President Obama’s $1.25 billion for 70,000-plus black farmers is hardly even a beginning.
Black farmers – possibly over 70,000 of them – will get cash paymentsand debt relief from the federal government totaling $1.25 billion, inreparation for alleged racial discrimination suffered under theDepartment of Agriculture’s loan programs, the Obama Administration hasagreed.
The president announced the deal on Thursday, applauding AgricultureSecretary Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Eric Holder for “bringingthese long-ignored claims of African American farmers to a rightfulconclusion.”
The Washington Post called the settlement “part of a wider effort byObama and senior officials to dispense with lawsuits stemming fromAmerica’s checkered civil rights legacy.”
House Majority Whip and Congressional Black Caucus member James Clyburncheered the deal. “History has taught us to never give up when fightingfor what is right,” he said in a statement. “What happened to theseblack farmers was wrong, and we now have the opportunity to make itright.”