Judicial · Federal
Pigford v. Glickman: Black farmers win a landmark USDA discrimination settlement
- Direction
- +2 — major benefit to Freedmen
- Force
- 1.00 — enacted, vetoed, or final
- Status
- Decided
- Date
- 1999-04-14
Why this rating
Approved April 14, 1999, the Pigford consent decree settled a class action over the USDA's racial discrimination against Black farmers in loans and assistance (1981-96), ultimately paying roughly $1.06 billion to more than 13,000 farmers — one of the largest civil-rights settlements in U.S. history. Rated +2: a direct, material, descent-rooted redress for a documented, lineage-specific denial of federal support.
Summary
Approved April 14, 1999, the Pigford consent decree settled a class action over the USDA's racial discrimination against Black farmers in loans and assistance (1981-96), ultimately paying roughly $1.06 billion to more than 13,000 farmers — one of the largest civil-rights settlements in U.S. history. Rated +2: a direct, material, descent-rooted redress for a documented, lineage-specific denial of federal support.
Sources
- Pigford Settlement — U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO-06-469R) — official record · primary · historical
Rated under the published impact rubric. Direction records what a measure would do if fully effective; force records how far it has actually travelled. Neither is inferred — both trace to the sources above. Think something here is wrong? Tell us and we will log the correction.