Black and other minority farmers are receiving $2 billion in direct payments from the federal government after facing years of discrimination, the Associated Press reports.
According to the USDA, over 23,000 farmers were approved to receive payments ranging from $10,000 to $500,000. Another 20,000 people who planned to start a farm but were denied a USDA loan received payments between $3,500 and $6,000.
The payments come after a long history of the USDA refusing to process loans from Black farmers, approving smaller loans compared to white farmers, and putting foreclosures on Black farmers quicker than their counterparts.
In a statement, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said the payment “is not compensation for anyone’s loss or the pain endured, but it is an acknowledgment by the department.”
National Black Farmers Association Founder and President John Boyd Jr. said the aid is helpful but only serves as a bandaid to a bigger problem.
“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.”
Boyd is still active in a federal lawsuit over the 120 percent debt relief that was approved by Congress for Black farmers in 2021. Five billion dollars was allocated for the program in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package.
However, Black farmers never received the money as white farmers filed several lawsuits claiming that their constitutional rights were being violated because they were excluded from receiving aid.
Congress later amended the law and offered financial help to a broader group of farmers, allocating $3.1 billion to help those struggling with USDA-backed loans and $2.2 billion to pay farmers who the agency discriminated against.
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