Ex-USDA Employee And Whistle Blower Says Life Inside Main Office No Picnic

This is story in a series of articles, “Stripped of Land” which discusses the troubles that black farmers across America face when it comes to their
land.

By Tracy Allen

    Fourteen years of dealing with complaints by black and other minority employees at the United States Department of Agriculture is enough to
make anyone tired of working, better yet, sick of all the red tape that government agencies face.
    Lawrence Lucas, who dealt with public affairs while at USDA, had his share of irritations while working for the USDA. He knows all too well
what goes on inside the nation’s biggest agriculture department and what he saw wasn’t good.
    It’s still not good. Since leaving the USDA in 1996 and retiring from the federal government after 36 years,  Lucas is still disturbed that the
discrimination that he faced and others still endure has yet to be rectify.
    “I personally had cases of discrimination done by those inside USDA that sensitized me to the problems of others,” said Lucas. “It was quite
obvious to me that so many people were being discriminated against. Because of the lack of accountability that goes on, the USDA has been a
culture of discrimination, racism and sexism and other abuses. And the sad part, today, they haven’t come to terms that still goes on.”
    Lucas was one of some 10,000 minority employees who worked at the USDA.  He’s seen the pains that his fellow co-workers went through. He went
through plenty himself while employed there.
    “I got intimidation from some of the strangest people,” Lucas said. “And it was not only by some of the bureaucrats, but some of the managers
too.”
    While at the USDA, Lucas served as president of the USDA Employees Coalition, a position he’s still serving in despite his retirement. He
said that when employees, black, Hispanic and Asian filed complaints, it usually took so long, the employee eventually had to suffer through an
“indoor environment that was hostile.”
    “When management got involved, they doctored the events. What that did is they sometimes complained about your time slip, and they harass you about
your travel. They would intimidate and reprise against employees, and the bad part, the managers had the tools and resources to do it.”
    Lucas played a pivotal role when the Pigford v. Glickman case hit federal court. He was one of the main whistle blowers that presented facts about
what really goes down at the USDA.
    “I feel there were too many people in the workplace and we couldn’t allow our fellow employees to suffer in silence,” said Lucas.  “Racism and
sexism is institionalized and perpetuated. We’re not just talking about black farmers but Hispanic farmers, women farmers.”
    Lucas plans to be in Washington next week when close to 5,000 gather at the USDA building and the Capitol to learn what the House Judiciary
committee will do about this matter. He says he’s tired of all the nonsense and is ready to see results.
    “Many of the things I talked about and the farmers talked about in ‘99 is happening today,” said Lucas. “At the Fairness hearing (in ‘99), I told
Judge Friedman if he didn’t do something about many of the issues, we’ll be right back here three of four years from now. And, by the way, it
happened.”
    With Congress meeting on the matter next week, and the Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP among many others pressuring the issue, Lucas
said, “I get the impression from Republicans and Democrats, they all thought they had fixed this. But, this is not a Republican problem or
Democrat problem, but an American problem and America will have to deal with it.”
    “With 1,000 or 2,000 people showing up, that should tell you that some people are fed up,” Lucas added. “Maybe the USDA will get it right
because we’re going to pull the sheets off them and expose them for what they really are.”
    The nation’s “Last Plantation”.