Black farmer's to recieve $1.2 billion

[rust0r]

The US farm bill is an interesting piece of legislation with many parts to it. It supports a lot of programs and has to be passed within a certain time period or it reverts to policies and programs set in place in 1948. After Congress signs the bill, they then have to appropriate the money to pay for the programs. The government approves tons of programs in the FB, but quite often there isn't money to support them.

You are correct. This money is a continuation of claims from 1999 for farmers that did not meet the deadline. On normal programs the USDA is horrible about informing people. I can imagine this settlement was just as bad or worse. One quote I've seen said:

"The USDA did not effectively notify the farmers that there was a settlement, or where farmers could file their complaints. Farmers who didn’t have telephones or indoor bathrooms were told to go online for more information about the settlement."

This is par for the course for the USDA. Only around 16,000 claims were paid in 1999 with over 75,000 claims outstanding that may have missed the deadline.

The 2008 FB was a cluster **** and took forever to pass. The 2002 bill had to be extended several times so programs didn't revert back to 1948 levels. Due to the delays, only $100 million for additional claims to pay black farmers that were discriminated against was budgeted, but that wasn't enough to pay all of the claims.

I'm a strong proponent of agriculture. I'm not in favor of reparations for former slaves or any other "black power" type movement. The USDA pulled the same crap with Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asians and is currently being sued by those groups. Sec. Vilsack has admitted to USDA's past discrimination against non-white farmers. This money is really just a drop in the bucket to the government.

I don't know whether most of these claims actually stem from FSA/USDA reps being racist or whether it'd due to other bureaucratic bull shit that cause them to get their loan payments late or not at all. I'm sure some of the racism claims will be false, and some farmers will get money that they don't deserve, but it's like that with every USDA program. Most farmers aren't as stupid as people think. Farming is big business, and farmers know how to work the system. The way USDA determines whether someone was a victim of racial discrimination needs to be redefined to make sure people that were truly discriminated against get the money and others don't.

IMO - this is a good read that isn't really slanted one way or the other.

USDA's settlement with black farmers

That seems like it is a pretty fair read from both sides, knowing little about the issue anyways. It seems like a large part of the problem is the USDA's processing abilities; it would be interesting to see if all white farmers were spoken for as well, just to see if there is merit to discrimination or if it was simply a case of because they spoke up, their concerns were the only ones addressed; it seems management of the investigation/issue is VERY poor, as was the entire operation of the loans process.

Like you said, I'm sure a good majority of those farmers are VERY rural and back in the 90's didn't have a telephone, let alone an internet connection.

 

[Fugazied]

Some of you guys obviously didn't comprehend the article.

They were able to prove in a court of law that there was a racial bias against black farmers by the USDA. The court says that such a racial bias is illegal and they reparations have to be paid.

Nothing like fake outrage brought on by barely literate angry white folk who can't comprehend a news article, come on guys don't be so 'fox news', use your brain when reading. If you roles were reversed, the USDA screwed with white farmers while black farmers had their loans processed quickly, do you think the white farmers wouldn't have sued?

As far as I am concerned farmers take far too much money from the government and that's why we have so much push for ethanol from corn and corn syrup in everything.

 

[txyaloo]

If you roles were reversed, the USDA screwed with white farmers while black farmers had their loans processed quickly, do you think the white farmers wouldn't have sued?

Showing how little you know of the issue. White farmers have sued the USDA for their slow processing of loans as well. They just didn't claim it was racially motivated.

As far as I am concerned farmers take far too much money from the government and that's why we have so much push for ethanol from corn and corn syrup in everything.

Do you know how much more food would cost without government payments to farmers? 90% of the payments farmers get are in the form of loans that must be paid back at the end of the season once crops are sold. The deficiency payments that they don't have to pay back are extremely small and limited to a certain amount per entity.

 

[KingBlack]

ahh yes svtperformance sets race relations back 100 years.

but seriously, everyone is out to get nthe white man
forget about slavery
forget that asians built railroads
forget that mexicans still do crap, dangerous wok then paid under the table

more importantly, forget bernie madoff stole many billions but if a lawsuit is settled it must be racism.

some of you guys are an absolute joke

 

[KingJay]

ahh yes svtperformance sets race relations back 100 years.

but seriously, everyone is out to get nthe white man
forget about slavery
forget that asians built railroads
forget that mexicans still do crap, dangerous wok then paid under the table

more importantly, forget bernie madoff stole many billions but if a lawsuit is settled it must be racism.

some of you guys are an absolute joke

x2

 

[swoosh_stang]

forget about slavery

Or you could forget that Slavery was around for thousands of years before a white man stepped foot on North America and that for all of those centuries slavery was independent of race.
Or you could forget that most slaves transported to America were first enslaved by the stronger tribes of Africa.
Or you could forget that slavery ended over 100 years ago.

forget that asians built railroads

Or you could forget that Irish and Italians had as much or more to do with the Railroad as any other ethnic group. (they're white by the way)

forget that mexicans still do crap, dangerous wok then paid under the table

Or you could forget that most of us don't want them to. If they have a problem with it, they are welcome to stop. If they are illegal and don't like it here, they are welcome to go back to their country of origin.

more importantly, forget bernie madoff stole many billions but if a lawsuit is settled it must be racism.

What the **** does that have to do with race?

some of you guys are an absolute joke

No you my friend are the joke.

It is the poverty pimps that keep pushing for negative race relations in this country.

No one is entitled to anything based on race. Every bill passed by a governmental agency and every policy enacted by a company that either helps or hinders anyone based on race is inherently racist and therefore illegal.

Now you tell me, who is given more by our government based on race?

 

[TrueBlueGT]

As far as I am concerned farmers take far too much money from the government and that's why we have so much push for ethanol from corn and corn syrup in everything.

Wow. Obviously pounding the streets of scranton every day has made you a walking encyclopedia of all things related directly & indirectly to ag policy.

 

[Planter]

no one ever said politicians were smart.