Secretary Dan Glickman 89th Annual NAACP Conference Release No. 0288.98 Remarks Prepared For Secretary Dan Glickman 89th Annual NAACP Conference Atlanta, Georgia -- July 15, 1998 Thank you, Kweisi, for that introduction, and for your leadership both in the Congress and at the NAACP. I want to thank all the members for inviting me today. These past two years with civil rights on the front-burner at USDA have been a transformational time in my life. It has not always been pleasant to take the barbs that come with leading this struggle, but I have found comfort in the words of the Italian poet Dante who, centuries ago, wrote: the hottest places in hell are reserved for those, who in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.' I do believe it is time for all of us -- me, the Department of Agriculture, civil rights organizations and the American people -- to end neutrality on the issue of small minority farmers. I spent nearly 2 decades in Congress. In all that time, I can recall only once the issue of minority farmers being raised. There was not one hearing in the House or the Senate in modern times until this issue blew up. And, until recently, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find even a national civil rights leader talking about the plight of black farmers. Fortunately, there were people like John Boyd, and the National Black Farmers Association, and Ralph Paige, and the Federation of Southern Farm Cooperatives, who have done more than all the rest of us combined to give the issue of black land loss the stature and attention it deserves. They are some of the true heroes of this civil rights movement. These are hard times for many folks in agriculture. From floods to fires to droughts to crop disease, family farms are in a perilous position today. We also have a new Farm Bill that leaves producers more exposed to market changes, and with the difficulties in Asia and prices low, many family farms are barely hanging on. This afternoon, I will fly back to Washington to meet with President Clinton and agriculture leaders in the Congress to talk about what we can do now to help ... before it is too late ... before more families are pushed off their land. The fact is, farming is hard, risky work for all who pursue it. Add to these challenges discrimination, and you have a recipe for the extinction of our African American farm heritage. This would be a tremendous loss not just for agriculture, but for our nation. Truth be told, the further I've waded into issues of civil rights and agriculture, the more I've felt the weight not just of personal responsibility, but also of age-old national wounds that have yet to properly heal ... the ugly scars of racial fear and suspicion which are the legacy of slavery. Agriculture played a seminal role in that history. America fought its civil war over the right Southern plantation owners asserted to enslave men, women and children to work in their fields. Today, the continuing struggle of Black farmers -- 30 years after our civil rights movement -- reminds us just how far our nation has yet to go to turn civil rights into civil realities. But as we seek to elevate and alleviate the plight of black farmers, I would warn against viewing USDA as an anomaly. The vast majority of people who work at USDA are decent, hard-working public servants who believe in and practice civil rights. But this does not change the fact that discrimination persists in America -- not just in agriculture, but in all walks of life -- from banks to corporate boardrooms to fast-food restaurants. Last week, many of us opened our newspaper to the pained words of a mother who believes she lost her son to racism. Most people know that facing the truth brings about healing and growth,' Camille Cosby wrote. When is America going to face its historical and current racial realities so it can be what it says it is?' This is one of the most important questions facing America today. For those who want to see us reach as a nation toward racial reconciliation, we need look no further than the plight of Black farmers. At a time when many believe that civil rights issues are less black and white than gray, the issue of black land loss stands in stark moral contrast. Today in America, Black-owned farms are disappearing at three times the rate of farms generally. This has meant the loss not just of economic opportunity, but a rich heritage, since oftentimes this land passed through several generations of a family dating back to Reconstruction. One USDA official has the deed to land his grandfather bought in North Carolina for 12 « cents an acre back in the 1880s. His family held onto this land through many hard times which is no small miracle given the strict instructions passed from one generation to the next: never owe money to the government; never owe money to a bank. You can't trust those institutions,' his grandfather warned. If you let them take a mortgage on your land, you're going to lose it.' Too often that wisdom proved true. By the 1920s, family farmers of all backgrounds were struggling as agriculture began a trend toward fewer and larger operations. This pressure to grow or die' proved too much for many Black farmers who also faced discrimination. Those who didn't leave for factory jobs in the cities scraped by as small farmers. Back then, USDA reflected divided times. Ours was one of the last federal departments to integrate. In the mid-1960s our headquarters still had separate bathrooms and cafeterias. And, our farm programs were delivered according to local social norms -- meaning that in the South, we had black folks working in black communities and white folks working in white communities. Two of USDA's highest ranking officials today: Shirley Watkins, the head of our Food and Consumer Service, and Dallas Smith, our Deputy Undersecretary for the Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service, started out at USDA -- and I'm quoting their job titles -- as county Negro extension agents.' It is hard to imagine today such a bifurcated system in our not-so-distant past. This began to change with the civil rights movement. Black farmers demanded better treatment from their government. They started filing civil rights complaints, which were heart-wrenching stories of the human consequences of lost land -- marriages broken, families left in poverty. What was USDA's response at the time? By and large indifference. By 1983, the Reagan Administration had all but disbanded USDA's entire civil rights effort. It was left to this Administration to rebuild. Here, in 1998, we are still recovering from that decade of drift -- which is a sharp reminder that elections matter. I recount this history not to degrade a department that I truly believe can be a positive force in the daily life of every American. I recount this history because it is our history, and one we must face if we are to best serve the most diverse nation on earth in the 21st century. We are seeking a new day at USDA. We've had our own truth commissions'-- a series of listening sessions across the country that brought together top USDA officials with thousands of farmers, ranchers and USDA employees. We heard firsthand the pain of being denied help because of the color of your skin, your gender, your age. From that experience, our Civil Rights Action Team put together a report that broke the mold for government reports. It pulled not a single punch, and it did not stop at documenting the problem. It listed 92 recommendations for concrete change to improve USDA's civil rights record. It is now a condition