A pair of bills were put forth by Democratic senators this week aiming to help Black farmers survive the coronavirus pandemic - and reconcile a long history of mistreatment and discrimination.Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.) and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) announced the Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act on Monday, while Booker, Warnock and a gaggle of other senators introduced the Justice for.
Booker’s bill proposed the establishment of a new agency within the USDA to give land grants to Black farmers and a new lending program designed specifically for Black farmers and ranchers who were routinely denied funding from USDA programs.
“Overtly discriminatory and unjust federal policy has robbed Black families in the United States of the ability to build and pass on intergenerational wealth,” Sen. Booker said.
While the legislation brings some tangible moves toward relief and reconciliation for past discrimination, some Black farmers are wary of Biden’s nomination of
Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Department of Agriculture. Vilsack, who served under former President
The House Agriculture Committee approved a landmark $4 billion program of debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers on Wednesday despite Republican objections.
Black farmers push back on pick to lead Agriculture
Associated Press
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. – President Joe Biden s nomination of Tom Vilsack to lead the Agriculture Department received a chilly reaction from many Black farmers who contend he didn t do enough to help them the last time he had the job.
Vilsack, a former Iowa governor who served eight years as agriculture secretary under President Barack Obama, has been trying to assure minority farming groups and the senators who will vote on his confirmation that he will work to “root out generations of systemic racism” in the agency.
“The reality is there are inherent, legacy barriers and practices that have prevented black farmers and other producers from getting access to programs, and I will do everything I can to remove those barriers,” Vilsack said in an email to The AP.