Friday, August 30, 2024

Friday Mornings Afterwards

I generally awaken on Friday mornings in a rather pensive mood after a blog radio radio program. Led by a legend in the Black Farmer Movement, Lawrence Lucas, and often accompanied by Michael Stovall, Rod Bradshaw, Marcel Reid, Corey Lea, or me, his questions are like those of a therapist when the questions quicken the spirit and probe the depths of one's character. These fourth Thursdays of the month have become one of my favorite times of the month. 

Last night we discussed our latest letter to Biden/Harris with its hopes and explanations; the letter I wrote to VP candidate JD Vance; and how the USDA disseminated $2.2B for those discriminated against. All of these materials and more are here on my blog. I hope you'll take some time and mosey by over there. 

This conversation was especially intense as we discussed malevolent means of stealing land from Black farmers, limits of what a Black farmer should own, ways and means the USDA has of getting money from Black farmers despite rules that prohibit such actions, the VP candidate's misguided comments about Black farmers recently, and whether or not one party is better than another for Black farmers. 

One thing that Lawrence and I frequently discuss is the list of those who have gone on to the ancestors. Both of us silently weep over the names, faces, and stories.  

In preparing both for the radio program as well as the summary document outlining the ups and downs and ins and outs of the USDA's attempt to compensate Black farmers and others for discrimination that had been perpetrated against them, I listened to this song. It is a version of "Blowin' in the Wind" by Pentatonix that I like. It appeals to me because there are numerous lines in this amazing song that speak directly to the heinous acts of malfeasance that have been perpetrated upon Black farmers in the face of what certainly looks like intentional efforts to steal land for Black farmers and to make them landless

Listen to this song and see if you agree with me about applications:






Thursday, August 29, 2024

"How Many Deaths Will It Take.....?" Or Will the USDA's Discrimination Funds Settle the Score?

“Blowin’ In the Wind,” originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan back in the ‘60s sends a chilling message to those of us who are involved in the Black Farmer Movement. Here is a cover by Pentatonix that moves me deeply. The line, “How many deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died?” sends chills down my spine. And the refrain, “The answer is blowin’ in the wind” rings true. Sometimes in radio programs or presentations or even the Whistleblowers Conference and Film Festival, we will read the names of Black farmers who have died fighting these battles. Seeing that list and reading those names brings tears to our eyes as our emotions run deep.

By now many know that checks have been written to various farmers of all races and genders from the United States Department of the Treasury. We know that some are pleased and some are still in agony, and those are just the ones who applied.  

But the questions remain, how did we get here? And what were the governmental processes that allow for these decisions to be made?

You will find in other places my opinions about how Black farmers have been discriminated against since the very beginning of the US Department of Agriculture from the days of President Lincoln all the way up to now. Those articles of mine and of others tell the brutal truth of “farming while Black in America.” It is an ugly picture, especially for those of us who value our country and freedom to choose and the knowledge that we will be respected as all of us are created equal.

The Justice for Black Farmers Act never saw the light of day, but we appreciate its authors, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Raphael Warnock, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and perhaps others.

While the American Rescue Plan Act was being debated back in 2021, Senator Warnock placed a couple of things into the Bill that was a stroke of genius. That Bill, had it not been sabotaged by a group of white farmers with their racist, in my opinion, attorneys, would have covered 100% of the farmers’ indebtedness plus 20% for taxes. However, as I have written elsewhere, Secretary Vilsack slow-walked the process, American bankers protested, and lawsuits were filed in the name of “reverse discrimination” across the country. Two judges made decisions to halt the process of covering the indebtedness of Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (SDFF).

Then, Congress, knowing that a “race neutral” approach must be used, developed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2023 and with it were two significant areas for farmers, regardless of color or gender or any number of other areas where discrimination can occur. Section 22006 offered $3.1B for “distressed borrowers” and wiped out the debts of Black farmers back to owing $0 plus one extra check to give them a heads up. We know of several who were recipients of these funds.

Section 22007 provided $2.2B for those who could prove that they had been discriminated against. Some thought of this as a great deal, but others of us knew better.

This is where it gets interesting for those of us in the Black Farmer Movement.

The USDA, first of all, issued an announcement about it. It even had a catchy acronym, the DFAP program, the “Discrimination Financial Assistance Program.”  For those who like a lot of details, here is the website.  

The DFAP evaluation guide is a 201-page document. Those wish to do deep dives into processes for receiving application forms, how they were adjudicated, and all, this source is invaluable.

