and quarters?"
Of the nation’s 35,861 farmers
yuunger man 25, 173 an black. In
1M0, 14 parcant of farmara ware
black; today, fewer than one peccant.
If that rata of decline coot
Paige aald, “we will »oon_
propheay of the 1381 U.S. Civil ]
Commission report which stat^, „
no changes are made in government
policies, blacks will own no farmiland
by the year 3000.’"
Shoncys, Bank Agrees On Revolving
Line Of Credit For Minority Banks
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Shoney’s Inc.
recently announced the establish
ment of a $10 million revolving line oi
credit with a syndicate including five
minority banks headed by Nashville’s
Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Co.
Loans made under the line of credit
will be used for working capital pur
poses. The interest rate on the overall
loan facility is based on the prime
rate.
Taylor H. Henry, Jr., vice presi
dent for finance and chief financial
r
officer of Shoney’s, Inc., Mid, “We
are extremely pleated with the terms
of the loan agreement. Citizens Bank
has done an outstanding Job in putting
the lending syndicate together. We
always are pleased to be doing
business with another Nashville
based company.”
Rick Davidson, president and chief
executive officer of Citizens Savings
Bank and Trust Co., stated, “We are
happy to have the opportunity to do
business with Shoney’s and ap
predate the confidence they hive
shown In us. We look forwent td a
long and mutually beneficial relation
ship with them.”
Shoney's, Inc. operates and fran
chises a chain of more than 1,130
restaurants and 56 motels in 31 states.
Its stock is traded on the New Ydrk
Stock Exchange under the symbol
SHN. Citizens Savings Bank atad
Trust Co., founded in 1904, is the
oldest continuously owned minority
owned financial institution in the
United States.
--—j
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