The relief bills provision mirrors a bill introduced in the Senate last month by a group of senators including Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ). (That bill, in turn, draws on the Justice for Black Farmers Acta more sweeping piece of legislation that would issue land grants to Black farmers to make up for past losses, among other measures.) In addition to debt relief, it also allocates slightly over $1 billion to programs that would assess discriminatory USDA policies, provide technical support for Black farmers, and support research at historically Black colleges and universities.
If passed in the House, the bill will be sent to President Bidens desk. Civil rights advocates expressed cautious optimism that…
Read the full article at: https://thecounter.org/black-farmers-discrimination-debt-vilsack-american-rescue-plan-covid-19/