Second, there were a number of flaws in the process and we protested about it. For instance, no immediate ag economist was involved, no fees for lawyers, no appeals process, and Black farmers had to submit a 40-page document while white farmers completed a three-page process. We understand that white farmers had their checks almost immediately, as within a few days, while Black farmers had to wait and wait and wait.

Third, the USDA appointed two “hubs” with a rather limited range of experiences with farmers in general and aggrieved farmers specifically. USDA paid these entities millions of dollars. Those hubs were Analytic Acquisitions and Windsor Group. The national administrator group was The Midtown Group. See this page for details.

Fourth, a number of “cooperators” were brought on board, most if not all without any application process, but instead were those identified by Secretary Vilsack as “friendly” to the USDA. I wrote about them in another location, about how this process was flawed from the get go. On the other hand, it is true that these “cooperators” were able to surface, meet, and inform Black farmers as to processes. I listened to one early on as the speaker informed listeners as to broad generalizations of the program. Then, later I listened to a person with more details about the process. Here is the announcement by USDA as the process came to a close.

Fifth, the process dragged on for months, deadlines were changed, and eventually an announcement was released with a number of curious details. While Secretary Vilsack has maintained that releasing data by race is illegal despite the fact that it is mandated in the 2008 Farm Bill and again in the 2018 Farm Bill.

According to the USDA,

 

“The recipients include over 23,000 individuals who have or had a farming or ranching operation, who are receiving between $10,000 and $500,000 of assistance, with an average of nearly $82,000. Recipients also include over 20,000 individuals who planned to have a farming or ranching operation, but reported they were unable to do so because they couldn’t get a USDA loan. These individuals are receiving between $3,500 and $6,000 of assistance, with an average of $5000.”

Other sources released information as to numbers and dollars. These details add to the information we need but that the USDA is concealing from us, because “it would make us look bad,” so an insider told us. We are informed that 58,000 applied for the funds for discrimination, 48,000 “prevailed,” and received some sum of money from the $2.2B pot. A majority of the 48,000 were Black farmers and ranchers and they received $1.76B of the total pot of $2.2B. Over 80% were Black farmers who received these funds. Over 70% of the Black farmers are from the southeastern region of the US. Those who attempted to farm but were kept from it received anywhere from $3,500 to $6,000. The average payout was $82,000.

At the end of the day, it is a mixed bag. Some farmers are very pleased with their check. Some are extremely disappointed. At face value, probably there is not a Black farmer in the country who received a check in the total amount of damages incurred. Some readers may remember that scholars estimated that between 1920 and 1997 Black farmers lost approximately $326B in generational wealth that their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will never see.

In addition to those disappointed with the numbers on their checks, there is a sizeable group of Black farmers who did not trust the process that USDA utilized, so they did not apply for the DFAP funds. There is another group of farmers who were told by at least one person who had at one point held a high position with USDA that applying for these funds would disallow applying for other funds via individual lawsuits or class action suits. That is not the case, but some of our people trusted misinformation.

Ultimately, “the last plantation” lives on and as it does Black farmers and family members continue to suffer under the boot to the neck of injustices. Until USDA wipes out racism from its halls and offices and personnel, discrimination will continue.

 

 

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris: We Need to Talk

August 16, 2024
 
President Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20050
 
Vice President Kamala Harris
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington. DC 20050
 
By way of introduction, we are representatives of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees and the Justice for Black Farmers Group. The Coalition began as an employee organization at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1994. It has now evolved beyond just employees to include focusing on major issues with Black farmers. The Justice for Black Farmers group is an extension of this important work.
 
We are aware of the sacrifices and services you have made to our country. Perhaps the most courageous act is your stepping back and allowing your Vice President, Kamala Harris, to move into the spotlight she rightfully deserves under the circumstances. We respectfully ask that you use that same courage to address our pressing issues. Now is the time to do good for our Black farmers and others suffering at USDA, especially when there is lingering skepticism about USDA and your support of Secretary Vilsack.
 
While many in the United States are actually confused and/or completely unaware of the background to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) and how the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was originally intended to level the playing field for Black farmers who have experienced racism since the very founding days of our country. Those of us who know live out of a different narrative.
 
We are asking for justice for a group of your supporters, Black farmers and their families. Their commitment to the Democratic party is waning, and that makes this request very important.
 
