Whistleblowers! USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, Issues & Concerns

Hosted by Marti Oakley

Whistleblowers! Is presented in coordination with Marcel Reid and the Whistleblowers Summit, July 2017

Our Guest: Lawrence Lucas

Mr. Lucas was the former President of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, beginning in 1994.  His career as a government employee began as a political appointee during the Carter Administration. He retired after 32 years of service.

Lawrence returns to discuss a recent conversation with a newly elected congressman who was unaware of the pervasive and systematic discriminatory practices within the USDA.  From the unfair treatment of Black and other minority farmers, to the sexual harassment and intimidation that has ocurred over decades against the women in the Forestry service, Lawrence covers it all. 

The USDA, referred to as “The Last Plantation”, refuses to treat women, Hispanic, native Americans and Black farmers with the same degree of equal access that is provided to farmers not in these groups.  Funding withheld or denied and more than 14,000 formal complaints to the EEOC civil rights division of USDA have gone unanswered.  By law the USDA has 60 days to respond and yet many of these complaints were filed many years ago.

Tune in to hear what we might expect not only from congress, but what might be coming down the pike from the new administration.