Black and other minority farmers are getting $2 billion from USDA after years of discrimination

[cbabe]

https://apnews.com/article/black-minority-farmers-discrimination-usda-payments-4471b3f3cdccd9050408a43208114638

Black and other minority farmers are getting $2 billion from USDA after years of discrimination

BY SUMMER BALLENTINE
Updated 4:08 PM PDT, July 31, 2024

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The Biden administration has doled out more than $2 billion in direct payments for Black and other minority farmers discriminated against by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the president announced Wednesday.

More than 23,000 farmers were approved for payments ranging from $10,000 to $500,000, according to the USDA. Another 20,000 who planned to start a farm but did not receive a USDA loan received between $3,500 and $6,000. Most payments went to farmers in Mississippi and Alabama. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters that the aid “is not compensation for anyone’s loss or the pain endured, but it is an acknowledgment by the department.”

The USDA has a long history of refusing to process loans from Black farmers, approving smaller loans compared to white farmers, and in some cases foreclosing quicker than usual when Black farmers who obtained loans ran into problems. National Black Farmers Association Founder and President John Boyd Jr. said the aid is helpful. But, he said, it’s not enough. “It’s like putting a bandage on somebody that needs open-heart surgery,” Boyd said. “We want our land, and I want to be very, very clear about that.”

…

“We face blatant, in-your-face, real discrimination,” Boyd said. “And I did personally. The county person who was making farm loans spat tobacco juice on me during a loan session.”

… more … covid relief halted … refusal of loans, can’t buy tractor … police harassment…

[Coexist]

1. KnR

[tulipsandroses]

2. Not enough, but it's a start. Stephen Miller sued to block aid for black farmers

Of course, claiming white farmers were being discriminated against.

[mopinko]

3. i'll say it again- he's just ransacking the fed govt for ways to make things better for all americans.

and to right historic wrongs. giving land back to tribes, exonerating black soldiers in the port chicago ‘mutiny’.
forgiving student loans, increasing funding to hbcu’s. i cd go on.
those were the marching orders he gave to his cabinet from the get go. and now they’re coming to fruition left and right.