Some matters that we care about deeply lie in the darkness of Capitol Hill, the White House, and the offices of USDA. You undoubtedly know what they are because we have written to you before, and we demonstrated in front of the White House March 1, 2023. See this link as well. Secretary Thomas Vilsack continues to ignore Black farmers’ struggles for justice as well as the systemic racism and sexism that exist within USDA. As our proof, this has been reported widely by newspapers and other investigative reporting.
 
Yes, some Black farmers are not pleased with the checks they got in the mail from the US Department of the Treasury. Some are bitterly disappointed. Frankly, Mr. President, with the race-neutral approach taken within the IRA, funds were disbursed not because of what racism has done to them. The white farmers in the lawsuits which derailed the ARPA demanded their share of benefits because of reverse discrimination. This, despite the fact that white farmers have always had the upper hand in farming, loans, goods, services, and benefits at the county level. Sadly, whiteness matters. For the uninformed public, to give out $2.2B to 43,000 which would include some Black farmers and others, but we know the inside stories, and we want you to hear them as well. We understand that 80% of the total number who prevailed were Black farmers who received $1.76B from the total of $2.2B. It seems to us that embedded within this story is fear on the part of Black farmers to speak out due to retaliation and intimidation by USDA.   We find it interesting that USDA releases this type of data when it is convenient for them.   
 
Our message has been consistent since our inception in 1994 as the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees. From our communication of October 25, 2011 to Vilsack through seven letters to congressionals, seven to you in the White House, eight to your staffers, and twelve to Vilsack, we have articulated a consistent message: 1) remove the indebtedness from Black farmers; 2) cover their taxes; 3) root out racism, sexism, and violence from USDA, especially the Forest Service, Western Division; 4) treat all farmers equitably and institute policies that do so; 5) eliminate the County Committee system where much of the racism occurs; 6) put the Office of Civil Rights (OASCR) in receivership and hold the guilty accountable; 7) put a firewall between the Office of General Counsel (OGC)  and OASCR; 8) institute an environment and policies that insure accountability and transparency; 9) settle the many unresolved cases that lie languishing in the bowels of the Office of Civil Rights;  and 10) endorse a program that puts land back into the hands of Black farmers who have had their land stolen from them because of a failed civil rights process. There are others, Mr. President, and this list is only a partial list.  In fact, a lengthier list is found in correspondence with you in 2022 in which we advocated for systemic change.
 
While there are some who would insist that the economic efforts amount to reparations, we call it justice. By comparison to our issues with USDA and the demand for funding to level the playing field, the State of California is undergoing an intense process toward providing reparations for citizens whose ancestry goes back to days of enslavement. We participated in that effort by a discussion of the Black farmer issue. The entire report is available.
 
In short, Mr. President, we, Black farmers and advocates, are seeking accountability, transparency, and justice. USDA, until these factors are included, will continue to be labeled “the last plantation,” because, indeed, Secretary Vilsack runs the agency like a plantation, and it has been that way for decade after decade. Yes, we do want a better accounting for actual damages, and we want a process that is much clearer and transparent, one that is legal according to the law. Vilsack allowed his Equity Commission to leave in place the racist county committee system that for decades has destroyed lives of our Black farmers and others. We believe that his Equity Commission was tarnished from the beginning with many having received funds from the check-book of USDA and several of his former colleagues from the dairy industry and the Office of General Counsel.
 
We are also shining light on the issue of racism and discrimination within the USDA by presenting these and other materials at the Whistleblower Conference and Film Festival held in Washington, DC from July 26 through August 4 on the topic “Seeking Truth and Justice.”
 
To expand on these requests and opportunities, we offer the following by way of background.
 
On March 1, 2023, as noted earlier, Black farmers, advocates, and their supporters from across the country assembled in front of the White House to remember the Fairness Hearings before Judge Friedman and to demonstrate USDA’s failures and our concerns on behalf of Black farmers and the injustices we have received from your administration and USDA. Two of our members wore a provocative sign which read, “We Gave You the White House. You Gave Us Tom Vilsack.”
 
As inflammatory as that reads, we believe it to be the truth.
 
In 2019, we offered Senator Warren a different view on Black land loss. While she had believed and had said so publicly that it was due to heirs’ property issues, we showed her otherwise, that the majority of Black land loss since 1910 has come as a result of racism within USDA, especially at the County Committee level where matters and personnel are unsupervised and personnel are not held accountable. We believe that Senator Warren’s plan is the standard bearer in this significant area.
 
