Black Farmers Face Financial Famine Waiting For USDA Settlement For Class Action Lawsuit

African American farmers were awarded $1.25 billion following the settlement of a class action discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1999. More than 70,000 claims have yet to be resolved in this case, and it is now 2010. As you can imagine, in the nearly ten year span that has elapsed between the awarding of the black farmers' settlement and the failure to administer to black farmers' claims, many of these farmers have died or gone bankrupt.

Government inaction is being blamed for the lack of payment of the black farmers' claims in the form of partisan politics. Approval for the funding needed for the black farmers' settlement has failed to pass more than a half dozen times in the Senate, in part because the funding has often been tied to other bills that are blocked as politicians play their reindeer games.

This federal "dragging of feet" ironically feeds the conventional wisdom that the government systemically discriminates against black farmers -- what the U.S.D.A. was sued for in the first place. The black farmers' settlement stems from a 1997 lawsuit against the U.S.D.A., Pigford vs.Glickman, which alleged that the agriculture department discriminated against black farmers between 1981 and 1996 when they applied for federal loans for farm ownership, equipment and operations, and then failed to investigate their complaints. The U.S. Department of Justice actually found the U.S.D.A. guilty. But somehow, the federal government still hasn't been able to "find" the money needed to pay the black farmers' claims.

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In this photo taken April 21, 2010, a villager carries mud, dug from the river bank, to use it on the roof of his hut in Pipari village, about 180 kilometers north of Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The world's largest social welfare program, a new law in 2005 guaranteeing every rural family 100 days of work a year at a wage that is now pegged at 100 rupees ($2.10) a day, is working to transform villages like Pipari. Beyond simply paying the rural poor to build infrastructure from roads to irrigation ponds in their villages, the program was designed to help root out corruption, pressure employers to raise wages, stem the flight from farms to the cities and empower women and lower castes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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(FILES) This file photo taken on October 12, 2006 shows Argentina's Boca Juniors' coach Ricardo La Volpe giving instructions to his players during the Copa Sudamericana 2006 second round match against Uruguay's Nacional at Salta Stadium. Argentina coach Diego Maradona on June 26, 2010 hit back at countryman Ricardo La Volpe for having said he hopes Mexico eliminate Argentina at the 2010 World Cup football tournament in South Africa. The two Latin American countries meet on June 27, 2010 in Johannesburg in the second round and La Volpe, who previously coached Mexico, caused a stir back in his homeland when he expressed his preference for his former employers. AFP PHOTO / FILES / Juan MABROMATA (Photo credit should read JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/Getty Images)

