LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan Rep. Steve Carra (R-Three Rivers) put out a press release on Tuesday asking why 61 legislators voted for “racism” in last year’s budget.
Carra says in a press release, “Given that the Michigan House of Representatives last Thursday passed House Resolution 191 denouncing the ‘espousal of racist, xenophobic, white supremacist, anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic language by members of this chamber,’ the people of Michigan deserve to know – among other sections, was section 1017 of last year’s budget (HB 4437) simply an oversight for the 61 legislators who voted in favor of the budget, or was it something they felt was appropriate?”
$10 million earmarked in budget for minority-owned business support.
MORE NEWS: Michigan DNR Pulls Swim Buoys as Season Wraps Up
Rep. Carra points out how Section 1017 describes $10 million which will be used for “minority-owned business support” with the state awarding grants to “minority-owned businesses or nonprofit business organizations.”
Rep. Carra says, “Passing a resolution denouncing racism when the legislature voted for racism goes beyond hypocrisy and wasting taxpayer dollars; it is weaponizing tax dollars against the individual, in order to benefit particular classes of people, based on their skin color.”
Democrat resolution had called racism a vile stain on society.
Rep. Carra reiterates what HR 191 says about racism by pointing out the words: “regardless of the source or form, (racism) is a vile stain on our society,” that has “been used to incite and justify deadly violence against individuals.”
He adds that Democratic House Speaker Joe Tate needs to apologize to the people of Michigan for the “racist” grant programs such as the one created in Section 1017 and assure Michiganders it will not happen again while he is speaker.
Rep. Carra says, “I’m opposed to the government picking winners and losers, including but not limited to, based on the color of a person’s skin. The budget was supported by 61 of my colleagues last year, indicating that racism is something that has not been properly eradicated. It’s time to right this wrong, Speaker Joe Tate owes the people of Michigan a sincere apology without delay.”
Michigan Agriculture Dept. offering up to $50K per minority applicant for new grant.
One example of a current discriminatory grant is the one being offered by the Michigan Dept. of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) for a “2024 Minority-Owned Food & Agricultural Business Grant Program.”
MORE NEWS: Detroit Wants Land Bank to Answer Tough Questions
This reimbursement grant program provides eligible minority-owned organizations with up to $50K to support “collaborate planning and capacity initiatives.”
These initiatives include internship programs, development of training curriculum and leadership programs in addition to other approaches to build long-term capacity for minority-owned business owners. Eligible applicants include non-profits, economic development foundations, tribes, educational institutions and private businesses.
In order to get the grant, an organization must be at least 51% unconditionally owned by one or more members a minority group or, in the case of a publicly owned company, 51% or more of each class of voting stock must be unconditional owned by one or more members of a minority group.
Governor Whitmer wants to diversify the agriculture industry.
Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer says about the grant, “We must upgrade our bipartisan economic development toolkit so we can keep bringing supply chains and good-paying jobs home to Michigan.”
She goes on to say, “With this new opportunity from MDARD for minority-owned food and agriculture businesses, we can continue diversifying one of our most vital industries and ensure anyone can ‘make it’ in Michigan. I urge organizations to submit proposals so we can get resources out the door quickly and start creating opportunities across Michigan.”
How is a “minority” defined?
A minority group, according to the application for the MDARD minority-owned agricultural grant includes the following: “African American, Native American, Hispanic American, Asian Pacific American or Subcontinent-Asian American.”
Oddly enough, in the final paragraph of the guidelines for the grant program it says, under the “equal opportunity” heading, that the State of Michigan and the Department of Agriculture & Rural Development prohibit discrimination on the basis of race.
An explanation of why the racial discrimination is allowed.
When Michigan News Source contacted MDARD to get an explanation about how they can offer grants that discriminate based on race when state and federal laws clearly don’t not allow it, they provided the following statement, “MDARD has a long-standing history of supporting small businesses and creating new economic opportunities, like grant programs, for underserved communities across Michigan.”
Their statement went on to say, “This most recent round of grants focuses on providing technical assistance for organizations looking to increase capacity, training, partnership development, and financial investment planning. The grant framework was created using federal USDA definitions for beginning farmers or ranchers, women, veteran-owned businesses, and minority-owned businesses and entities. These grants provide resources to a variety of groups within underserved communities.”