Our many communications have gone unanswered with the exception of one meeting on May 28, 2021 in which Secretary Vilsack pontificated about his programs and failed to allow us time to ask questions. Even in that meeting, we were provided with false information from OASCR. It is no wonder that Black farmers do not trust USDA. We communicated our disenchantment with Secretary Vilsack. Secretary Vilsack runs a closed system. He refuses to listen to those who complain about his policies and procedures. It looks good and smells good, but to those of us who look inside know that it is anything but a healthy organization. On the other hand, we had a series of very productive conversations and follow-ups with two White House staffers, Cedric Richmond and William T. McIntee, in the Office of Public Engagement. The heart of the matter was the large number of letters written by us to Secretary Vilsack without any response from him. This was the most productive conversation that we have had with your staff in many years.  
 
We participated with your agriculture transition team in the policy development phase of racial justice for Black farmers. We eventually realized that Tom Vilsack was pulling the strings and that the appointees with whom we were dealing had no authority. The ultimate insult was when one of Vilsack’s attorneys said that what we wanted was unconstitutional. We came to believe the bitter truth of that because when you signed the ARPA , the banks complained to Vilsack, and Vilsack slow-walked the process of paying the 120% to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers for debt write-off and taxes, giving white farmers across the country enough time to file twelve (12) frivolous and racist lawsuits complaining about reverse discrimination.
 
From there, Congress got busy, passed, and you signed the race neutral Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated $3.1B for “distressed borrowers” in order to bring their debts in line, and $2.2B for farmers who could prove that they had been discriminated against. Since farmers of any color could apply for either or both of these provisions, the pool was watered down. Those who deserved to be compensated for their actual losses received little to nothing. On top of that, Mr. President, those few Black farmers who have had their debts full or partially forgiven will now face the onerous task of dealing with the 1099 form and hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. Due to having to pay taxes, we think, many will be at risk to lose their land, houses, and property. Additionally, we are of the opinion that the “process” for addressing discrimination by farmers is flawed and inadequate. One administrator, two hubs for the entire country, numerous “cooperators” that facilitate information, a minimal process for white farmers and 40 pages for Black farmers, was all flawed. Our understanding is that this system was actually illegal. There are several flaws in this legislation and its procedures: no attorney’s fees were covered, a lawyer and ag economist were glaringly absent for Black farmers, there were no appeals rights, it is said that white farmers only completed three pages and were paid quickly, and Black farmers were required to complete an onerous amount of 40 plus pages and had to wait. USDA refused, in addition to all of the above, to provide the guidelines for their decision-making.  
 
As alluded to earlier, we observe clear connections between Vilsack’s attorney on the transition team declaring that our efforts to secure justice for Black farmers was unconstitutional. From there, just weeks after the ARPA was signed into law, numerous white farmer lawsuits derailed the process along with the banking industry while Secretary Vilsack purposefully delayed the payment to Black farmers. We chronicled those matters for the public’s consideration. Then, Congress passed the race neutral IRA of 2022 in which any race of “distressed borrower” and any race of a farmer experiencing discrimination are eligible for funds that were originally calculated to level the playing field somewhat for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (the 2501 designation) were now falling into the hands of persons for whom the county committee, FSA, and USDA have always turned out well. So, it is not a stretch to see “unconstitutional” as undergirding all that happened between your agriculture transition team’s work through the ARPA and on to the IRA and out into the bank accounts of all farmers including white farmers.
 
We believe the Justice for Black Farmers Act would provide measurable improvements in the lives and livelihood of Black farmers as it includes debt relief and land at decent process for those who want to farm. We note that no one is offering land to Black farmers from the USDA Land Bank and its holdings. This is all about the taking of the land.
 
Now we know what we did not know before. With the disappointments of aggrieved Black farmers for whom the pay-outs from the IRA pools of funds did not do justice, there will come, we predict, a plethora of class action suits. An inadequate reconciliation of past injustices with present-day funds via the USDA, the hubs’ poor handling of the processes, and the loop holes for some, but not for the benefit of Black farmers are all obvious to us. Such actions for the USDA continue to leave angst in their souls and a bitter taste in their mouths.
 
We now understand that $500M to $700M from the $3.1B pool have been purposely held back by Secretary Vilsack. Our network is nation-wide, and we know of only a handful of Black farmers who have had their debts full or partially removed and there seems to be no rhyme or reason for these farmers other than they were “cherry-picked” by USDA. These numbers do not line up and Secretary Vilsack and his team are not forthcoming about racial categories and debt relief. Money blinds us to the reality existing within USDA the system problem of its structure and behaviors. Money is not the issue.
 
