Pigford vs Glickman Timeline
1981 to 14 Spring 1999
The Pigford vs Glickman case was a lawsuit against the USDA because of their racial discrimination against African-American farmers. These allocations all started coming about from the period 1981 through 1996. During the Great Depression, there was a White dominance in the Democratic party in the south that overlooked the African-American farmers. By the year 1992, the number of black farmers had decreased by almost 98%. As early as 1981 allocations began to arise that the USDA was not fairly treating African-American farmers with the same respect that they did as other groups. These farmers were saying that they were being denied loans or that they were told that they would have to wait longer to receive the approval for the loans. Many of these farmers were facing foreclosure and financial ruin because of the USDA denying these loans. In 1994 the USDA commissioned a study on the treatment of minorities in the FSA or also known as the Farm Service Agency. The study specifically examined crop payments and disaster payment programs. From the years 1990 to 1995 it was shown through the research that the minorities had received much less help from the FSA. In 1996, the Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman ordered that government foreclosures be suspended so that the issue of discrimination could be investigated. During this time protests began to rise. They were protesting against the USDA. They were saying the USDA should have been there for them and their employees. They felt that the USDA was a "Crude Joke" because it had not helped them at all in any way shape or form. In 1997, the trial of Pigford vs. Glickman began and it was a lawsuit on the USDA for the withholding of loans to minority groups such as African-Americans. On April 14, 1999, the lawsuit was settled. This settlement now makes sure that the USDA has to meet certain guidelines when making loan decisions for these farmers.
Sources:
Cowan, Tadlock and Feder, Joey."The Pigford Cases: USDA Settlement of Discrimination Suits by Black Farmers. PDF" Congressional Research Service, 29 May 2013. nationalaglawcenter.org