White House Dispatch: A man with a cause and a tractor
Virginia farmer John Boyd rolled into town Thursday on his red tractor, rumbling past the White House on his way to Capitol Hill. (PHOTO CREDIT: Dan Lothian/CNN)
8:45 a.m. - During my coffee break this morning, I came across Virginia farmer John Boyd. He was rolling into town on his red tractor, rumbling past the White House on his way to Capitol Hill.
It's a dramatic way to get the attention of Congress which has yet to fund more than a billion dollars in a settlement case for black farmers who were discriminated against decades ago.
This is a story first highlighted in the mainstream media by my colleague Ed Henry, who continues to pursue the efforts of black farmers to get the money they insist they deserve. An effort, as they put it to "sow seeds of justice."
President Obama has been sympathetic to the cause of black farmers, but measured in his support. During his East Room press conference last week, Mr. Obama called the settlement "fair" and "just," and added, "We think it's important for Congress to fund that settlement. We're going to continue to make it a priority."
Boyd plans to use his tractor to keep the pressure on the Senate until they recess in October.
See related: Tractor is slow, but so is justice, black farmer says
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Native Americans have been fighting for justice from the US, for almost 200 yrs, and they haven't gotten it yet.
Have they ever found where the other couple hundered thousand farmers are located.? For in the latest cenus report , there was over twice as many farmers that could not be located.
Just another one of those , untold stories . Where our dollars go . .Next Ft. Knox will be missing . Obama care . UH Huh .
Don't forget, then Senator obama worked with Shirley Sherrod to increase the number of people that could collect. The problem is there are more black farmers signed up to collect than there are black farmers according to census results. This bill needs to be blocked until all applicants can verify they are/were farmers.
What I wouldn' give to see what happens if we place one of those squishy ideologue GOPer heads under one of those tractor wheels. Scumbags will fight tooth and nail to defund that settlement along with everything else. They've wanted the federal government dead at least since the Civil Rights Act was enacted.