Mr. Chase, a little background to that black farmer thing might help.
By 1933, the mid-west had turned into a Dust Bowl and the nation’s food supplies and farmland were in peril. In response to rampant hunger and un-employment (25%) the first Farm Bill of 1993 was designed to stabilize the nation’s food supply, protect farmland, and keep food prices down so people could feed their families. The farm bill succeeded in meeting these goals – for white farmers only.
Unfortunately, systemic racism in government policy, combined with business practices cheated black farmers out of their land, and their livelihoods. The numbers tell the story best. In 1920, there were about one million black farmers in America. Over the next century, Black farmers lost more than 12 million acres of farmland. Today, there are less than 45,000 black farmers left in America.
Today, black farmers are very often the only source of fresh food in their communities, especially in southern states. To maintain a fresh food supply, Biden allocated funds specifically for black farmers in the American Rescue Plan – not the farm bill. The USDA was supposed to start making immediate payments to 43,000 recipients across all 50 states, with Alabama and Mississippi recipients receiving the most. The average payment was $82,000.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller quickly sued the federal government claiming that the Biden administration discriminated against white farmers and ranchers. The lawsuit is sponsored by America First Legal — a group founded by Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s former senior adviser, along with other Trump officials.
Miller’s complaint says the definition in the program fails to include “white ethnic groups that have unquestionably suffered” because of their ethnicity, such as those of Irish, Italian, German, Jewish and eastern European heritage.
I hasten to point out, that Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Latino, and Armenian farmers have experienced the same depth of discrimination as black farmers – and yet, the Texas lawsuit only mentioned white skinned European people - and that, Mr. Chase, is blatant racism.
