No Seat at the Table: Black Farmers Say They Were Cut Out

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Farmer John Boyd Jr., runs his hay bailer at his farm in Boydton, Va., Thursday, May 27, 2021. Just two generations out of slavery, by 1910 Black farmers had amassed more than 16 million acres of land and made up about 14 percent of farmers. The fruit of their labors fed much of America. In 2021, they have fewer than 4.7 million acres. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
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(AURN News) — “They said they were moving away from the Black farmer issue. They were moving away from DEI and the small farmer issue, and they were focusing on low-scale white farmers and corporate farmers because they produced the most food, is what this administration said. And they told me they may come back in a couple of years and revisit the farmers of color issue, but right now they were moving away from it. And where’s the accountability? I’m a farmer just like anybody else.”

That was John Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, speaking on MSNBC with Katy Tur and expressing concern that Black farmers are being excluded from federal agricultural decision-making.

Boyd said he was denied access to a recent White House farm meeting and was told the administration is no longer prioritizing DEI, Black farmer issues or small farmers.

His comments come as U.S. farmers face mounting pressure from President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. He also said the billions in federal relief Trump claims reached farmers have not.


Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

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AURN News with Ebony McMorris