From Western Farm Press:
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack
Racism is dead at USDA. Discrimination has gone the way of the dodo. Since 2009, when Secretary Vilsack called for a new era in civil rights, racism and discrimination have been banished to the scrapheap of USDA history.
And what a costly scrapheap — more akin to gold than garbage. A rough tally of USDA discrimination settlements: $1.15 billion for black farmers; $760 million for Indian farmers; and $1.3 billion for Hispanic and women farmers combined. If legislative and man-hour costs are tacked on, that towering scrapheap reaches well over the $3 billion mark. Settlements? Makes you wonder what the high-water mark was for the plaintiffs’ lawyers if they ‘settled’ for $3 billion.
As the green is doled out to a conga line of aggrieved farmers, ‘The Last Plantation’ atmosphere is apparently no more at USDA; buried in an act of monetary absolution. A contrite USDA wishes to be absolved of past sins. But sins require sinners. Where are they? Has USDA fired anyone? Have the guilty been named? Years and years of bias reportedly inflicted on over 100,000 U.S. famers — and no perpetrator to show for it? USDA admits guilt to the tune of billions in discrimination claims — and no heads roll?
Take the black farmer suit (Pigford vs. Glickman) as a barometer: The charges of USDA racism cover a period from 1983 to 1997. There are approximately 90,000 black farmers making settlement claims in this case alone. So how many USDA employees or appointees were involved in abusing these farmers and precisely what were the charges? Was there collusion? Were the employees just solo rogues? How far up the chain did it go? Who knew what and when? Point us to the villains.
How about just giving us the names? Yes, yes, give the U.S. taxpayer ($3 billion lighter in the pocket) the names. The list of names would have to be legion. USDA could unfurl a giant scroll and rattle off all the names — sort of a last exorcism.
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