“Lindsey Graham is from South Carolina. She knows the history of South Carolina. She knows what the state of South Carolina and this country has done to black farmers in South Carolina. They didn’t do it to white farmers. We’re trying to rescue he must be ashamed of himself, “Clyburn told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on” New Day. ” “I think you should go back and maybe go to church. Get in touch with their Christianity.”
The $ 1.9 trillion stimulus bill, which is expected to pass the House on Wednesday, will provide direct payments of up to 120% of outstanding debt from a “socially disadvantaged” farmer or rancher from on January 1, 2021. A socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher is any person in a socially disadvantaged group, one who has been “subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of his or her identity as members of a group without taking into account their individual qualities, “according to a House code.
During an interview with Fox News, Graham criticized the bill for including the provision and others he argued are unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic. He also called “repair” of assistance to farmers, a term that refers to compensation to the descendants of slaves.
“Let me give you an example of something that really bothers me. In this bill, if you are a farmer, you will be forgiven your loan up to 120% of your loan, not 100%, but 120%, if you’re socially disadvantaged, if you’re African American, some other minority. But if you’re white, if you’re a white woman, don’t forgive yourself. That’s reparation. What does this have to do with Covid? “Graham said Sunday Futures Morning “.
Over the years, black farmers have been evicted from their lands and have been discriminated against by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1920, the USDA had 925,708 black farmers, representing about 14% of all farmers at the time. There were only 45,508 black farmers (approximately 1.3% of all U.S. farmers) in the United States in 2017 according to the USDA’s most recent agricultural census.
John Boyd Jr., founder and president of the National Association of Black Farmers, on Tuesday criticized Graham’s comment during an interview with Brianna Keilar of CNN, and accused the Republican of not wanting black farmers they would receive justice.
“Here’s a group of people who can barely defend themselves, and instead of these senators voting to support historic measures like this, I’ve been trying to get debt relief for black farmers and other farmers of color for 30 years. years, ”he told Keilar. “I never heard Senator Lindsey Graham speak out against discrimination, where I was spit on and called racial epithets and ripped off and thrown my USDA applications in the trash. He knows discrimination … I never did. to hear people speak out against discrimination, but he doesn’t want us to have justice here. “
CNN’s Danielle Wiener-Bronner contributed to this report.
