Blacks Don't Farm - That's for Slaves

Back in 1999, the Agriculture Department paid $1 billion in settlements to minorities for discrimination in farm loans, alleging the average loan to minorities was $28,000 versus $98,000 for white farmers. It was called the Pigford case.

By some accounts, roughly 65,000 black farmers submitted claims under this case (the original class action suit was filed by 400 black farmers). According to the U.S. census there were only 18,000 black farmers in 1982, when this alleged discrimination began.

Black’s Don’t Farm – That’s for Slaves

Fast forward to 2010 and Pigford II is was approved by the U.S. Senate, for another $4.6 billion to be paid to black and American Indian farmers, $1.2 billion to black farmers.

There was a great deal of controversy over this because the 2010 census said there were a total of 33,000 black farmers in the U.S. and 98,000 black farmers claiming payment. Supporters of the bill say the 33,000 in the census didn’t include farmers who had since been driven out of business because they couldn’t get the government loans they needed.

Zero Accountability

The most controversial part of this legislation is that there was to be very little effort to establish that recipients of the payout were indeed discriminated against. Blacks, farmers or not (they could just say they were driven out of business back then), could get a cool $100,000 just for submitting the paperwork.

Payments over $250,000 would be subjected to a cursory check by the authorities. No documentation was needed to prove you were a farmer back then or even to prove that you had applied for a loan, was rejection and/or deserved more than $28,000 and was therefore discriminated against.

Double Indemnity

The one big hole in this story is that, hey, we’ve already paid $1 billion to these farmers, back in 1999. How come that wasn’t enough? That payment voids the argument about the discrepancy between the 33,000 and 98,000 – however many blacks were driven out of business were paid back then. Now they’re back for more?

If this Pigford case isn’t a case of government pork I don’t know what is. It clearly shows how the Democrats misuse government funds to buy votes. It also shows that blacks expect easy street with a black man in the White House.

As far as that goes, how exactly does the government identify black farmers? Do you need 50% black blood, or one drop of black blood as blacks allege? At what point is being black a lifestyle choice and not a racial tag?

One Drop of Black Blood ISN’T Black

The first paperwork the government should require, if and when this bill is passed, is documentation proving you’re black. Preferably a DNA test, paid by the applicant at $1000 a pop.

Most likely the line will thin out considerably.

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