Black farmers’ settlement draws to a close with mixed emotions

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BLACK FARMERS’ SETTLEMENT. On December 8, President Obama signed legislation that provided $1.15 billion to black farmers who sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the 1997 case, Pigford v. Glickman. In the suit, which settled out of court 11 years ago, the farmers claimed the government discriminated against them by denying or cheating them out of federal aid. More than 75,000 farmers will receive up to $50,000 each. Some have suggested that it made a difference to have a black man in the White House. In any case, the symbolism is clear, as is the message that the government wants to correct a grievous injustice. “This is a settlement that addressed a historical wrong, I mean something that this country is not about and should not be about,” said U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

Litigation that began nearly 30 years ago will come to an end in just a few days. In the 1980s, black farmers began their legal battle against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The result of the action will be a $1.25 billion settlement that farmers must apply before May 11 to take part in. The Chicago Tribune reports:

“Justice is a very personal thing,” said the farmers’ co-lead counsel, Gregorio Francis of Florida-based Morgan & Morgan PA.

Black farmers lose faith, lives waiting for settlement money

“Many of these farmers lost their land and their livelihoods. With the settlement, there seems to be a sense that finally there’s at least an acknowledgement of what was done. In that sense, there’s gratitude. Is there justice? I don’t know.”

The Department of Agriculture has conceded that some of its local offices engaged in persistent, racially discriminatory denial of farm loans and other financial aid, mainly in the South, and roughly tracing the contours of the so-called Black Belt, named not for its large African-American population but for its rich, ebony soil.

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