Black Farmers Ask Congress for Compensation
Thousands of black American farmers denied part of a landmark $2.3 billion civil rights settlement are asking Congress for one more chance at compensation, a farm group said on Tuesday. John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, said he met with Democrats on Monday and was "very optimistic" that lawmakers would soon introduce legislation to help black farmers. In 1999 under the Clinton administration, the federal government agreed to compensate black farmers for decades of racial discrimination that shut them out of billions of dollars in federal subsidies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture agreed to pay at least $50,000 to each eligible black farmer. [more]