We read the news reports as do you and your advisors. And in this time of transition, we see the young voters moving toward Vice President Harris. Black cousins from the south talk to cousins from the north, and her favorability rating is climbing. We believe that if you and she do the right thing by Black farmers, that the favorability rating among others will rise. You did the courageous thing, several weeks ago, and now, we ask you to do one more courageous thing.  
 
We are aware that you have held various meetings in the White House, the latest of which was February 1, 2024 in which you discussed matters related to Black America. We are aware that one person affiliated with Black farmers was in attendance. We are convinced, Mr. President, that you do not see the severity of the plight of Black farmers and others because your appointee at USDA of Secretary Tom Vilsack, is concealing them from the public and you. What is concealed is the pain and suffering of Black farmers as well as their loss of land and productivity from the land. Estimates suggest that the losses are at least $326B from 1910 to 1997.
 
The November, 2023 General Accounting Office (GAO) report provides a scathing evaluation of the inadequacies of the internal system that tracks complaints of both those who utilize services of USDA as well as employees within USDA. These inadequacies have been known for years, perhaps even decades as the complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Also, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Report of September, 2021 pointed out numerous inadequacies within OASCR including failure to process complaints in a timely manner, inadequacy of support and processes, failure to track and measure progress, failure to follow its own strategic plan, and even potential circumvention of the law. A recent doctoral dissertation uncovered truths about the county committee that we have known for years and yet, Secretary Vilsack’s Equity Commission opted to do nothing to this unfair and racist process. Bottom line is that white farmers are more likely to benefit from programs and services. When the primary source of discrimination against minority farmers originates from within the county committee, it is reasonable that this specific area receive attention.
 
Secretary Vilsack himself declared on one occasion that to reveal information about debt forgiveness and other factors by race was illegal despite the fact that this requirement was written into the 2008 Farm Bill and the 2018 Farm Bill. Now we are awaiting information from the IRA of 2022 in both categories for “distressed borrowers” and those who experienced discrimination although recently a USDA employee provided global numbers for us. Naturally, we are given state-wide data, but that is insufficient and an insult to the American population that wants these numbers while he is required by law to release them.
 
Various investigative reports by Joyce, Rosenberg, and Stucki; Holloway; and Rosenberg and Stucki; and numerous internal and external reports, tell the tragedies of white farmers receiving the overwhelming majority of funds for farming, fewer white farmers having their loans rejected than Black farmers, covid era relief funds going to white and not Black farmers, and other inadequacies. These matters of racism and injustice have been occurring under your watch as well as that of Obama, Bush, Clinton, and previous administrations for decades. The USDA acts as if it is a law to themselves and fails at too many levels to display transparency, accountability, and a commitment to removing racism from its halls and offices.
 
In addition to the above complaints, we are dismayed at the processes and outcomes related to the Equity Commission. While this would perhaps take a more lengthy conversation, in short, we believe it is redundant when surveying the large number of reports, both internal and external, related to the USDA and Black farmers in particular. The composition of the commission and the subcommittee on agriculture was problematic as a number of the members were, in our opinion, compromised by having received funding as a “cooperator” or other means. It has the very appearance of conflicts of interest for a number of the group.
 
Recently, Secretary Vilsack announced that he wanted his Equity Commission to evaluate his civil rights office and programs. This is nothing more than “the fox watching the hen house,” a stacking of the deck to hide and to protect him from his abysmal civil rights record and failures. We want a level playing field at USDA.
 
Given the severity of these complaints and concerns, we ask you to act in an expeditious manner to address our concerns listed in paragraph seven above and the communication of September 28, 2022 in which we listed our concerns and demand systemic change. Black farmers are a part of America’s middle class working families that Vice President Harris aspires to enhance through economic policies.
 
Many farmers have talked directly with us and shared their concerns about Vilsack returning in a Harris administration. That should not happen. The decades of discrimination are acknowledged by Tom Vilsack, but he has done nothing to fix it. It would be devastating for the Black farmers and others of our country if he were to return. We hope that Kamala Harris will address these issues if she is elected president.
 
We respectfully request an in-person meeting with a host of farmers and their advocates with you and Vice President Kamala Harris. We eagerly await your response.
 
