The Biden administration has issued more than $2 billion in direct payments to Black and other minority farmers who have been discriminated against by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the president announced Wednesday.
More than 23,000 farmers received payments ranging from $10,000 to $500,000, according to the USDA. Another 20,000 people who planned to start farms but did not receive USDA loans received funding between $3,500 and $6,000.
Most of the payments went to farmers in Mississippi and Alabama.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters that the aid “is not compensation for anyone’s loss or suffering, but rather recognition by the department.”
The USDA has long refused to process loans for Black farmers, approving smaller loans than white farmers, and in some cases foreclosing on mortgages faster than usual when Black farmers who received loans ran into problems. right.
John Boyd Jr., founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, said the aid is helpful. But, he said, that’s not enough.
“It’s like putting a bandage on someone who needs open-heart surgery,” Boyd said. “We want our land and I want to make that very, very clear.”
Boyd is still fighting a federal lawsuit asking Congress to approve 120% debt relief for Black farmers in 2021.
But the money never came. White farmers in several states sued, saying their exclusion violated their constitutional rights, prompting a judge to halt the program shortly after it passed.
Faced with lengthy court battles that could delay payments to farmers, Congress changed the law and provided financial aid to a broader group of farmers. A new law allocates $3.1 billion to help farmers struggling with USDA-backed loans and $2.2 billion to pay farmers who have been discriminated against by the agency.
Wardell Carter, who is black, said no one in his farming family had had so many loan applications since Carter’s father bought 85 acres (34.4 hectares) of land in Mississippi in 1939. USDA loan officers would close the door on him. Carter said police would send officers to the homes of black farmers if they persisted.
Without a loan, Carter’s family couldn’t afford a tractor and relied on horses and mules for many years. Without the proper equipment, the family could only farm a maximum of 40 acres (16.2 hectares), reducing profits.
When they finally received a bank loan to buy the tractor, Carter said the interest rate was 100 percent.
Boyd said he witnessed his loan application torn up and thrown in the trash, called racial epithets and told to leave in the middle of a loan meeting so officials could talk to white farmers.
“We face blatant, in-your-face, real discrimination,” Boyd said. “I personally did the same thing. The person who issued agricultural loans in the county spit tobacco juice on me during the loan period.
Carter, 65, said he is too old to work the land. But he said if he receives funds through the USDA program, he will use it to improve his property so his nephew can start farming again. Carter said he and his family are also trying to chip in to buy a tractor for his nephew.
