Last week, U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard, based in Jacksonville, Florida, blocked a federal plan to provide loan relief to black and other minority farmers who historically faced discrimination. Siding with a white farmer from North Florida, the Judge issued a preliminary injunction against the plan, which was part of the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Joe Biden in March.
But Congressman David Scott (D-GA), Chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, explains why black farmers were targeted for debt-relief.
According to the News Service of Florida, the white farmer in the Hamilton County community of Jennings, Florida filed the lawsuit in May, arguing that the plan violates constitutional equal-protection rights.
Judge Howard, in a 49-page decision, temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture from providing the loan relief.