Black Farmers Seek Settlements From Bias Suit
Black farmers with well-used tractors and a mule protested today outside the Department of Agriculture, asking for immediate settlement of their cases from a five-year-old lawsuit charging that the government had refused them loans because of their race.

Agriculture Department officials said they planned to continue speaking to the group and hundreds of other black farmers who say they have yet to be paid in the class-action suit, which was settled in 1999 when the government essentially admitted racial discrimination.

The protesters said farmers were going bankrupt waiting for millions of dollars owed them.

"We're not asking for handouts," said Philip Haynie, a Virginia farmer. "We're asking for our due, and we're going to keep on praying and coming back to Washington until we get it."

In the settlement, the government agreed to pay $50,000 to each farmer who had been denied a loan. Those farmers wanting more money would be required to go through a longer procedure.

More than 500 cases are outstanding, the protesters said. The department says more than 10,000 cases have been paid. Mr. Gallegos said he had no date for when the remaining ones would be paid.

…many of the more than 50 farmers waving homemade placards and shouting slogans said the department's announcements were glossing over its legal responsibilities.

"They denied my claim by saying they had no record we were farmers," said Walter Rodgers Jr., who drove to Washington from his home near Coldwater, Miss.

"I am a fifth-generation farmer," Mr. Rodgers said. "We had to stop row cropping because we've run out of money. That's why we're here now. Trying to get something done."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/23/politics/23FARM.html