Boyd Responds To White Farmers’ Lawsuit Fighting Emergency Relief for Black Farmers

Submitted by John Boyd

      WASHINGTON – Recently  John W. Boyd, Jr., founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA), released the following statement in response to the filing of the White Farmers Lawsuit after the final passage – as part of the larger bill “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021” – to provide Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color.

Boyd condemns Stephen Miller and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller for fighting efforts to provide debt relief to Black farmers and other farmers of color. “As President of the National  Black Farmers Association, I urge Commissioner Miller to immediately resign and also urge the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to investigate whether Commissioner Miller has engaged in behavior that has discriminated against Black farmers and other farmers of color in Texas.

“Emergency Debt Relief for Black and other Farmers of Color is historic in nature. I have been fighting for this kind of relief for Black Farmers for over thirty years. This is long overdue Relief for Black Farmers”.

Decades of systematically denying Black farmers and other farmers of color access to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans and other benefits have created an uneven playing field that has baked racism into these federal programs. The debt relief provided in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is narrowly tailored to address that discrimination.

Comparing this long-standing discrimination by USDA against Black farmers to historic discrimination and prejudices against other ethnic groups misses the point. USDA’s definition of socially disadvantaged farmer and rancher borrowers is narrowly tailored to cover farmers of color because they have been disproportionately impacted by how USDA’s loan programs were implemented. Boyd states, “It’s especially troubling that Commissioner Miller, who is charged with supporting farmers in a state with many farmers of color, would challenge the relief that would help these farmers. At a minimum, Commissioner Miller lacks judgement. His role in this lawsuit, however, suggests more venal motives that deserve a deeper examination by the Department of Justice.”

“Few people have done more to frustrate the ambitions of people of color than Stephen Miller. Thankfully, he is now a private citizen. Commissioner Miller, however, is in a position to harm farmers of color and given that he has put his name on this lawsuit suggests that he will go to great lengths to harm farmers of color not just in Texas, but throughout the United States. He should resign immediately.”