Tumblr Post w/ factual info -
Native Americans Set to Receive $3.4 Billion Dollar Settlement From the U.S. Government, Zero For Blacks
Native Americans are poised to receive a $3.4 billion dollar settlement from the U.S. government, one of the largest settlements in this country’s history.
The settlement between the U.S. government and Native Americans has to do with land trusts that Native Americans say were managed in such a way that disadvantaged them and reduced their royalties.
Yahoo News reports -
http://news.yahoo.com/3-4b-indian-la...002551060.html
Quote:
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — After nearly 17 years of courtroom arguments, congressional negotiations and Indian Country bickering, hundreds of thousands of Native Americans could see the first payments of a $3.4 billion U.S. government settlement by the end of the year, plaintiffs' attorneys said Monday.
The settlement between American Indians across the nation and the government over more than a century's worth of squandered and mismanaged land trust royalties became final on Friday, when the appeal period expired.
One of the largest U.S. government settlements in history began with a lawsuit filed in 1996 by Elouise Cobell of Browning, Mont. The Blackfeet leader observed that those who leased Indian land made money from its natural resources, while the Indians themselves remained in poverty with no accounting of the royalties from that land that were held in trust for them by the government
Cobell herself led the fight against the government for more than 15 years before she died of cancer last year.
"We all are happy that this settlement can finally be implemented," lead attorney Dennis Gingold said in a statement Monday. "We deeply regret that Ms. Cobell did not live to see this day."
Approximately 350,000 beneficiaries could start receiving $1,000 checks by Christmas as the first part of the settlement goes forward, plaintiffs' attorneys said.
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“We all are happy that this settlement can finally be implemented,” attorney Dennis Gingold said in a statement. “We deeply regret that Ms. Cobell did not live to see this day.”
The settlement calls for an estimated 350,000 Native Americans to begin receiving $1,000 compensatory checks as early as Christmas.
“With the settlement now final, we can put years of discord behind us and start a new chapter in our nation-to-nation relationship,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
What about blacks? Is there no dollar amount on the free wages African Americans provided, even though Congress was able to put a dollar figure on land trusts?
Is there no dollar amount which could compensate blacks whose ancestors were run off land that they legally owned by racist whites? Or have we all just stopped asking?
http://lati-negros.tumblr.com/post/3...billion-dollar
Blacks opened the door in way too many ways for other races rights.