Senate Again Denies Justice to Black Farmers

Marc H. Morial
President and CEO
National Urban League


"Justice delayed is justice denied"


For more than 10 years, tens of thousands of black farmers have been denied justice and a share of a $1.25 billion government settlement as compensation for decades of discrimination in federal farm loan programs. Many have lost their farms waiting. Some have died waiting. And on August 5th, before going on its summer recess, the Senate prolonged the wait by failing to once again appropriate the funds to right this egregious wrong.

Consistent with an unfortunate pattern that has stalled Congressional action on everything from health care reform to unemployment benefits, the Senate is stuck in a stalemate over the black farmers' settlement due to partisan bickering over how it will be financed. But, as noted in a recent Reuters news story, "The measure brought to the floor included offsets required under congressional 'pay-as-you-go' rules mandating new spending be offset with cuts elsewhere so as not to add to the deficit."

This is a clear case of political obstructionism and a violation of civil rights. Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the settlement in February. President Obama included money for it in his current budget. The House of Representatives approved the funds in July. But the Senate has repeatedly refused to add its final stamp of approval. According to John Boyd, Jr., President of the National Black Farmers Association, "It shows that some of the same treatment that happened to the black farmers at the Department of Agriculture is transpiring with the Senate's inaction to help black farmers."

The original class-action lawsuit, Pigford v. Glickman, filed in 1997 and settled in 1999, awarded $50,000 to black farmers who were denied Department of Agriculture farm loans due to racial discrimination from 1983-1997. The government has already paid out more than $1 billion to 16,000 farmers. The new funding is for payments to as many as 70,000 farmers who were denied previous payouts because they missed the deadline for filing.

The black farmers settlement bill has the support of the White House, the Agriculture Department, Senators and House members of both parties, the Congressional Black Caucus and the major civil rights organizations, including the National Urban League. The National Black Farmers Association has taken the fight to Capitol Hill on numerous occasions and has appealed to the White House for help.

When the February settlement was announced, CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee and many others thought that justice had finally arrived. In a statement then she said, "I am encouraged that today's settlement is an opportunity for black farmers who were denied the benefit of USDA loans and programs to begin to be made whole."

But justice continues to be denied. This is a travesty. The federal government has spent trillions on bailouts to banks, corporations and investment firms, but struggling black farmers have been left out in the cold. As John Boyd said, "It seems like the trains leaving the station in the Senate manage not to have the black farmers on them."

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8/18/10 ▪ National Urban League ▪ 120 Wall Street ▪ New York, NY 10005 ▪ (212) 558-5300 ▪ WWW.NUL.ORG

Sickle Cell Luncheon - September 1, 2010

2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of sickle cell disease. To celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of two of Cincinnati’s very own sickle cell pioneers, the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati Sickle Cell Awareness Group is cordially inviting you to a luncheon that will honor Dr. Marilyn H. Gaston and Mrs. Cathryn Buford.

The event will be held on September 1, 2010 from 11-1, at the Crowne Plaza Cincinnati North Hotel, 11320 Chester Rd., Cincinnati, Ohio 45246. Tickets are $30.00 per person.

Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic blood disease in the United States. The disease primarily affects Africans and African Americans. Locally, there are more than 700 children and adults in the Greater Cincinnati area that have sickle cell disease, and one out of 10 African Americans carry the trait, meaning they do not have the disease but can pass it to their offspring.

An estimated 20,000 – 30,000 people in Cincinnati are carriers. We must know the facts if we’re going to fight the disease. Normal red blood cells are soft and round and flow through the body carrying oxygen to vital organs. But if you have sickle cell disease, your red blood cells can become hard and sickle shaped. They have trouble traveling through blood vessels and may even clog the vessel.

As a result, organs and tissue can be deprived of their oxygen, leading to damage to the organs and even stroke. Also, the sickle cells can rupture more quickly and lead to anemia (low red blood cell count), making you feel tired, weak and can lead to an early death.

Your support helps provide coping support groups, community outreach and education and our advocacy efforts. Please consider attending this luncheon. For more information please contact Pamela King at 513-487-6506 Thank you.

State of Urban Jobs - August 2010

What You Need to Know About the State of Urban Jobs! Click here for full report

Urban unemployment continues to plague our communities and hamper our progress. Our State of Urban Jobs site at iamempowered.com gives you everything you need to know about jobs including the monthly employment report with job stats for Blacks, Whites and Latinos, the facts about how investing in job creation is the best strategy for reducing the deficit, resume writing tips, job listings and the National Urban League's response to the current crisis. Stay abreast of the latest developments and join NUL economist, Dr. Valerie Rawlston Wilson, today at State of Urban Jobs (under the Interactive tab) from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm for a live chat on the July 2010 Employment report. Click here to view.


Highlights of the July 2010 Employment Report:

• The economy lost a net 131,000 jobs in July, as large numbers of temporary Census jobs (-143,000) continue to wind down. Private employment increased by a modest 71,000.

• The unemployment rate in July remained at 9.5% as labor force participation remained stable. The black unemployment rate edged up slightly to 15.6% (from 15.4%) as the participation rate fell to 61.5% (from 61.9%). The unemployment rate for black men decreased slightly (from 17.4% to 16.7%), as the rate for black women increased (from 11.8% to 12.9%). The unemployment rates for whites (steady at 8.6%) and Latinos (12.1% from 12.4%) also showed little change in July. Rates of teen unemployment (23.5%), particularly among African-American (40.6%) and Latino (35%) youth, also remain elevated as the Senate failed to pass summer jobs legislation. The rate of underemployment (including the unemployed, marginally attached and those working part-time for economic reasons) was also unchanged at 16.5%.

