A way of life is being threatened in the American Midwest. There, many Native Americans are seeing their farms and ranches going under due to financial ruin. And they think this could have been avoided.This is why, as Kari Lydersen, of the Washington Post reports, “thousands of Native American farmers and ranchers [who are participating in] a class-action lawsuit against the Agriculture Department alleging widespread racial discrimination in loan programs meant to be a resource of last resort for those turned down by banks.”
The lawsuit is not new. In fact, it was filed 10 years ago. However, the plaintiffs have more optimism that a settlement might be reached with the Obama administration than with previous administrations. For their part, “The Agriculture Department has acknowledged problems in the past, and Secretary Tom Vilsack has stressed his commitment to improving diversity and equal opportunity in the agency, USDA spokesman Justin DeJong said.”
A similar class-action suit involving African American farmers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was settled in 1999. In that suit the plaintiffs received nearly one billion dollars. “[T]his year President Obama requested $1.25 billion more for farmers who missed the 2000 filing deadline.”
Secretary Vilsack seems to have approached his job with at least a feeling their might be a perception of racial discrimination with regards to his department. To that end, the secretary has called for efforts to “increase diversity and combat discrimination in the department,” he has asked for an independent analysis of the offices in the field, but he wants there to be an emphasis on “socially disadvantaged farmers, and created a task force to review past and pending civil right complaints.”
As Lydersen quotes Vilsack, ‘“I intend to lead the Department in correcting its past errors, learning from its mistakes, and moving forward to a new era of equitable service and access for all,’ Vilsack said in an April memo.” In the Native American suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, the discovery process has just ended.
The Native American suit, called the Keepseagle lawsuit after one of the plaintiffs, George Keepseagle, seeks compensation “for Native American farmers and ranchers who alleged discrimination in the USDA's loan program between 1981 and 1999. Lead attorney Joseph M. Sellers thinks tens of thousands of people denied a total of $3 billion in credit could be included in the class. Using USDA formulas, he estimates that plaintiffs are owed up to $1 billion in lost income; they are not seeking punitive damages.”
USDA loans are divvied out by a locally elected committee comprised of farmers and ranchers. They decide who gets the loans and the terms. The Native Americans allege the panels are comprised “disproportionally of white men, who the plaintiffs say harbor negative stereotypes about Native Americans and their farming ability.”
The USDA responded to previous criticism due to discrimination in farm programs and employment by holding listening sessions and filing a report, a report from 1994 that finds “94 percent of county farm loan committees included no women or minorities.” As Lydersen reports, “Testimony in the listening sessions indicated that minorities were not offered the same level of technical assistance on loan applications as whites, and were likely to wait longer for loans. Farmers often lose their land to foreclosure, leading to its sale at auction, where the land is sometimes bought by a committee member's friend or relative.” In the Keepseagle suit, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Ron His Horse Is Thunder, notes that all local agents are “non-Indian.”
Meanwhile, George Keepseagle has concerns that he can’t pay off his current USDA loan. His attorneys say the loan was drawn up under unfair terms “that would not have been placed on a white rancher.” Still, USDA spokesman Justin DeJong believes it is “premature” to discuss settlement options, but “civil rights issues are a priority for the department.”
Native Americans do acknowledge improvement in diversity “outreach efforts of loan committees,” but still believe there is more work to be done. “The 2008 farm bill calls for pending litigation against the USDA by socially disadvantaged farmers to be resolved ‘in an expeditious and just manner’ and for increased outreach and reporting requirements for minority participation in USDA loan programs.”
The African American and Native American suits are certainly not alone in terms of discriminatory lawsuits against the department. Currently, “Lawsuits alleging USDA lending discrimination against Hispanic and female farmers are also working their way through the courts, though they are not class-action suits.”
These farmers probably just hope “the expeditious and just manner” directive from the 2008 Farm Bill is followed.
To read the Lydersen article click here.
Posted: 09/29/09
