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Civil Rights In AgricultureIn this section:
Learn about the
Decline of the Minority Farmer The history of minority farmers in America is one that is at once long, proud and storied but also full of frustration, heartache and discrimination. The existence and work of minority farmers on the land predates the union itself. Their toil shepherded this nation through its agrarian infancy. Now full grown, an unknowing or perhaps uncaring nation tramples on those that encouraged its first steps. The civil rights of minority farmers have been denied both institutionally and informally for many decades. Most notably the USDA has been accused of and admitted to discrimination within its programs. The largest problem facing minority farmers is retaining possession of the land. The actions of the USDA have added an extra hurdle to this struggle. Unfair treatment and lack of access to various USDA programs has seen African-American farmers, Latino farmers, American Indian farmers, and Asian farmers marginalized and driven from the field. Learn more on this issue. Various measures have been debated, considered, introduced, and even passed into law to improve the lot of minority farmers. Nearly every attempt, be it legislation or court ordered relief, has in one way or another fallen short of fully restoring the civil rights of minority farmers. At a glance the problem can be distilled into two major categories of shortcomings. The first occurs when civil rights remedies in various forms are not structured to be strong enough to eliminate these problems. The second occurs when well-constructed remedies are put in place but not administered or adhered to correctly. This second instance seems to be most glaring and common challenge facing minority farmers in their current quest for their civil rights. One concrete example is the breakdown of distributing monetary compensation to African-American farmers as mandated by the court in the Pigford v. Glickman decision. The court in this case found that members of this class action suit were entitled to cash awards to compensate for discriminatory violations committed by the USDA in its farm programs. Despite this clear decision, various means have been discovered and employed to disqualify eligible class members from receiving their money. Learn more about the dedicated action of farm advocates. The conditions surrounding the plight of minority farmers should make every citizen speak out against this pattern of mistreatment. Civil rights and property rights are the foundation of civil society. These are precisely the two areas through which minority farmers are being disenfranchised.
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