Dear White Friends, Let's Make Sense of It All

We like to think that days of enslavement were a long time ago, and while they certainly seem to be, they really are not. Just recently the son of a man whose father lived through slave days passed. Here is that story.  I was going through my files recently and ran across a genogram in which a Black farmer traced his family back to slave days. And then there is the documentary, "Descendant," the story of Africatown and the Clotilda, the last ship to bring enslaved Africans to America. The writer/scuba diver wrote an excellent book, "The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How Clotilda was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning." A curious piece of these two, the film and the book, is how descendants of the Meahers family refused to participate in discovery or celebration. Seems like they know they are vulnerable. I hope they wind up paying the price for how they profited off the backs of their enslaved Africans. You also might check into Zora Neale Hurston's excellent book, "Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo." Her transcriptions of Cudjo Lewis and his narrative are astounding. 

If you are interested in a shorter version of the shores of Africa to farming while Black in America, I'd recommend that you check out my 2018 article, one that was actually featured as a recommended source for Black history month in 2021 by Wiley Publications. Was honored to be on that short list.

With those things as a backdrop, imagine saying and believing, "my blood is on this land," "farming is in my DNA," and "I was born to farm." And other such statements. 

Then imagine that those in power over loans and other services hold you hostage. Your application document is incomplete. You have to write it in pencil so it can be modified (which is against the rules). Imagine that you have to wait and wait and wait for your money to come in, and it eventually does via a"supervised contract," and you got only half of what you want, and what you get is two months into the planting season. Then, imagine that when you note comes due, your crop is pitiful because you did not have the supplies, equipment, nor other things for it to be planted on time and to grow into a quality crop like  the white guy's across the highway. Then imagine that the local FSA office refuses to restructure your loan. Imagine that you cannot get an appointment when the main man even though white farmers come and go. Imagine that an employee of the USDA finds out that the piece of property that you have an agreement on is there for the picking, and he buys it out from under you, despite the fact that you have a rent to purchase agreement. Imagine these things and more. 

And the interest grows and grows. Very soon the interest on your account surpasses the amount of money that you borrowed. And the USDA/FSA office will no  longer loan money to you. Loans in advance of planting season are the life blood of farming. No money, can't plant. No funds in the farm home plan, can't live. And you wait and wait and wait for them to sell your land on the courthouse steps, and they do. Do you recall the story of Eddie and Dorothy Wise. Here is what Senator Booker read on the floor of the Senate a few months back during the debate over a piece of legislation: 

"Eddie and Dorothy Wise were residents of Whitakers, NC. A retired Green Beret, Mr. Wise’s dream was to own a pig farm, and so in 1991, Mr. Wise purchased land and started to raise swine. But then came the discriminatory actions by USDA: failure to handle his loan applications in a timely manner, denial of loan applications, change of interest rates and escalation of monthly notes, and other misdeeds. In 1997, a loan for improvements to the property was approved, but the receipt of the funds was delayed for 7 months, and his 400 pigs froze to death, destroying his operation. Later, he discovered that his original plan had been approved at the State level but that his loan officer never told him. In the early morning hours of January 20, 2016, at least 14 Federal marshals descended with guns drawn on Eddie’s farm and forcibly escorted him and his wife, who was still in bed and suffering from a debilitating medical condition, out of their home and off their property. Forcibly evicted from their home and their land and forced to live in a cheap motel, Dorothy Wise died shortly thereafter. The 106-acre farm was sold to an adjacent White farmer for the miniscule price of $260,000, and Eddie Wise had lost the one thing that he had always wanted— to own a pig farm."

Senator Elizabeth Warren and others worked long and hard on the Justice For Black Farmers Act of 2021. It never saw the light of day. 

