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The head of the National Black Farmers Association blasted plans to award $1.5 billion in federal subsidies to farmers affected by last fall’s heavy rains — while African-American farmers have yet to receive the $1.25 billion the federal government owes them from the settlement of a class action discrimination lawsuit.

And as the Senate wrangles over how to fund the settlement of the lawsuit — which argued that the U.S.Department of Agriculture routinely discriminated against black farmers — the impacted growers are losing land, and a number have died, said John Boyd, founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association.

“They call it politics, but I call it discrimination,” Boyd said of the government inaction, “because every political figure who knew how badly these farmers were treated and needed that settlement, would not engage in partisan politics, and continue to deny these people who can’t defend themselves.”

Read more at TheGrio

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