Respectfully,
 
 ---S---
 
Lawrence Lucas
President Emeritus, USDA Coalition for Minority Employees
Representative, Justice for Black Farmers Group
Www.BlackmeninAmerica.com
LawrLCL@aol.com
856-910-2399 
 
---S---
 
Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.
Representative, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
Representative, Justice for Black Farmers Group
www.letjusticering.blogspot.com
Psychologist
Waymon.hinson@gmail.com
903-271-4654

Dear Senator Vance: You Got This One Very, Very Wrong

August 21, 2024

Senator J. D. Vance
288 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
 
Dear Senator Vance:
 
Words matter. Perspectives matter. Policies matter. I am confident that you know about the importance of these things. That leaves many of us in the Black Farmer Movement decidedly dismayed and even angry at your uninformed comments in the interview on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.
 
Your comments seem to come out of left field, were terrifically misguided, and are not grounded in reality. Here is your comment:
 
“The Harris Administration, for example, handed out farm benefits to people
based on skin color. I think that's disgraceful. I don't- I don't think we should say,
you get farm benefits if you're a Black farmer, you don't get farm benefits if
you're a white farmer. All farmers, we want to thrive, and that's certainly the
President Trump and JD Vance view of the situation. But I do think unfortunately,
when our leaders divide us by race, you're going to have hate on the left side
of the political spectrum. You're going to have hate on the right side of the political spectrum. We should just judge people based on individual characteristics and
based on merit, and that's certainly what President Trump and I want to do.”
 
Whether your misstep was intentional or not, it insulted a large group of African American farmers and their families. These families have fought to save their farms and to maintain their chosen way of life since the earliest days of Freedom, and for you as a leader in the Senate and now a candidate for Vice President adds insult to injury. If anyone should know about the pain and suffering it should be you as you represent a constituency that numbers 344 Black farmers according to the Nature Conservancy. This represents a drop from 2,000 in 1900. You, then, Senator Vance, have a vibrant and relatively large number of Black farmers whom you represent.
 
The ease with which you so smoothly spoke of these complicated matters leaves us furious and your devotees and listeners ill-informed. Your assertion that Black farmers got these dollars is partially right and partially inaccurate. Your assertion that farm benefits were “handed out to people based on skin color” is completely wrong. Either way, you managed to insult Black farmers and their families and friends.
 
As a professional who has been involved with Black farmers since 1994, and as a professional whose life has been lived in the academy, I am left with questions as to why you said what you said. I can think of four, and perhaps there are more.
 
One, are you simply uninformed? Two, are you opposed to leveling the playing field when discrimination is clearly evident, or do you believe in drawing distinctions based on skin color? Three, do you harbor ill will toward people of color, Black farmers in particular? Or, four, was it a convenient piece of data useable to take a jab at your opponents in the election, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz?
 
My first foray into the world of Black farmers came in the late ‘90s when I served as expert witness to four of the first fifteen Black farmers who prevailed against the DOJ and USDA. I got my first glimpse of the challenges of working with USDA and the county committee by listening to their stories of pain and suffering. As I continued in this arena, I published two peer-reviewed articles that were informative to me, and perhaps they can be to you and your staff. This article is co-authored in 2008 and this one that was published in 2018.
 
I would recommend that you do some further study into the history of Black farmers in particular and their challenges of dealing with the USDA and its racist orientation. Even if the Biden Administration was offering financial compensation for their years or even decades of discrimination, it would be totally appropriate. The shadows of discrimination and racism reach back into the past, and even USDA admits to it. Many authors chronicle the history of farming while Black in our country all the way back to the brutalities of the Middle Passage and into days of enslavement.
 
Another line of research is that of detailing the history of Black farmers in America versus white farmers. Against all odds, Black farmers became prolific land owners in the early decades of the 20th century, and then in the third decade Black farmers began to lose their land. It is curious to me that two things overlap: the demise of Black farmers and the rise of government subsidies in the 1930s.
 
The data and historical narratives validate the fact that white farmers have always had the upper hand in programs and services when dealing with the USDA. Black farmers know that they’ll bring up the rear and have learned the hard way to distrust USDA and its employees, especially at the county committee level.
 
Pigford I and Pigford II did not level the playing field. Instead, those class action suits left farmers in far worse shape that before. Government reports indicate that only 371 of the thousands who prevailed under Pigford I actually received debt relief.
 
