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Powerful speakers Lawrence. You are to be commended for your continued work in support of not only the employees of USDA but the Black Farmers struggle that has to continue if we are to ever receive justice.
Gary R. Grant, President
BFAA
In a message dated 6/3/2016 9:09:39 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, LawrLCL@aol.com writes:
june 3 , 2016
the marti oakley show, out of minnesota, went off very well last night. i had on the show with me, eddie slaughter, president, american agriculturalist association, georgia, representing 13 southern states, & michael stoval, president, independent Black farmers, alabama, representing Black farmers from the southern region. we were on for 1 1/2 hours.
Click here: TS Radio: Whistleblowers! Lawrence Lucas & "USDA is The Last Plantation" 06/02 by Marti Oakley | Politics Podcasts
it went well.
lawrence lucas
president emeritus
usda coalition of minority employees
www.agcoalition.org
Subject: UPDATE: THE MARTI OAKLEY, LIVE RADIO SHOW, TOMORROW NIGHT, 7 PM EST
the show is tomorrow night, 2 june 2016, at 7 pm est....
the call in number for those interested listening/calling in dial please dial 917/ 388-4520. once talk blog answers hit number 1.
lawrence lucas
1 june 12016
we are all set to do the marti oakley show tomorrow night, tuesday june 2, 2016, at 7 pm est.
on the show i will have with me mr. eddie slaughter, president, american agriculturalist association, out of atlanta georgia. this organization was established in 2011, for the purpose of fighting/standing up for the civil rights of Black farmers that have had their land taken from them by the us government for decades.....the us department of agriculture, "the last plantation".
we will give you an update regarding the filing of the, soon to be, the wise v. usda case, and the dred scott decision, that derived african americans of their constitutional rights & the capacity to bring suit in the judicial system.
we will also update you on other cases (new) that tells us that usda continues to discriminate against Black farmers & usda employees. i will specifically talk about the abuse & corruption going on in the usda office of civil, at the very top.
lawrence lucas
Wise v. The USDA is set to challenge The Dred Scott Decision
In The US Supreme Court
May 16, 2016
By: "King Solomon"
Considered the worst decision in Supreme Court history, The Dred Scott ruling deprived African Americans of their constitutional rights and capacity to bring suit in the judicial system.
Wikipedia provides a snapshot of the case: Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857), also known simply as the Dred Scott case, was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court held that "a negro, whose ancestors were imported into [the U.S.], and sold as slaves", whether enslaved or free, could not be an American citizen and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court, and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States. Dred Scott, an enslaved man of "the negro African race" who had been taken by his owners to free states and territories, attempted to sue for his freedom. In a 7–2 decision written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the court denied Scott's request. The decision was only the second time that the Supreme Court had ruled an Act of Congress to be unconstitutional.
Now fast forward to the year of 2016, The Government Office of Accountability has reported that there are more than 14,000 unresolved claims of discrimination housed at the USDA's Office of Civil Rights. The Administrative Procedures Act, allows the agency 180 days to correct its own mistakes and any time after that period, the aggrieved farmer can request a hearing before the Administrative Law Judge. Then that ruling can be reviewed by a federal court. Seems that this only holds true for white male farmers; in landmark cases Pigford v. Glickman, Love, Garcia v. Vilsack, Keepseagle v. Vilsack and Love v. Vilsack all of these farmers share one thing in common; they are all members of a protected class.
In each case, all of the members of those class action suits complained about the USDA not investigating their claims. Now let's show you the strategy of the USDA and its counsel, The Department of Justice. The USDA has promulgated agency rules and regulations that basically automatically sends claims from members of the protected class to the Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights. At that point, those accepted claims are supposed to be investigated. As previously stated, after 180 days the aggrieved farmers have a right to request a hearing before the Administrative Law Judge. That is not what is happening.
The Administrative Law Judge reports directly to the Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights. A definite conflict of interest, at any rate, when a farmer asks for a formal hearing before the Administrative Law Judge the request is denied. However, when a white male with a grievance requests a hearing, the request is granted, date for hearing is within 60 days and if victorious the white male is compensated for damages within 30 days.
Now you ask what does this have to do with Dred Scott…that answer is simple, the capacity to sue if federal court by a member of a protected class. When an aggrieved farmer from a protected class brings suit for the allegations against the USDA, the farmer must exhaust his or her administrative remedies. This was spoken about earlier and consists of first, filing a claim and after 180 days asking for a hearing before the Administrative Law Judge. In Benoit v. The USDA, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that both parts of that procedure must happen before the aggrieved farmer shall have the capacity to sue in federal court.
So let's liken this situation to the movie "Django," Jamie Foxx portrays the part of the black farmers who thought they were freed slaves. Even though the movie was centered on the blazing guns of freed slave "Django," the character played by Samuel L. Jackson, a house servant name "Stephen," was in charge of keeping all the other slaves in check and he relished that role. Now The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights serves in the same capacity as the character portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson except, he has authority over the black slaves, the female endured servants, the Hispanic slaves and the Native Americans.
Although The USDA is still conducting its business like The Dred Scott Decision is controlling law, Eddie and Dorothy Wise of North Carolina are appealing a ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that affirmed an eerily similar ruling of the Eastern District of North Carolina, without citing it, the same chilling effect of The Dred Scott Decision.
