A month ago, the federal government promised it would pay more than $1 billion by the end of March to thousands of black farmers who complained of discrimination by the Department of Agriculture.
But Congress left on its spring recess without appropriating money to make the payments.
And that leaves the farmers waiting for justice — yet again.
Rep. Jesse Jackson called the bill “a tremendous improvement over the legislation proposed by the Bush Administration last week,” but he voted against it because he said “it still falls short of what is needed to shore up the economy, protect taxpayers and promote economic growth.”
In Washington, a historically black church is trying to attract white members to survive. Atlanta’s next mayoral race is expected to feature the first competitive white candidate since the 1980s. San Francisco has lost so many African-Americans that Mayor Gavin Newsom created an “African-American Out-Migration Task Force and Advisory Committee” to help retain black residents.
“The city is experiencing growth, yet we’re losing African-American families disproportionately,” Mr. Newsom says. When that happens, “we lose part of our soul.”