Black and other minority farmers are getting $2 billion from USDA after years of discrimination

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Black and other minority farmers are set to receive more than $2 billion in federal aid in response to decades of discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. President Joe Biden announced the payments Wednesday. The USDA says more than 23,000 farmers will get payments between $10,000 and $500,000. Another 20,000 people who planned to start a farm but didn’t get USDA loans will get smaller grants. Most payments will go to farmers in Mississippi and Alabama. The USDA has a long history of refusing to process loans from Black farmers. National Black Farmers Association Founder and President John Boyd Jr. says the aid is helpful but not enough.