In 1994, Dan Glickman was named secretary of agriculture, replacing Mississippian Mike Espy.
Two years later, a group of black farmers assembled outside the White House gates to protest racism within USDA. The national media covered the assemblage and aired the group’s charges.
Shortly thereafter, following a quick investigation,
Glickman said that the charges were indeed true: the agency he’d looked after for two years was shot through with racism.
No evidence of the found racism was offered. Instead, several things took place. First, Glickman created a Civil Rights Action Team (CRAT). Then, in January 1997, an 11-stop, coast-to-coast jaunt (termed a “listening tour”) was scheduled. According to reports, the tour was well-attended, and the 11-member CRAT did plenty of note-taking.
http://deltafarmpress.com/mag/farming_usdas_settlement_black/index.html?imw=Y
IIRC, Mike Espy was black.