Black Farmers Lawsuit
By: Meagan Fitzgerald
Updated: April 2, 2010
Farming and earning a living isn't easy especially when you're faced with extreme temperatures and heavy rains. But, farmers like Harper Armerstrong say farming and being black makes things even harder.
Armstrong said, "We can't even get the federal disaster help to keep us farming where our land is low in production, we can't get the help we need to put in irrigation systems, level the land and make it competitive to our white counterparts."
But, Armstrong considers himself one of the lucky ones. He says he's been planting and harvesting crops all of his life of his life and while he's not making a huge profit, he's able to stay in business.
Armstrong said, "Blacks consist of less then 2 percent of the 1/2 of 2 percent of farmers that's farming."
Armstrong says decades of discrimination has run many black farmers out of business because they couldn't afford to stay in. The federal dollars from the lawsuit will help some farmers stay afloat, but not by much.
"Armstrong says the federal government will give some farmers about fifty thousand dollars, but he says that doesn't mean much because tractors like this will cost you upwards of 100,000 dollars."
The federal government was supposed to mail the checks to Armstrong and others by March 31st, but they missed that deadline. In the meantime, Armstrong says over his 50 years of farming, he has figured out the key to staying in the business.
"Consistent, I just wont give up and the Lords been good to me."
Armstrong said, "We can't even get the federal disaster help to keep us farming where our land is low in production, we can't get the help we need to put in irrigation systems, level the land and make it competitive to our white counterparts."
But, Armstrong considers himself one of the lucky ones. He says he's been planting and harvesting crops all of his life of his life and while he's not making a huge profit, he's able to stay in business.
Armstrong said, "Blacks consist of less then 2 percent of the 1/2 of 2 percent of farmers that's farming."
Armstrong says decades of discrimination has run many black farmers out of business because they couldn't afford to stay in. The federal dollars from the lawsuit will help some farmers stay afloat, but not by much.
"Armstrong says the federal government will give some farmers about fifty thousand dollars, but he says that doesn't mean much because tractors like this will cost you upwards of 100,000 dollars."
The federal government was supposed to mail the checks to Armstrong and others by March 31st, but they missed that deadline. In the meantime, Armstrong says over his 50 years of farming, he has figured out the key to staying in the business.
"Consistent, I just wont give up and the Lords been good to me."
