"In Alabama they made two hundred loans ... not one loan was made to blacks."
The comments of an aging black American farmer on Monday who'd joined other African-American farmers - mostly from the deep south -braved the Washington snow to demand cash promised them in a law passed by Congress for at best unfair treatment - at worst what they call racism by previous U.S. administrations.
The rally organiser John W. Boyd from the National Black Farmers Association told al Jazeera:
"We want justice, we want the black farmers who filed discrimination complaints - we want those complaints compensated and we want them compensated right now."
The farmers - who are mostly aged sixty or above now as young people don't usually go into farming - filed a lawsuit alleging racism at the hands of the authorities in 1997.
It was settled in 1999.
But the black farmers say 80,000 of their members missed the deadline - claiming many knew nothing about it.
They’ve been battling for their promised fifty thousand dollars cash and a twelve thousand dollar tax break each ever since - and they say every administration has been slow in addressing their rights.
Lawrence Lucas, from the Coalition of Minority Employees said:
"Even with blacks in charge we have not seen the change in the office of civil rights, we have not seen the change in the farm services agency and the rural development agency, we haven't seen the changes with loans given to farmers and subsidies in rural America and it's something that is so ingrained in peoples' minds and peoples' hearts they have not be able to change and come as far as we have come. Just because we have a black President that doesn't mean the Department of Agriculture has changed its ways and it's dealing with black farmers."
The Head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it’s finally time to close “this unfortunate chapter” in U.S. history ... the department says the delay has to do with verifying thousands of claims.
Willie Russell, a farmer from Alabama who sells his produce from a roadside van nowadays because he can't get around so easily anymore, said:
“I sure hope I get fifty thousand dollars …. like the man said he’s gonna see what happens and work it out but I’ve got to make sure he gets my name and address and make sure he’s got me on the list because if you’re not on the list you don’t get nothing.”
After a week of "Fairness Now For Black Farmers" rallies all over the south Washington is the final stop.
John W. Boyd piped up: "I have an ear of corn for Senator Reid" - referring to the Senate Majority leader, Harry Reid.
That's because on Tuesday he'll lead a delegation to meet political party leaders on Capitol Hill to remind Congress that three years have gone by since it passed a law saying black farmers must be compensated ... and none of them are getting any younger.
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