Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to black farmers that he would fulfill a $5 billion reparations plan that was previously diluted due to complaints from white farmers regarding constitutional rights.
RFK Jr., speaking on his podcast with John Boyd Jr., founder of the National Black Farmers Association, vowed to remove the individuals who impeded the plan.
“That $5 billion is not money, that is an entitlement,” he told Boyd. “It’s money that black farmers were entitled to way back when and was stolen from them through discrimination.”
Boyd sued President Joe Biden‘s administration for not providing reparations included in a relief package designed to assist people of color and “socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers” in the agriculture sector.
The funds did not reach the farmers due to the American Rescue Plan stalling in the courts, with white farmers arguing that the relief violated their constitutional rights.
Boyd stated in the lawsuit that “they broke their promise to black farmers and other farmers of color.” The plan aimed to repay “up to 120 percent of direct or guaranteed farm loan balances for black, American Indian, Hispanic, Asian American, or Pacific Islander farmers.”
Former President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again Inc. criticized the statements by referencing a New York Post article in an email describing the story.
“Any public official who thinks it is the government’s role to pick winners and losers based on the color of their skin does not belong in public office,” Gene Hamilton, America First Legal executive director and general counsel, told the New York Post in the article cited by Trump’s team.
The proposal was later incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act, splitting the $5 billion into a $2 billion fund for farmers who have faced discrimination and $3 billion to the Agriculture Department to support financially struggling farmers regardless of race.
Numerous legal challenges led to these changes as leaders feared prolonged delays in efforts. A spokesperson for the Agriculture Department stated the agency was “moving aggressively to implement these provisions.”
Kennedy’s statement appears to be an attempt to garner support from black voters on an issue Trump has declined to address: reparations. Trump remarked, “I don’t see it happening,” when asked about reparations in 2019.
Kennedy is polling at a 9.8% national average and aims to participate in the June 26 debate between Biden and Trump on CNN.
