RFK Jr. vows to give black farmers $5 BILLION in reparations if he wins the White House and says funds are ‘not money, that is entitlement’ despite white counterparts labeling it racist

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made a campaign promise to Black farmers that he will give them $5 billion in reparations if he wins the 2024 presidential election.

Kennedy, once a Democrat turned third-party insurgent, spoke at a recent episode of his podcast with John Boyd Jr., founder of the National Black Farmers Association.

Boyd Jr. is behind an effort to sue the Biden administration for watering down a proposed debt relief program aimed at helping people of color and “socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers” in the agriculture sector.

The farmers did not receive the relief package because the money was held up in court because white farmers complained that the debt relief infringed on their constitutional rights.

Kennedy promised to get rid of the people who have weakened the USDA provision and get that money for black farmers when I’m in the White House.

“That $5 billion is not money, it’s a right,” he told Boyd Jr. “It’s money that was a loan that black farmers used to be entitled to and that was stolen from them due to discrimination.”

Kennedy has several programs that seek to outflank Biden from the left on reparations.

The son of the ex-attorney general and nephew of the ex-president campaign website says he will ‘end USDA discrimination against Black farmers and protect current landowners from further land loss’

The program, part of the American Rescue Plan, would be used to pay up to 120 percent of direct or guaranteed farm loans for Black, Native American, Hispanic, Asian American or Pacific Islander farmers.

But after white farmers raised an uproar over the proposal, it was reworked in August as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and split into two funds.

Boyd, a plaintiff in the class action lawsuit, said that “they broke their promise to black farmers and other farmers of color.”

A group of 12 farmers from nine states have filed a lawsuit against the USDA, claiming the program exempts white farmers and violates their constitutional rights.

Wisconsin Judge William Griesbach issued a temporary restraining order blocking the loan forgiveness program Biden created after he said he wanted to address longstanding inequities for farmers of color.

Judge Griesbach said the plan failed to provide adequate examples of the recent hardships imposed on minority farmers. He also claimed that by trying to end one form of discrimination, the program ended up creating another form of discrimination.

One fund is worth $2 billion and will have the same goals as the first proposal: helping farmers who have faced discrimination.

The second fund now stands at $3 billion and will go to the Ministry of Agriculture to pay or modify loans for farmers who have faced financial pressure, regardless of race.

The lawsuit filed by the black farmers claims the plan change violates the contracts, and the plaintiffs are now seeking damages.

“This fight is about the country because we’ve lost so much of it,” Boyd said.

Marissa Perry, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, said the agency supported the original plan but was unable to pay Black farmers because of three orders from frustrated white farmers.

Despite the agency’s support, they feared that “this lawsuit would likely not be resolved for years,” leading them to support the new plan.

“The Inflation Reduction Act – thanks to Sens. leadership. Booker, Warnock, Stabenow, Manchin and Schumer – repealed these provisions and created something new,” Perry told NBC News.

She also assured that the agency was “acting aggressively to implement these provisions.”

The original program was created in an effort to address long-standing inequalities plaguing agriculture.

It was hailed by civil rights groups as the most important legislation for black farmers since the Civil Rights Act.

About 17,000 farmers of color would be eligible to access the aid.

Minority farmers have maintained for decades that they have been unfairly denied farm loans and other government assistance.

Federal agriculture officials in 1999 and 2010 settled lawsuits from black farmers who accused the agency of discriminating against them.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said inequality had worsened during the pandemic.

“For generations, socially disadvantaged farmers have struggled to fully succeed due to systemic discrimination and a cycle of debt,” he shared. The Washington Post.

“On top of the economic pain caused by the pandemic, farmers from socially disadvantaged communities are experiencing a disproportionate share of COVID-19 infection rates, hospitalizations, deaths and economic damage.”

USDA data shows that the number of Black farmers has shrunk from a million around a century to 45,000 today.