When the Justice for Black Farmers Act had been introduced in Congress in 2020, authors of the bill knew that it had no chance of passing. Then, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 offered some degree of hope for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (the 2501 designation) until white farmers driven by the absurd belief that they were victims of reverse discrimination filed 12 frivolous and racist law suits, the banking industry complained, Secretary Tom Vilsack slow walked the process, and that bill had an untimely death. Had it been passed, it would have offered 120% for eligible SDFR producers, 100% for their loans and 20% for taxes.
 
Congress then realized that nothing was going to pass unless it was “race neutral,” and so the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was passed, and within it were sections dealing with “distressed borrowers” and those who had been victims of discrimination. The pool of potential candidates for these funds was opened widely such that any victim of discrimination regardless of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, etc., etc.
 
Back to your failure to adequately communicate meaningful numbers and perspectives, it is
true that 58,000 farmers applied, 43,000 prevailed, and according to an upper-level official at USDA, 80% of those prevailing were Black farmers, and they prevailed to the tune of $1.76B of the $2.2B. Without have precise calculations for farmers by group, as Secretary Vilsack refuses to release them, we are left to estimate the characteristics and numbers of those who prevailed. Either way this was sliced, white farmers were a part of the equation, so you cannot truthfully assert that these funds were only for Black farmers. The same goes for the $3.1B allocated by Congress in the IRA for “distressed borrowers,” and as most of those funds have been allocated, we do not know the distribution by race due to Secretary Vilsack’s lack of transparency in providing those numbers.
 
Given these footprints through the sands of time, Senator Vance, you are terribly wrong and
ill-informed about the role of Black farmers. Black farmers have indeed faced brutal discrimination and efforts to make amends for this are justified. However, you are also misguided in failing to assert that other groups were recipients of the DFAP funds under the IRA section 22007 who experienced discrimination and 22006, those farmers who were categorized as “distressed borrowers.”
 
A compelling piece of data is that between 1920 and 1997, Black farmers lost $326B in land. If we add to that figure production from the land, that total number of dollars in losses goes up exponentially. Most of this loss can be attributed to malfeasance within the USDA and the county committee. That is the game. Figure out how to get the land back and into white hands. As the USDA has been largely responsible for these losses, by implication, it is the USDA and the federal government who owe Black farmers the opportunity to start again.
 
It is also the case that Black farmers have faced the most violent of acts of discrimination since the days of enslavement, Freedom, Jim Crow, and to this very day. USDA has had a notoriously wicked reputation for ensuring that white farmers were given the majority of benefits and programs and that Black farmers were kicked to the curb. And that Black farmers faced a higher percentage of foreclosures than white farmers. Previously referenced reports verify these facts.
 
If indeed you would like to know how the USDA treats Black farmers, the film, “I’m Just a Layman in Pursuit of Justice: Black Farmers Fight the USDA,” produced by Shoun Hill and Waymon Hinson will reveal the brutal realities of their efforts to hold on to their land. These nine farmers in this film were nine of the fifteen Black farmers who filed suit against the USDA between 1997 and 1999, just before the certification of Pigford I v. Glickman.
 
So, Senator Vance, when you say it is a “disgrace” that the Harris administration handed out benefits to Black farmers, you are wrong and you are spitting in the faces of Black farmers who legitimately deserved recompense for the malfeasance perpetrated upon them by employees of USDA. You, sir, are also spitting on the graves of those who died in the battle for justice for people who looked like them. I could list them by name, some I only heard about and some I met during my time of working in this area.
 
You are saying things in a public forum that insult the lives and livelihoods of Black farmers and families who have tilled the soil and in doing so, helped to make this country the great country that it is.
 
I ask you, therefore, to study up on these issues, their history, and the legitimacy of these complaints, and that you make a public apology and speak more accurately as to what it means to farm while Black in America. It may be too late to make amends to our people in terms of votes being cast, but it could potentially go a long way toward redeeming you and your message regardless of what happens in November.
 
If a conversation with me would prove helpful, please feel free to contact me.
 
Respectfully,
 
 
Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.
Representative
USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
Justice for Black Farmers Group
www.letjusicering.blogspot.com
https://blackfarmersinsearchofjusticefilm.com/
Waymon.hinson@gmail.com
903-271-4654

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Staffers in the White House Talk to Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus

Politics is a strange thing. Those in high places seem to be so removed from the ordinariness of our lives. Occasionally those in high places communicate with us and thus create relationship via email or telephone of Zoom. This exchange is far more complicated that it appears. These two gentlemen responded to our queries, and I sent to them 9 documents. Yes, 9 documents to Secretary Vilsack that were languishing somewhere with no response from him to us other than once back in May of 2021. 