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In this photo taken April 22, 2010, a villager Prakash harvests wheat crop in a field in Pipari village, about 180 kilometers north of Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The world's largest social welfare program, a new law in 2005 guaranteeing every rural family 100 days of work a year at a wage that is now pegged at 100 rupees ($2.10) a day, is working to transform villages like Pipari. Beyond simply paying the rural poor to build infrastructure from roads to irrigation ponds in their villages, the program was designed to help root out corruption, pressure employers to raise wages, stem the flight from farms to the cities and empower women and lower castes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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In this photo taken April 21, 2010, a villager puts his arms around children and listens to a social activist during a meeting in Pipari village, about 180 kilometers north of Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The world's largest social welfare program, a new law in 2005 guaranteeing every rural family 100 days of work a year at a wage that is now pegged at 100 rupees ($2.10) a day, is working to transform villages like Pipari. Beyond simply paying the rural poor to build infrastructure from roads to irrigation ponds in their villages, the program was designed to help root out corruption, pressure employers to raise wages, stem the flight from farms to the cities and empower women and lower castes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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In this photo taken April 22, 2010, Rukmani holds her son as she looks on in her house in Pipari village, about 180 kilometers north of Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The world's largest social welfare program, a new law in 2005 guaranteeing every rural family 100 days of work a year at a wage that is now pegged at 100 rupees ($2.10) a day, is working to transform villages like Pipari. Beyond simply paying the rural poor to build infrastructure from roads to irrigation ponds in their villages, the program was designed to help root out corruption, pressure employers to raise wages, stem the flight from farms to the cities and empower women and lower castes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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In this photo taken April 20, 2010, village women interact with each other in Pipari village, about 180 kilometers north of Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The world's largest social welfare program, a new law in 2005 guaranteeing every rural family 100 days of work a year at a wage that is now pegged at 100 rupees ($2.10) a day, is working to transform villages like Pipari. Beyond simply paying the rural poor to build infrastructure from roads to irrigation ponds in their villages, the program was designed to help root out corruption, pressure employers to raise wages, stem the flight from farms to the cities and empower women and lower castes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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In this photo taken April 20, 2010, a village woman heats cereals of other villagers in Pipari village, about 180 kilometers north of Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The world's largest social welfare program, a new law in 2005 guaranteeing every rural family 100 days of work a year at a wage that is now pegged at 100 rupees ($2.10) a day, is working to transform villages like Pipari. Beyond simply paying the rural poor to build infrastructure from roads to irrigation ponds in their villages, the program was designed to help root out corruption, pressure employers to raise wages, stem the flight from farms to the cities and empower women and lower castes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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In this photo taken Tuesday, April 20, 2010, villagers attend a meeting with social activists in Pipari village, about 180 kilometers north of Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The world's largest social welfare program, a new law in 2005 guaranteeing every rural family 100 days of work a year at a wage that is now pegged at 100 rupees ($2.10) a day, is working to transform villages like Pipari. Beyond simply paying the rural poor to build infrastructure from roads to irrigation ponds in their villages, the program was designed to help root out corruption, pressure employers to raise wages, stem the flight from farms to the cities and empower women and lower castes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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In this photo taken April 21, 2010, a woman gives a piece of bread to her daughter as she makes their evening meal in Pipari village, about 180 kilometers north of Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The world's largest social welfare program, a new law in 2005 guaranteeing every rural family 100 days of work a year at a wage that is now pegged at 100 rupees ($2.10) a day, is working to transform villages like Pipari. Beyond simply paying the rural poor to build infrastructure from roads to irrigation ponds in their villages, the program was designed to help root out corruption, pressure employers to raise wages, stem the flight from farms to the cities and empower women and lower castes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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In this photo taken April 20, 2010, a village woman walks back to her home with her buffalo in Pipari village, about 180 kilometers north of Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The world's largest social welfare program, a new law in 2005 guaranteeing every rural family 100 days of work a year at a wage that is now pegged at 100 rupees ($2.10) a day, is working to transform villages like Pipari. Beyond simply paying the rural poor to build infrastructure from roads to irrigation ponds in their villages, the program was designed to help root out corruption, pressure employers to raise wages, stem the flight from farms to the cities and empower women and lower castes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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However, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has promised to award $1.5 billion in agricultural disaster relief for losses caused by last fall's heavy rains to affected farmers as part of new small business legislation. It's having no difficulty getting pushed through. It's baffling that past debts to farmers aren't being settled first before new promises are made to another group of farmers. Plus, there does not seem to be any question as to where Emanuel's disaster relief will come from.

Black farmers that have waited nearly a decade to be vindicated are still waiting, many losing their property and even their lives in the process, while other farmers are getting the assistance they need promptly. The founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, John Boyd, told the Grio: "They call it politics, but I call it discrimination." The racism the black farmers faced is still being displayed by the government, and now it is costing these black farmers everything. Will the $50,000 a piece black farmers were awarded in 1999 even begin to cover their growing losses?

The courts put a $1.25 billion price tag on the U.S.D.A.'s previous acts of race-based negligence. That amount is no longer enough. The government will never be able to repay these black farmers for the subsequent, permanent losses of lives and livelihoods caused by this disgraceful administrative disaster.