Black farmers have systematically
been denied federal funding for decades because of racism. After one of the
largest civil rights settlements in history, the federal government agreed to
pay the farmers $1.25 billion in reparations. Nevertheless, Congress failed to
meet a March 31 deadline to allocate the funds.
The original Pigford v. Glickman
class action lawsuit, settled in 1999, involved 13,000 Black farmers. The
farmers sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture for denying them grant and
federal loan assistance. The second Pigford settlement would allow tens of
thousands of additional farmers to seek reparations.
The 2008 Farm Bill passed by
Congress allocated a meager $100 million to the reparations. The National Black
Farmers Association maintains that many of the farmers are elderly and in need
of the money.
Because
of the failure to allocate funds, the settlement expired, and the farmers must
continue to struggle for justice. After decades of discrimination and super
oppression, the farmers are due more than double the money promised by the
federal government.
