Vol. 75/No. 34      September 26, 2011

The settlement is for those farmers who filed late claims under a 1999 decision known as Pigford v Glickman. The judge at that time ordered the government to give $50,000 to farmers who faced discrimination, and to grant them debt forgiveness and preferential treatment in future loan applications. Of the 22,547 claims filed, 41 percent were denied. Many farmers did not learn about the settlement until after the initial Oct. 12, 1999, deadline, resulting in some 75,000 claims being filed late.

It has taken years of pressure from Black farmers, through rallies, marches, and hearings, to try to win a measure of justice for the remaining farmers. It was not until 2010 that Congress finally approved funding. Twenty-three similar lawsuits filed on behalf of the farmers were consolidated.

If this final settlement wins court approval, as many as 68,000 farmers who filed racial discrimination claims against the USDA between 1999 and 2008 will have 180 days to file new claims.

“I want those eligible Black farmers who’ve been discriminated against to get some type of financial justice so they can move on with their lives,” John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, told the media before the hearing began.

Thomas Burrell, president of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalist Association, asked Judge Paul Friedman for the option of filing an independent claim on the money in order to bypass lawyers’ fees. The settlement pays out fees ranging from $51 million to $92.5 million to attorneys representing the farmers.

More than 30 farmers with the NBFA attended the hearing, many from Virginia.

Hog farmer Lester Bonner, from Dinwiddie County, Va., told the Militant that even though he received payment under the original Pigford settlement, he still had to apply for bankruptcy because of complications stemming from a claim he cosigned on behalf of his father. He also noted that the promised preferential treatment for Black farmers asking for loans from local USDA offices was not forthcoming. “Nothing has changed,” he said.

The government is “never going to do it right, Bonner continued. “This fight has gone on too long. I just want them to go ahead so I can move on. I am going to leave this in the lawyers’ hands.”

Claimants in the case can apply for one of two forms of relief. Track A could lead to a payout of $50,000 after taxes. Andrew Marks, one of the lawyers representing the farmers, pointed out that the USDA cannot contest Track A claims as it did under the original Pigford settlement.

Those who file a Track B claim could possibly get a $250,000 payment if the claim is substantiated by documents detailing actual economic damages, including evidence that “a white farmer under similar circumstances” received more favorable treatment from the USDA.

Judge Friedman said he will issue an opinion soon.  
 
 
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