Waymon Hinson

21 January 2022

 Good morning.
 
Below is part of a host of information we compiled  to give the White House an idea of the gravity of the systemic racism & other abuses that remain at the US Department of Agriculture. Yes, "This is Us".
 
As a followup we are requesting a meeting with President Biden.Tom Vilsack for Agriculture was his choice over the advice of many others to not select him for the position.
 
We see clearly that little to nothing is being to change the systemic racism at USDA. Vilsack runs the USDA like a plantation & we are please to give clarity to the President in this regard. Buying popularity is well known & that is what is happening in real time at USDA.
 
We want to see change at USDA now.....not later. If not now, when? If not now, why not?
 
 
Respectfully,
 
Larwence Lucas, President Emeritus
USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
Justice for Black Farmers Group
856/ 9102399. 202/744-4384 cell

1/22/2022 
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Correspondence and documentation January 22, 2022

Thank you for compiling this for us, Mr. Hinson. We will review and please don’t hesitate to reach out if there’s something else you think would be helpful.
Thanks,
Will 

January 22, 2022

 

William McIntee

Cedric Richmond

White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington DC 20050

 

RE: Follow-Up Documentation/Letters Sent to Secretary Tom Vilsack

 

Attached are letters sent to Tom Vilsack per your request on Wednesday, January 19, 2022.

 

We would hope that this information will bring about a dialogue between the White House, USDA Coalition for Minority Employees, and Justice for Black Farmers Group. That said, it is with hope that our joint effort will fix the dysfunctional civil rights process and administration at USDA once and for all. We have been at this point before and we were met with disappointment and the absence of positive change. In the process, our legacy farmers continue to die without seeing justice.

 

We are cautiously optimistic that the Biden White House can be that needed change. We are hoping with the information and you that the Clinton Administration model to fix USDA will be revisited.  

 

What will the White House do differently than Tom Vilsack? We want to see immediate change and accountability.

 

We want a level field and silence for us is not an option.

                                                                                                                                             

Sincerely,

 

 

Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus

USDA Coalition of Minority Employees

Representative, Justice for Black Farmers Group

>www.agcoalition.org<

LawrLCL@aol.com

856-910-2399

 

In remembrance of Dr. King:

 

"He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. “

 

"In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."  -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Monday, July 29, 2024

Emancipation Fellowship Ministries and "Dismantling White Supremacy" Seminar in Dawson, GA

July 29, 2024

Dear Friends:

It is a pleasure to offer to you an opportunity to share in a ministry that has come to be close to my heart. The ministry is a 501.c.3 led by Dr. Jerry Taylor, a longtime friend who shares a deep concern for justice for all of God’s children. He was the founding director of the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action at Abilene Christian University. His new work is “Emancipation Fellowship Ministries,” a parachurch ministry led by Dr. Taylor that unites “a diverse fellowship of prophetic voices committed to speaking truth to power, speaking hope to the powerless, as well as offering hope to the marginalized.”

Dr. Taylor has an amazing story of being influenced toward the Lord by his grandfather and working on a farm in West Tennessee during his adolescence. Our common interests emerged during our time of working at Abilene Christian University several years ago. Those common interests remain and perhaps are even stronger in this day and age.

EFM is organizing a two-day seminar in Dawson, Georgia, August 2-3 and is in need of working funds to accomplish all that it intends to achieve. It will be held at the Main Street Theatre & Cultural Arts Center with the theme “Dismantling White Supremacy: Understanding Racism Together.” This seminar will have three focuses, per Dr. Taylor who writes, “We hope to root the content of the conference in the dramatic context of a documentary related to white rural rage, black rural poverty, and how these two themes relate to the Black Farmers' struggle.”  A documentary team will record the seminar as well as interview members of the community. You can find more information about them by perusing the two attachments.

Our specific needs at this time are working funds to be able to cover things normally associated with a seminar of this sort. Charla and I are planning to contribute to the work and ask you to do so as well. If you are able to contribute, please do so by using this Paypal.com portal.

While you will have an opportunity to become a long-term supporter of the ministry, the more immediate, compelling need is for support for this particular event.

Thank you for your willingness to consider your support for this amazing work. My opinion is that this ministry has materialized at “just such a time as this.”

Blessings over you and all you do,

Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.

letjusticering.blogspot.com

blackfarmersinsearchofjusticefilm.com