The Federation of Southern Cooperatives, which represents Black farmers, landowners and co-ops in the southern USA, is headed for court in Texas today to fight against a blocking action that is holding back billions of dollars in debt relief to black farmers.
In 2020, the Biden administration pledged to reverse more than a century of systemic economic injustices against Black farmers, with secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack authorising US$4bn as part of the post-Covid American Rescue Plan. Payments were due to begin last June but have been blocked by lawsuits on behalf of white farmers who claim the plan is discriminatory. The lawsuits include the Miller vs Vilsack case, which has been brought in Texas by Stephen Miller, formerly an advisor to president Trump.
The US Department of Agriculture is defending the payments but now the Federation is wants to make sure that the voices and interests of Black farmers are heard directly in court – arguing that the lawsuit “threatens their very existence” and will increase the threat of irreversible land loss from Black farmers.
The Federation says: “The impact of the delayed debt relief for Black and underserved farmers as it pertains to the American Rescue Act is already being experienced by our member-farmers in the form of foreclosure letters and lost land … the judge needs to hear directly from our member farmers that the delayed implementation of Section 1005 will likely cause widespread farm and land loss.”
Read the rest at Co-operative News
Read the FSC press release here
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