Protesters Take Over USDA Office in Tennessee - Black Farmers Say Promised Loans Were Mishandled

The Washington Post ^ | July 2, 2002 | Darryl Fears

[gubamyster]

Three hundred black farmers took over a U.S. Department of Agriculture regional office in Brownsville, Tenn., yesterday to protest what organizers called the agency's failure to process loan applications from growers who were counting on the money to plant this year's crops.

"These farmers are still waiting for word to see if they can get money," said Tom Burrell, a board member of the Tennessee chapter of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, one of several groups that organized the protest. "But now, for all intents and purposes, the planting season is over. This is nothing but business as usual."

[Dakmar]

So they think they should be treated differently than everyone else? Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

[HELLRAISER II]

I don't know how many of you out there that have ever dealt with USDA or Rural Development, but getting anything done with these govt. lending agencies is a F**king nightmare. It does not suprise me at all to find out their loans haven't been done, but it wouldn't suprise me that the White peoples loans didn't get done either.

[Dakmar]

I've never dealt with either of those agencies, but have had the misfortune of having to deal with other federal bureaucracies and can testify they move slower than peanut butter on a penguin. I have also seen documents showing that these federal agencies are almost always staffed by blacks in far greater proportion than in the private sector, so if these farmers want to scream racism they should get a little background information first.

[HELLRAISER II]

I'm a Loan Officer for a local bank, so I can tell you first hand that the R.D. loans take 3 times longer than a normal loan and it is even worse for Agricultural loans. The Govt. has so much red tape that it is damn near impossible for the regular fella to get a loan.