U.S. Approves $1.25 Billion Settlement for Black Farmers

America's black farmers got some hard won positive news on their settlement demands Thursday. The Obama administration has approved a $1.25 billion settlement to address thousands of racial discrimination charges by black farmers who claim they were discriminated against by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for decades.

As many as 80,000 people, including about 1,500 in Virginia, could receive payments from the deal, announced yesterday by the Obama administration.

"This is a very historic day for black farmers," said John W. Boyd Jr., a Mecklenburg County farmer and president of the National Black Farmers Association. Boyd lobbied Congress for years and organized black farmers around the country to press for a settlement.

"I fought a very long time to get it to come to pass, and I appreciate the leadership of President Obama and Secretary [of Agriculture Tom] Vilsack for entering in to the agreement with farmers," he said. Source: Black farmers to get $1.25 billion in discrimination settlement, Richmond Times-Dispatch

The settlement for the black farmers is not a done deal yet. The money has to be approved by Congress before it can be paid out.

Vilsack predicted that Congress will approve the settlement.

"I'm going to focus all my time and resources on making that happen," he told reporters Thursday. "The president is prepared to indicate that it's a priority not just for his administration but for the country."

In a statement, Obama applauded the Cabinet members for "bringing these long-ignored claims of African-American farmers to a rightful conclusion." Source: U.S. approves settlement for black farmers, Washington Post

Let's hope this settlement goes more smoothly than did the black farmers settlement with the government more than 10 years ago:

The government paid $1 billion to settle a related case with 16,000 black farmers in 1999, but notification and communication errors led to some farmers being omitted from that settlement.

The money, which still must be approved by Congress, would go to farmers who said they were unfairly left out of a 1999 settlement. In that deal, the federal government paid about $1 billion to 16,000 farmers who were part of a class-action lawsuit, claiming discrimination in USDA farm loans programs from 1981 to 1997.

Many farmers missed deadlines to apply for those payments, because they said they did not know about the settlement. The USDA declined more than 70,000 claims. Source: U.S. approves settlement for black farmers, Washington Post

The number of black-owned farms in this country has declined from approximately 1,000,000 around the turn of the century to approximately 18,000. That translates to a decrease from about 14 percent to around 1 percent of farms in America. And no one can blame incompetence or disinterest as the primary reasons for disappearing black-owned farms. Instead, discrimination by the United States Government is at least a large part of the reason many of these farms failed.

Black legislative leaders see the black farmers settlement as a step toward justice:

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she was encouraged by the settlement, which could provide the most help to farmers in Southern communities. "Over the past 20 years, the number of farms operated by black farmers has declined by nearly 50 percent," Lee said. "In part, this decrease was caused by a lack of access to loans and other assistance which were provided to other farmers."

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), also a member of the caucus, said: "This settlement is a case where justice delayed will no longer be justice denied. . . . History has taught us to never give up when fighting for what is right. What happened to these black farmers was wrong, and we now have the opportunity to make it right." Source: U.S. approves settlement for black farmers, Washington Post

Now we'll have to see if Congress comes through.

READ MORE: Black farmers protest gov't discrimination - Rallies demand compensation, The Militant.com