- Mar 11, 2015
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When you have benefitted from over 100 years of policies excluding blacks and you whine about a policy that tries to level the playing field then a white judge denies the historic racism to stop the program because white farmers scream that's discrimination, well that's white privilege.
White farmers blocked a much-needed federal relief program for Black farmers. The saga proved Black farmers won't overcome racism unless they take their economic future into their own hands.
[email protected] (Cornelius Blanding) 16 hrs ago
This month, in a historic step to redress racism, the United States Department of Agriculture planned to begin issuing $4 billion in debt relief to minority farmers around the country. The move follows a long and ugly record of discrimination, including by the USDA itself.
Depressingly but not surprisingly, a group of white farmers has sued the USDA over the relief program, which was passed as part of the American Rescue Plan back in March. These longtime beneficiaries of systemic racism now claim they are victims of reverse discrimination. On June 10, a US District court issued a temporary restraining order on the USDA's plan while it decides if the agency's program discriminates against white farmers. A judge in Florida also ruled against the program on June 24, throwing the future of the aid further into doubt.
More shocking, though, has been the reaction from banks. Three of the country's biggest banking trade groups are fighting to stop the debt relief. In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, they issued a barely veiled threat to withhold credit from farmers of color if the USDA moves ahead with the initiative.
The three trade groups - the American Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and the National Rural Lenders Association - collectively represent a huge swath of American financial institutions, including the very ones that spent much of the 20th century denying home and business loans to people of color. Their attack on an effort to correct the effects of their actions shows how acceptable blatant racism remains in America's most powerful institutions.
For years, financial institutions have used discriminatory practices to withhold credit from non-White farmers. The USDA - which plays a central role in farming through loans, grants, insurance, technical help, and other services - has also failed to help Black farms equally, as Vilsack recently acknowledged. As a result, they struggled and shrank as White-owned farms grew. Consider that, in 1920, 14% of the nation's farmers were black. By 2017, fewer than 2% were.
White farmers blocked a much-needed federal relief program for Black farmers. The saga proved Black farmers won't overcome racism unless they take their economic future into their own hands.
[email protected] (Cornelius Blanding) 16 hrs ago
This month, in a historic step to redress racism, the United States Department of Agriculture planned to begin issuing $4 billion in debt relief to minority farmers around the country. The move follows a long and ugly record of discrimination, including by the USDA itself.
Depressingly but not surprisingly, a group of white farmers has sued the USDA over the relief program, which was passed as part of the American Rescue Plan back in March. These longtime beneficiaries of systemic racism now claim they are victims of reverse discrimination. On June 10, a US District court issued a temporary restraining order on the USDA's plan while it decides if the agency's program discriminates against white farmers. A judge in Florida also ruled against the program on June 24, throwing the future of the aid further into doubt.
More shocking, though, has been the reaction from banks. Three of the country's biggest banking trade groups are fighting to stop the debt relief. In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, they issued a barely veiled threat to withhold credit from farmers of color if the USDA moves ahead with the initiative.
The three trade groups - the American Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and the National Rural Lenders Association - collectively represent a huge swath of American financial institutions, including the very ones that spent much of the 20th century denying home and business loans to people of color. Their attack on an effort to correct the effects of their actions shows how acceptable blatant racism remains in America's most powerful institutions.
For years, financial institutions have used discriminatory practices to withhold credit from non-White farmers. The USDA - which plays a central role in farming through loans, grants, insurance, technical help, and other services - has also failed to help Black farms equally, as Vilsack recently acknowledged. As a result, they struggled and shrank as White-owned farms grew. Consider that, in 1920, 14% of the nation's farmers were black. By 2017, fewer than 2% were.
EndHate2021
