Pride v. USDA: a lawsuit filed by Black farmers and ranchers who have experienced recent racial discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) through their direct lending and subsidy programs.
The USDA and FSA have a long and shameful history of discriminatory lending practices to the detriment of Black farmers and ranchers. Despite attempts to correct the agency’s discriminatory practices and repeated statements by the agency admitting discriminatory conduct, these problems persist yet today. The lawsuit of Pride v. USDA seeks damages as well as declaratory and injunctive relief to address this problem.
The Pride lawsuit seeks to address the systematic racial discrimination in the USDA’s Direct Loan Program administered through its local offices. Examples of racially discriminatory practices in the direct loan program include lack of assistance with loan applications, delays and hassles in loan processing, unjustified denials and coerced withdrawals, and burdensome loan terms and conditions. As alleged in the lawsuit, such discriminatory practices violate the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
This lawsuit also focuses on remedying the discriminatory treatment in the agency’s Market Facilitation Program. In 2018 and 2019, the USDA paid out more than $20 billion in subsidies related to foreign tariffs and directed 99.5% of those funds to white farmers. As alleged in the lawsuit, this discriminatory conduct is a violation of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Ultimately, the Pride lawsuit seeks to (1) obtain money damages for Black farmers and ranchers who have been racially discriminated against by the USDA and FSA, and (2) obtain declaratory and injunctive relief to address the existing and ongoing discrimination.
The Pride lawsuit is ultimately about achieving justice and fairness in USDA loan and subsidy programs, and ensuring that every farmer and rancher, irrespective of their race, has equal access to the opportunities afforded by these public programs.
With the combined strength of our community and the expert legal representation from Patterson & Ehrhardt, PLLC in Como, Mississippi, and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, we are determined to rewrite the narrative. Together, we rise against discrimination.
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Have you, or someone you know, faced racial discrimination by the USDA or FSA?
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