John Boyd, president of the National Association of Black Farmers, said Tuesday that senators were wrong to end a $4 billion debt relief program for marginalized farmers.of Virginia Boyd, a farmer, has called on President Biden to declare a moratorium on USDA farm foreclosures while Congress works on a new relief plan.
READ MORE: ‘Land Rich, Cash Poor’ – How Black Americans Lost Some Of The Most Desirable Land In The United States
The program has been held up in court for months by lawsuits alleging it is unfair to white farmers. The Senate on Sunday repealed his 2021 wording, while he also approved $5.3 billion to help financially distressed farmers and farmers who have been discriminated against in the USDA’s agricultural lending program. The new package was passed by the Senate and shoved into the USDA section of the gigantic climate, health care and tax bill, which faces a vote in the House on Friday.
“Discrimination in the USDA against black farmers was pervasive and severe,” Boyd said, so directing loan forgiveness to black, Hispanic, Native American, and other farmers of color was unacceptable. It was appropriate. “Acknowledging and correcting racism is neither unconstitutional nor racist.”
The USDA has acknowledged racism in the administration of its program in court settlements over the past two decades.
The aid approved by the Senate on Sunday is in response to a larger group of farmers. He will provide $3.1 billion, and $2.2 billion in “immediate relief” to borrowers of money “in need” through the USDA’s Direct or Guaranteed Loan Program. $1 billion in payments of up to $500,000 per producer to “farmers, ranchers, or forest landlords determined to have experienced discrimination” in the USDA’s Agricultural Loan Program prior to January 1 of last year. has been paid.