Third Federal Judge Blocks Biden Race-Based Farm Aid Program That Excludes White Farmers

A federal judge has granted an injunction to a white Tennessee farmer who filed a lawsuit against a race-based farm aid program that was part of President Joe Biden’s “American Rescue Plan.”

Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas Anderson is the third such judge to do so and issued an explanation for his decision, essentially agreeing with white farmers,  including Tennessee rancher Rob Holman, who called the measure “reverse racism.”

In the ruling, Anderson wrote, “Absent action by the court, socially disadvantaged farmers will obtain debt relief, while (Holman) will suffer the irreparable harm of being excluded from that program solely on the basis of his race.”

Although the USDA may have been racist in its treatment of minority farmers in the past, there is no evidence of discrimination by the agency now and, therefore, no problem to justify a race-based solution, Anderson ruled.

Anderson explained, “Instead, (the Justice Department) attempted to rely on statistical and anecdotal evidence, even though this type of evidence to show intentional discrimination has been rejected by (a federal appellate court).”

The injunction means the Biden administration cannot enact the debt relief program until the constitutionality of the race-based plan is decided and the DOJ is expected to seek an appeal.

The director of the Southeastern Legal Foundation Litigation, Braden H. Boucek, called the judge’s injunction a “victory.”

Boucek added that it “again proves that the Constitution does not allow the government to treat its citizens differently based on their skin color. State-sanctioned discrimination is wrong and unconstitutional. Race-preferences cannot be allowed to rise again under the name of equity.”

The Tennessean explained that Holman is a fourth-generation Tennessee rancher, according to court records and his lawsuit against the USDA states that he and his father own and operate a 2,200-acre farm in Union City, Tennessee, growing “mostly corn and soybeans.”

Holman still owes roughly $39,000 on two USDA loans totaling $117,000 and would be eligible under the terms of the debt relief program except for the fact that he is white, according to the lawsuit.