Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
Tom VilsackUSDA: School Farm Programs Help Schools Serve Healthier Meals MONEY OVERNIGHT: A House Ready to Approve Debt Limit Bill MORE said only 0.1 percent of the coronavirus relief reserved by the Trump administration for U.S. farmers was earmarked for black farmers, according to a Washington Post interview released Thursday.
Of the approximately $ 26 billion announced by the Trump administration under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, $ 20.8 million was earmarked for black farmers, according to Vilsack. The Secretary of Agriculture told the Post that the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus worsened pre-existing gaps in the U.S. economy.
“We saw 99 percent of the money going to white farmers and 1 percent going to socially disadvantaged farmers, and if you divide it by how much you spent on black farmers, it’s 0.1 percent,” Vilsack said. . “Look at it another way: 10% of the country’s farmers received 60% of the value of covered collections. And the bottom 10% received 0.26%.”
The Post notes that only 1.3 percent of American farmers (about 45,000) are black, which says it indicates a drop in one million farmers in the last 100 years.
The U.S. bailout plan included $ 5 billion for farmers of color. The Post asked Vilsack why the funds were specifically added to the Biden administration’s coronavirus relief plan.
“Two reasons. One, you have this systemic racism that has basically left these people behind and they’ve never gotten up to date. This is the beginning of tackling this problem. And the second is the gap in the way it’s going. distribute the covid relief, “Vilsack replied.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin Graham: Details observed in the border debate: the legal right to seek asylum in the US Graham seeks to impose strict restrictions on the asylum system. The Senate committee is advancing two candidates around Biden MORE (SC) criticized in March the $ 5 billion fund of the American Rescue Plan for disadvantaged farmers, and called the money “repair.”
“In this bill, if you are a farmer, you will be forgiven up to 120 percent of your loan … if you are socially disadvantaged, if you are African American, some other minority. But if you are [a] white person, if you are a white woman, no forgiveness. This is a repair. What does this have to do with COVID? Graham said in an interview with Fox News.
Graham’s comments sparked the anger of most House seamstress James Clyburn (DS.C.), who accused Graham of ignoring South Carolina’s history of racism.
“We try to rescue people’s lives and livelihoods. He should be ashamed of himself. He knows the history of this country and knows what happened to black farmers … Lindsey should be ashamed.”