Elizabeth Montgomery And The Cast of "Bewitched" In Blackface? An Old School Lesson About Prejudice!

To The Tune of $1.15 Billion, Black Farmers Finally Get Their Government Cheddar For Blatant Past Discrimination

JUSTICE AT LAST!

Dragging their feet ever step of the way, the U.S. Senate has officially approved a multi-billion dollar settlement involving two lawsuits: one by black farmers who alleged racial discrimination by government lenders and the other by 300,000 American Indians who said they had been cheated out of land royalties dating to 1887.

Passage of the measure, by voice vote, unblocks a legislative logjam that has thwarted payouts, negotiated by the Obama administration, of $1.15 billion to the black farmers and $3.4 billion to the American Indians.

“We are one step closer to ensuring that the black farmers and Native Americans in these suits are fully compensated for past failures of judgment by the government,” U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said in a statement after the Senate vote. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said he hopes to seek a vote after Congress returns from a week-long recess on Nov. 29.

The House included the funding in war supplemental legislation it passed this summer, but it must vote on the settlements again. The Senate version of the war supplemental did not contain the funding to settle the lawsuits because Republicans objected to the proposed financing method, saying it added to the deficit.

The farmers’ 1997 class-action lawsuit alleged discrimination by the Agriculture Department’s lending programs. Under a negotiated settlement announced in February, qualified farmers can collect as much as $50,000, plus debt relief. Others may collect monetary damages up to $250,000.



At least seven times this year, Senate Republicans blocked efforts to include the spending provisions in pending legislation.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement yesterday that the Senate’s “bold step” to finance the black farmers’ settlement “marks a major milestone in USDA’s efforts to turn the page on a sad chapter in our history.”

The Obama administration had requested $1.15 billion in its 2010 budget, on top of $100 million that Congress approved in the 2008 farm bill to finance the settlement.

Details

Black Firefighter Tennie Pierce Got Fed Some Dog Food, Now LA Taxpayers Must Bark Up $1.43 Million Milkbones!

L.A. Observed, L.A. Weekly and the Los Angeles Times are all reporting, as Mad Professah noted earlier this week, that the City of Los Angeles has settled the racial discrimination "dog food eating" lawsuit of African American firefighter Tennie Pierce for $1.43 million. As the Weekly noted, the actual cost to city taxpayers is actually more than the original $2.7 million settlement vetoed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in November 2006, because the City Attorney's office has already spent $1.35 million preparing to defend the city against the Pierce lawsuit.

Mayor Villaraigosa's statement on the settlement agreement in the case of Tennie Pierce v. City of Los Angeles: “Today’s agreement is the best possible outcome for the taxpayers. It reduces the original settlement by nearly half, while protecting Angelenos from further liability.”

Although the Times pointed out the Fire Department has paid out $13.5 million in legal payouts over the past fiscal year, the settlement is paltry compared to the $6.2 million awarded in July to black lesbian Brenda Lee. However as part of the settlement Pierce will be eligible for his 20-year pension valued at over $1 million. This is good news for newly installed Fire Chief Douglas Barry, the first African American to ever serve in this position who has promised to clean house over what continues to be a problem when it comes to racial equality if LA's firehouses.

Props to Mad Professah on this one!

THE BIG, BREAKING NEWS COMING FROM SISTERGIRL STAR JONES

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RACIAL DISCRIMINATION LINKED TO BREAST CANCER

Black women who feel they've been victims of racial discrimination are more likely than their peers to develop breast cancer, a large study suggests.

The study, which followed 59,000 African-American women for six years, found that those who reported more incidents of racial discrimination had a higher risk of breast cancer.

The relationship was stronger among women younger than 50, researchers found. This finding is particularly interesting, they note, in light of the fact that, unlike the case with older women, breast cancer is more common among young black women than young white women.

It's possible that racial discrimination plays some role, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Teletia R. Taylor of Howard University in Washington, D.C.

They report their findings in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

FORGET THE TABLE DANCE: CAN A BROTHA GET A HAIR CUT?!

NEW YORK, June 18 (UPI) -- A lawsuit filed by a New York man has accused a hairstylist on a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship of having refused to cut the man's hair because he is black.

Court papers show Gordon Gainer has accused the unidentified stylist of refusing him service due to his race while he was on board a cruise last March, the New York Post said Monday.

Rainer said when he visited the Norwegian Dawn's salon during his cruise, the female stylist had no qualms about telling him why he would not receive service.

"She looks up to me, and she says, 'We don't cut black,'" Gainer said of the cruise employee. "I looked down, I said, 'What do you mean?' and she said, 'We don't cut black hair.'"

Gainer, who was on the cruise as part of his honeymoon, is seeking a full refund of both newlyweds' fares and punitive damages in the suit.

For more, click here.

Do you think Norwegian Cruise Lines would hire these guys?

THE CURSE OF STAR JONES: ROSIE O'DONNELL "CRUISIN" OFF THE VIEW???

Orlando, Key West IN - Bermuda OUT for "OUR FAMILY VACATIONS"

A sold-out gay cruise excursion for gays, lesbians, their families and loved ones will not be heading to Bermuda, according to "The View's" Rosie O'Donnell.

The talker announced today on her show - yes, her show - that the reason her and wife Kelli Carpenter decided to re-route their destination stops was due to as many as 80 churches preparing to meet the travelers at the docks with protests and requests to leave their shores.

PRIME MINISTER EXPRESSES REGRET

Realizing that the extremely poor area desperately needs those tourism dollars to aid their local economy, Premier Ewart Brown said, "If we discriminate against a cruise ship, then we would have to send a homosexual detection unit to the airport."

Back at The View - with guest co-host actress Regina King - Rosie argued that free speech demands that these poor rappers should not be censured. She disagreed with Russell Simmon's call to ban certain words, saying that it's okay for these "artists" to call women bitches and hos...

BUT WAIT - REGINA KING AGREED! HUH!?!?!!?!!!!???!!!

King, a sister we actually really like, said it was the images that were disturbing, not the words. Family, we have work to do. Soooooo much to do!

SPEAKING OF ROSIE: (click the story)

CHERYL CROW - I NEED YOU TO REALLY LOOK AT MY BUTT

I WANT TO MARRY WRITER JASON "BIG SEXY" WHITLOCK

MY SUPPORT FOR ALEC BALDWIN

What, She's Leaving The View???