“The federal government purposefully excluded Black farmers from New Deal policies meant to provide relief to struggling farmers,” U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren stated in a plan she released in 2019 as a presidential candidate to address the disparities. “Structures like the county committee system have been used to keep Black farmers from getting the assistance they are due,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in announcing this month a commission to address the USDA’s “historical discrimination.” “This reform, like previous ones before it, will do little to help Black farmers without race-specific requirements and benchmarks,” a group of more than 60 Black farmers, former USDA officials and organizations wrote in 2019 in response to Elizabeth Warren’s plan.