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