Farming While Black, Sowing the Seeds of Racial Discrimination in Farming

For nearly half a century, "racial discrimination in agriculture, exclusion from federal relief programs, and laws that preyed upon the economically disadvantaged" squandered the number of Black farmers from nearly one million in the 1920s to less than 50,000 today. 

President Joe Biden signed The American Rescue Plan into law in March of 2021 which included $5 billion for farmers to address a history of racial discrimination in the USDA and provide debt relief for farmers of color during Covid.

Not only have many farmers of color not received a dime, the USDA has sent letters of foreclosure to those farmers who are behind in their loan repayments. John Boyd Jr., Founder and President of the National Black Farmers Association and April Simpson, senior reporter at the Center for Public Integrity joined us to talk about farming while Black.