Thousands of Black and minority farmers across the country will receive more than $2 billion in direct payments by the Biden-Harris Administration.
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 press release, 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.
The Biden-Harris administration is attempting to right those wrongs through the Inflation Reduction Act’s Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP). This act is meant to provide financial assistance to those minority farmers who were denied access to USDA lending and safety net programs, according to the USDA.