• The ranks of long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 6.6 million (from 6.8 million) or 44.9% of all unemployed (from 45.5%). This persistently high rate of long-term unemployed along with the weak growth in private employment, and slowed economic growth over the last quarter indicates the tenuous state of the economy.

• Manufacturing (+36,000), education and health services (+30,000) and transportation and warehousing (+12,200) all displayed modest growth in July as financial activities (-17,000), construction (-11,000), and state (-10,000) and local (-38,000) governments continued to shed jobs. To read more about the crisis in state and local government employment click here. Professional and business services also experienced negative net job growth for the first time since September 2009.

The July 2010 Employment report, along with other timely reports on unemployment insurance, how job creation reduces the deficit and NUL's 6-point Job Creation Plan are available at the new State of Urban Jobs page.


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A Policy Brief from the National Urban League Policy Institute

Wall Street Reform: A Victory for Consumers and Urban Communities

On July 15, 2010, Congress finally completed its work on a comprehensive Wall Street and Bank Reform bill. This landmark legislation represents nearly two years of intense debate on how to respond to the failures of our financial system that led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The positive impact of this new law, while beneficial to all American consumers, will be especially welcomed by African-Americans and at-risk urban communities. The new law will also serve as an antidote to future abuses so as not to repeat the financial crisis that emerged in 2008.

Three years ago, in 2007, the National Urban League sounded the alarm – like canaries in a cold mine – on the devastating impact of abusive and unfair predatory lending practices and the need to reform the lending industry when it first released its “Homeowner’s Bill of Rights” that included the following key rights:

• The Right to be Free from Predatory Lending (Elimination of incentives for lenders to make predatory loans; a fair, competitive market that responsibly provides credit to consumers; access to justice for families caught in abusive loans; and the preservation of essential federal and state consumer safeguards)
  

• The Right to Truth and Transparency in Credit Reporting (Demystify the credit reporting system through education and awareness and establishment of a penalty structure for credit reporting bureaus that maintain inaccurate client files)
  

• The Right to High-Quality Home-ownership Education (Redesign of an industry-wide system that integrates pre- and post-purchase homeownership education and counseling; and expansion of HUD’s budget for housing counseling)
  

• The Right to Fairness in Lending (Require lenders to gauge ability to repay and offer borrowers the most affordable and well-suited products for which they qualify)
  

The newly enacted Wall Street reform law will go a long way in enforcing these rights!

How Will Wall Street Reform Affect Main Street?

Whether you are a consumer buying a home, using credit cards, caught up in the home foreclosure crisis, trying to establish a small business, looking for a job, or participating in other financial transactions, the new Wall Street reform law will bring long overdue protections, transparency and accountability to our nation’s financial system through the following key provisions:

• Consumer Protection – Creates a new independent watchdog with the authority to ensure American consumers get the clear, accurate information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products, and protect them from hidden fees, abusive terms, and deceptive practices.
  

• Credit Score Protection – Allows consumers free access to their credit score if their score negatively affects them in a financial transaction or a hiring decision. Gives consumers access to credit score disclosures as part of an adverse action and risk-based pricing notice.

• Mortgage Reform – Provides comprehensive and fair lending protections such as: requiring lenders to ensure a borrower’s ability to repay the loans they are sold; prohibits unfair lending practices; establishes penalties for irresponsible lending; expands consumer protections for high-cost mortgages; requires additional disclosures for consumers on mortgages; and establishes an Office of Housing Counseling within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to boost homeownership and rental housing counseling.

• New Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion – Establishes an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at federal banking and securities regulatory agencies that will, among other things, address employment and contracting diversity matters. The offices will coordinate technical assistance to minority-owned and women-owned businesses and seek diversity in the workforce of the regulators.
  

Tackling the Effects of the Mortgage Crisis –

• $1 billion will be provided to States and localities through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to combat the devastating impact of foreclosures on neighborhoods – such as falling property values and increased crime – by rehabilitating, redeveloping, and reusing abandoned and foreclosed properties.

• The new law will provide Emergency Mortgage Relief by building on a successful Pennsylvania program. $1 billion will be provided for bridge loans to qualified unemployed homeowners with reasonable prospects for reemployment to help cover mortgage payments until they are reemployed.

• Foreclosure Legal Assistance – authorizes a HUD-administered program for making grants to provide foreclosure legal assistance to low- and moderate-income homeowners and tenants related to home ownership preservation, home foreclosure prevention, and tenancy associated with home foreclosure.

For a comprehensive summary of the Wall Street reform legislation, click on the following link to the House Financial Services Committee website: http://financialservices.house.gov/FinancialSvcsDemMedia/file/key_issues/Financial_Regulatory_Reform/comprehensive_summary_FinalV5.pdf

Celebrate Black Music Saturday, June 19, 2010

A Celebration of Black Music featuring BeBe and CeCe Winans on Saturday, June 19, 2010 – 7:00 PM at The City of Destiny located at 11450 Sebring Drive in Forest Park.This Celebration will pay tribute to Black Music Month with live performances by some of our region’s most talented musical artists and a special performance by national recording artist, BeBe and CeCe Winans!

For ticket information call(513) 733-1555 or visit www.celebrateblackmusic.com.