Then, in a stealthy move, Senator Warnock of Georgia placed a piece of this legislation into the long package known as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This would have provided debt relief and taxes up to 120% for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers. As Secretary Vilsack dawdled in bringing implementation to the front on this piece of legislation, twelve white farmer groups filed class action law suits around the country. Three judges issued restraining orders as these white farmers claimed "reverse discrimination." What a joke. Who of them were treated in the ways that we lined out in a paragraph or two above, or who can tell a story like that of Eddie and Dorothy Wise? In fact, to prove my point, I dug into the USDA data base and found out that these farmers who filed the first three suits had benefitted from USDA economic packages to the tune of $524,000 and that the counties in which their farms and ranches are located benefitted to the tune of $1.2B. That's discrimination? Not even close. You can find those articles about slow walking and the economic benefits to white farmers and ranchers here on these pages. 

Then, Congress, led by Booker, Warnock, and others went back to work, realizing that "race-based solutions" will not work in this highly politicized environment. So, whereas the Justice for Black Farmers Act was clearly for Black farmers, and whereas the American Rescue Plan Act was for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, a specific designation by law, a new solution had to be "race neutral." 

So, then came the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. One piece of this allocated $3.1B for "at-risk agricultural operations." Secretary Vilsack got to define what "at-risk" means and to implement payments for these farmers and ranchers. Here we are in October following a signature back in August from President Biden, and few Black farmers have received debt cancellation. Vilsack announced that $800M of the $3.1B had been allocated to 13,000 distressed farmers. We know of one, yes, ONE Black farmer who has been given total cancellation. We know of a hand full of others who have received partial relief. We know that FSA Administrator Ducheneaux has written a letter to bankers asking for a two week notice if they intend to foreclose on white farmers. No mention of Black farmers? Afraid not. 

The point that angers me the most about the way this piece of legislation reads is that white farmers who have not experienced discrimination who may be behind on their payments, especially since they knew it was coming, stand to benefit on the backs of Black agrarian suffering. This is shameful. A white farmer gets debt cancellation because Black farmers have been screwed over since Reconstruction. 

I was a guest speaker on a talk radio show last night. Will link it up later, but was privileged to sit in with Lawrence Lucas, Eddie Slaughter, Lloyd Wright, and Michael Stovall. The details of the landscape and then the bitter details of the impact of racism and discrimination on individuals, couples, and families is almost beyond description. I was, however, reminded of Black farmers and family members who died under the burden of the cause for justice. Their faces and stories stretch from Texas to Oklahoma to Kansas to Mississippi to Georgia to Arkansas to Alabama to North Carolina to Virginia. I am the recipient of grace in being able to hear and honor their stories. They are the ones who suffered. Today, I continue to bear witness to that unspeakable suffering. 

We don't have time or space to get into those stats, but just read my article and find on page 915 a set of staggering statistics. Read and weep. 

There is also a provision under the IRA of 2022 for a total of $2.2B to be allocated for those farmers who can show that they have been discriminated against. USDA is now holding hearing sessions in order to develop those processes. He already has on his desk one good plan. I've seen it. It looks great. 

However, if a Black farmer receives debt cancellation, he must then pay taxes on the amount cancelled. The USDA/FSA will send a letter saying how much is forgiven, and then a 1099 saying how much is owed to the IRS. Under the American Rescue Plan Act, all taxes were covered, but under the Inflation Reduction Act, taxes are not covered because Republicans demanded its removal. We are asking President Biden to correct this injustice. 

There are other things going on. There are various filings in district courts by the Cowtown Foundation. I'm a supporter of its president. Then, there is a class action suit filed on behalf of NBFA by Benjamin Crump. We all know of Mr. Crump's reputation as a civil rights lawyer. This particular piece I find confusing. 

We could also put on the table that Black farmers have lost land and productivity of that land to the tune of $326B, per an excellent investigative piece. 

So there you have it, a birds eye view from Elizabeth Warren and the Justice for Black Farmers Act all the way down to the Inflation Reduction Act. 

This is not a give-away. To white farmers it is. To the Black farmers it is justice. 

Promises made, but promises not kept. This is America. When will the day of reckoning come for those who farm while Black in America?