The Biden administration has doled out more than $2bn in direct payments for Black and other minority farmers discriminated against by the US Department of Agriculture, the president announced Wednesday.
More than 23,000 farmers were approved for payments ranging from $10,000 to $500,000, according to the USDA. Another 20,000 who planned to start a farm but did not receive a USDA loan received between $3,500 and $6,000.
Most payments went to farmers in Mississippi and Alabama.
USDA secretary, Tom Vilsack, told reporters that the aid “is not compensation for anyone’s loss or the pain endured, but it is an acknowledgment by the department”.
The USDA has a long history of refusing to process loans from Black farmers, approving smaller loans compared to white farmers, and in some cases foreclosing quicker than usual when Black farmers who obtained loans ran into problems.
John Boyd Jr, founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, said the aid is helpful. But, he said, it’s not enough.
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