of employment that every employee treat every customer and co-worker fairly and equitably, with dignity and respect. If you cannot live that creed, then you cannot work at USDA. We also make sure no government foreclosure proceeds before charges of discrimination are resolved. In 1998 and beyond, we will not tolerate people losing their land to others' ignorance. We have an Office of Outreach working in underserved communities. In fact, John Just-Buddy, from USDA is working full-time with the NAACP on black farmer issues. We are increasing credit and other resources for socially disadvantaged farmers. Even with a balanced budget, we need to ensure family farmers get adequate financial resources. We've also markedly improved the diversity up and down our ranks. Right now we have -- hands-down -- the most diverse political leadership USDA has ever seen. And, we are building stronger ties to the 1890s schools and other universities that will provide the next generation of agriculture's leaders. It is a strong start, but it is only a start. I know there are some -- I'm sure in this very room -- who feel that USDA has not done enough. Let me be the first to agree. But I will say that we have reached a critical fork in the road. If our goal is not simply reforming government, but turning the tide of black land loss, then it is time for all of us who care about this issue to roll up our sleeves. We need the strong involvement of Congress, civil rights groups, private companies and citizens. This movement must be greater than one person or institution. Otherwise, it will fail. Some of the most significant hurdles we face today are Congressional hurdles. I want to thank the members of the Congressional Black Caucus who are working to help us overcome them. There are three major issues currently before the Congress: The first is the fact that, in the 1996 Farm Bill, USDA was barred from offering a second-chance' farm loan to anyone who ever defaulted on a government farm loan -- no matter what the circumstances, no matter how long ago, no matter how strong a credit record they build back up. This is wrong. Agriculture is hard, risky business, and folks deserve a second chance. It's the small farmer barely making ends meet who is squeezed the hardest by this draconian rule. And, every day that Congress does not right this wrong, more good people lose their land. USDA also needs the authority to hold all our employees accountable on civil rights. We have people in nearly every county across the country who receive their paycheck from the federal government, but do not answer to the federal government on civil rights. Instead, they answer to county leaders. I want to maintain their freedom to tailor farm programs to local needs, but I believe that we can and should ensure these employees answer to one high national standard on civil rights. Unfortunately, this is a very controversial issue in the Congress. And, we need to pay reparations for documented cases of past discrimination. I am prohibited by law from settling many older cases of proven discrimination -- even when the delays were USDA's fault. I want the statute of limitations lifted so justice delayed does not mean justice denied. I am pleased to report that this legislation recently passed the House, and is likely to pass the Senate this week. There's a great deal that the private sector can do, too, particularly in the area of financial lending. I'll give you one example. This is from Mississippi County, Missouri, which is a dirt-poor region of the country -- called the Bootheel.' Last year, two black farmers made all kinds of history when they signed farm ownership loans to buy 60 and 70 acres of land, respectively. They were the first minority farmers in Missouri to receive farm ownership loans from a minority-owned bank. The first USDA guaranteed farm loans from a minority-owned lending institution. And, the first loans made by Gateway National Bank outside the city of St. Louis. It wasn't easy to make all this happen, but the bank, USDA and Lincoln University extension were all very committed. I can't say the bank will get rich on those loans. But I can say they helped three rural American dreams come true. The farmers? Cal and Donnell Robinson -- two brothers. The seller? Their father, Lynell Robinson. He'd rented out the land for years. Thanks to these loans, now that land will stay in the family. I'm pleased to report that the National Bankers Association and USDA are talking about ways we might replicate this success nationwide. We also have a new partnership with the United Negro College Fund to send university students overseas to learn more about agricultural trade and the global economy which will play such a pivotal role not just in agriculture's future, but our nation as a whole. I want a future for U.S. agriculture in which people of all colors and backgrounds have the same opportunity to live the original American dream, and make their living from the land and pass on that life and that land to their children. We cannot have that future -- for our farmers, or any of our people -- if we ignore our roots. Any farmer can tell you what happens to roots left untended. You know, every day when I go to work, I drive by a tree that's planted out on USDA's front lawn. It was planted some years ago as a sapling in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. Today, it is a mighty oak, and the placard in front of it reads: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge.' These are times of challenge -- for USDA, for family farmers, and for all those working to see our nation achieve Dr. King's dream, now President Clinton's dream, of building one America.' One of the most dangerous myths facing our society today is the belief that the challenges of race and class -- whether manifested in agriculture, in university admissions, or in violence -- have grown beyond our control ... that there is nothing we as individuals can do. Imagine if Rosa Parks had believed that? Or Dr. King? Or the freedom riders? Or the children who walked into Central High? Their work is far from done. Their work must be our work. Anne Frank once said: How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.' It's no big secret how we change the world. It's done person by person, in our places of work and of worship, in our schools and in our communities. I believe it is the duty of every American to seize whatever opportunities life presents us with to improve our world. Earlier this morning, you heard USDA referred to as the last plantation.' When we were created, President Lincoln called us by another name. He called us the people's department.' My goal is to reclaim the full luster of that title. As I headed down here, I turned to President Lincoln for some words of wisdom. I found them in his writings on the Civil War. As our nation fought against itself over the meaning of America, Lincoln wrote: I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice. I see the storm coming, and I see his hand in it. If He has a place and a part for me, I am ready.' We, too, are in the midst of a storm. I want to thank each and every person in this hall who stands at the ready. I want to thank the NAACP for nearly a century of service to civil rights, and for lending its considerable weight to this fight for the future of black farmers. It is a fight for a strong American agriculture, and for a more perfect union. Thank you. # NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet. Access the USDA Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.usda.gov