Black Farmers Still Await Decades Old Settlement

By Rose Scott

Atlanta, GA –

More than 60-thousand farmers will have to wait until Congress returns in mid November—for possible passage of legislation that would fund a decade's old settlement.

WABE's Rose Scott reports, nearly 2-thousand black farmers in Georgia are also waiting for their share of 1.25-billion dollars.

Some of the farmers have been waiting so long many have actually left farming.

Ralph Paige is the executive director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives:

“a lot of them have been forced out of farming because they were not able to credit and move forward a lot have gotten older and have stopped farming”

This settlement is the second installment owed to the farmers from the original discrimination lawsuit filed in the 1990s against the agricultural department.

These farmers were left out of the original billion dollar settlement.

The legislation has passed thru the House of Representatives and now awaits approval in the Senate.

For nearly 2-thousand Georgia farmers, Paige says when the Senate returns, it's crucial the funding is passed:

“a possibility they are not settled that these farmers will lose what land holdings and other and other things they have”

According to Paige, he believes the funding is being held up through “procedural roadblocks”.

For example, finding the source to pay out the settlement and also settle another pending lawsuit from women and Native American farmers.

Rose Scott WABE news.