Recently a Black farmer was interviewed about the challenges of farming while Black in America. He replied with a touch of humor and sadness in his voice that we are losing so many Black farmers that we ought to put them on the endangered species list.
In the early decades following freedom, Black Americans became prolific land owners, the peak of which was reached in the early 1900s. Approximately 950,000 Black farm operators owned 22,000 farms, worked 47,000,000 acres, and owned 19,000,000 acres. While these numbers paled by comparison to white farmers, they were staggering evidence that Black farmers violated a tenant stated by the wife of a Black farmer, “We were intended to work the land, but not to own the land.
Dispossession soon began to occur. The number of Black agrarians dropped precipitously over decades. While white ownership remained relatively stable, Black ownership dropped ultimately by 90%.
Currently, there are 35,470 Black-operated farms with 4.7 million acres, or 0.5% of the nation-wide farm land total. The precipitous drop from 47 million acres to 4.7 million is staggering as is the drop from 950,000 to 35,470 Black producers. It is estimated that the value of the losses of land and the value of production from the land between 1920 and 1997 were approximately $326 billion. What a loss in generational wealth.
But what about Texas? We have more Black producers than any other state. There are currently 11,268 Black producers who farm 972,552 acres. This amounts to 3% of the state’s total farm producers. Smith and Freestone Counties each have over 300 Black-operated farms. While statistics are lacking, essentially Black farmers do not trust USDA, so they avoid funding opportunities and services by USDA as they farm smaller parcels or focus on smaller cow/calf operations. In recent years, however, at least one Black farmer successfully prevailed against the USDA and its discriminatory practices, and another family had its debts canceled by USDA’s agency, the Family Service Agency, under current USDA/FSA policies. What has impacted Black farming across the country has certainly impacted Black farmers in Texas.
USDA
has readily admitted that their programs and personnel discriminate against
Black farmers, especially at the county committee level, but the Department refuses
to address it. The
list is long and painful. The USDA
refuses to supervise the county committee and thus, Black farmers do not
get the support they need for loan applications, technical support, disaster
relief, and loan restructuring and much, much more. The result is foreclosure
and loss of land and livelihood. On one occasion the check written by the USDA
was held in a file folder until the land was foreclosed upon and the farming
operation was gone. The land was bought by an adjacent white farmer. This only
scratches the surface of the acts of discrimination that occur. In 2022 the USDA
approved white farmers loans at a rate of 72%, but Black farmers at a 36% rate.
Black farmers received only .01% of covid relief funds despite making up 5% of
all farmers.
Certainly,
farming is a hard business, but it should not be more difficult because of the
color of one’s skin. The pain and suffering experienced by Black farmers are indescribable.
Fighting
against the system which refuses to change, and facing one microaggression
after another has resulted in emotional, relational, and physical damages to
persons and family members. Farmers often weep when recounting the damages in
their bodies causes by persistent racism within USDA.
The
USDA and Congress have made attempts to change but all to no avail. Fifteen
Black farmers prevailed against the USDA between 1997 and 1999. Pigford I and
Pigford II which stretched from the late ‘90s well into the early 2000s were
failed efforts. Reports such as the Jackson Lewis Report, the D. J. Miller
Report, the Civil Rights Action Team Report, and the Civil Rights
Implementation Team Report, and of late the Equity Commission Report, and
others, but racism continues unabated. There must be a will to make changes
that harm people and destroy livelihoods.
Congressional
actions including the American
Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and the
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, both promised much, but delivered little
to Black farmers.
Yes,
distrust has been well earned and well documented. There must be hope, and the bill
recently proposed, “Just
USDA Standards and Transparency Act of 2023” along with the Justice
for Black Farmers Act of 2023, offer much to Black farmers in efforts to
root out racism and to promote transparency and accountability.
What
are advocates doing? They are appealing to the White House for changes within
the leadership of the USDA, appealing directly to the Secretary of the USDA for
more transparency and accountability, challenging the county committee system,
and challenging the manner in which funds for discrimination are allocated
under the IRA of 2022. They lobby various congressionals including Elizabeth
Warren, Corey Booker, and Raphael Warnock. They
held a one-day march in front of the White House back on March 1. This is a
righteous cause for this group of people.
Trust
must be restored nation-wide and here in Texas. Farmers are vital to our
economy and our way of living. Black farmers are equally important to our way
of life and must be treated fairly and equitably.
