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

Fund Raising Appeal for the March 1 "Demonstration in Front of the White House"

Yes, this is a fund raising appeal. Yes, your donations go through a 501.c.3 and then are accumulated via another 501.c.3. The Black Belt Justice Center is on fire for justice. The Network for Good is a collaborator with them.

The short verse is that we are fund raising for the March 1 "Demonstration at the White House." A large number of us will venture into DC via car, truck, bus, or plane, and we need help with transportation, meals, and lodging. This is not an ordinary event, rather it is an extraordinary event. We have gone on record for quite a while now that Black farmers of our land continue to be marginalized by USDA policies and procedures, led by the Secretary of the USDA. Congress has implemented two bills that offer relief for those discriminated against, the ARPA of 2021 and the IRA of 2022. Both have been "slow-walked." We have written letter upon letter to the Secretary and to the White House. We have been ignored. 

Followers of this page know that I've written quite a few words about the issues facing Black farmers in the current political climate and the malfeasance of the USDA historically and in the present. Feel free to scroll down and see and read those pages. 

This event at Lafayette Park will make our presence known to the President and to the Secretary.

As you know, travel costs are up these days. The Black Belt Justice Center is at the center of fund raising efforts, and for its support we are grateful. Hit this link: https://acresofancestry.networkforgood.com/.../100534....
 
Hit "DONATE" and then select the amount you are contributing, and then scroll down to "Apply My Donation To" and select "Black Farmers Demonstration at the White House," and then the rest will be clear. PM me if you have any questions or problems. This way, your donations go directly to the Network for Good and this particular cause. Charla and I will be there. We hope to see people you have helped send. Thank you.

Is Jesus Coming This Year? Reflections on Birth, Loss, and Expectations Unfulfilled

Is Jesus coming this year? It's that time of the year. The 25th is upon us. At church tonight we'll have a candle light service with the traditional songs and readings. My wife and I have watched a few Christmas television shows, Hallmark and all, as well as the history of the song "Silent Night" for the second, or maybe third year in a row. It never gets old. 

Something, though, is different this year. It's difficult to enter into the season's joy when the vicissitudes of life pinch, pull, and poke. Yes, when a divorce is happening in the family, that impacts us all, children, parents soon to be exes, grandparents on both sides, cousins, and aunts and uncles, and friends on both sides. The Christmas tree is up. Presents were wrapped. The three (one I've yet to see face to face, though her grandmother has) walk in with joy and wonder. They walk about the house, looking and touching, and remembering favorite things from last year or the year before. They were here for a few days and then gone again. Within those few days, there were moments of grace, reading to the two year old, hugging and talking to the four year old, and cooking breakfast and watching Mr. A. Game with the six year old. The breakfast was a long time coming and it had to be deconstructed from an egg-o. Took me a while, but we made it. 

Augustine and the Apostle Paul talk about the divided self, and that's what I have with these children and Christmas. Many of you know exactly what I mean. 

That, however, is only part of my wondering as to whether Jesus is coming this year. There is a second one, a large second one. 

Back earlier this year, and back into 2020, and even 2019, we anticipated a Christmas present, so to speak, for African American farmers. "Christmas present" is used facetiously because it really is about justice, at least a modicum of it, being served. Debt relief was in the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020 and then 2021, and then it was skillfully placed within the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. We had been led to believe that there were 17,000 Black farmers who would receive debt relief. Come to realize, though, there are only 3,200 or so Black farmers who MIGHT receive debt relief. 

The criteria demand that the farmer has previously received a direct loan. That is a steep hill to climb since many Black farmers had been ruled out of receiving loans of any sort, direct or guaranteed. When we look at the latest census data and realize that there are fewer than 45,000 or so Black farmers, and to realize that only 3,200 of them even qualify for debt cancellation, that is a bitter pill to swallow. 

Another bitter pill to swallow, which makes Christmas a little gloomier this year, is the fact that Secretary Vilsack had about 100 days to get the debts cancelled. Then, unbeknownst to only the most blind of us, white farmers of our country filed frivolous and racist lawsuits which stopped debt cancellation in its tracks. I've written about that elsewhere on these pages, so let it be known once more than I consider those lawsuits ridiculous and a part of the puzzle that makes for white America. We knew from the Biden/Harris transition team back in 2020 that what we wanted, debt relief, was called "unconstitutional" by a senior advisor. Lo and behold, that's exactly what the white farmers have claimed it to be. 

Now, in the current day, hidden within the Reconciliation Bill is a modicum of debt cancellation, not just for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, but  for white farmers as well. Again, on another page here in this blog, you'll find my examination of the dollars received by the first six litigants, one of whom is the Agriculture Commissioner for the State of Texas. Those guys received over $523,000 and their counties received over $1.2B. Is that really what you call reverse discrimination when white farmers get all of the advantages? Not as I see it. 

So, the Reconciliation Bill is languishing in the Senate, held up by the Senator from West Virginia. Yes, the one who lives on a yacht in the Potomac and who drives a Maserati, the one who refuses to support a bill that will benefit the people of his state. It has been said that he opposes it because poor families would spend the child support payments on drugs. Shameful. Absolutely shameful. 

So, tomorrow is indeed Christmas Day. All around us people will be celebrating the birth of the Christ child. That is a good thing. Some of us will be in a somewhat different place emotionally. Yes, we can certainly suspend our emotional selves and engage in the joy of the day. Many of us will do just that. At this house, we plan to.

On the other hand, there are people that I care about whose Christmas Day will be clouded with unfulfilled promises. For some of us, it will be about family, and for a bunch of us it will be about the unrelenting burden of indebtedness and injustices perpetrated upon people we care about by the USDA. 

These are the things I'm pondering today. 

I hope your day is good and that it brings to you all of the joy that you can imagine. Along the way, please be mindful of those whose day will be a little more tattered. Please, especially remember that large group of farmers across the land, African American farmers, who deserve better than they are getting. Pray for them and for those persons in Congress who could ease their burdens a little. 

Thank you and God bless you. And may God bless our women and men in the military serving around the world. 

"Slow Walking?" Or, Why Has It Taken So Long, Mr. Secretary?

The wheels of justice grind slowly. The wheels of bureaucracy grind slowly. While the grind is slow and painful, people are dying, losing their land, percentages of their retirement funds and social security taken, and still we are told to wait. Wait, patience, your time will come, all equate to the disaster of never. 

Judge Friedman certified Black farmers as a class in 1999 and called it "The Pigford Class Action Suit." Check out my writings from 2008 and 2018 for more details. 

Some 22,551 applied for entry into Track A. Those who prevailed under this track numbered 16,281. Most of them found some sort of "justice," mostly a $50,000 payment, some with a check for taxes, and a few actually received debt relief. Those prevailing under Track B numbered 137. From both of these tracks, the paltry number of 371......let that sink in...........371 received debt relief. That's what Black farmers needed and wanted, not the pitiful amount of $50,000. 

There were two tracks. Track A promised $50K. Track B did not have a specified sum of money, but required more evidence. Debt relief was promised in both tracks. But then the attorneys for the class allowed "similarly situated white farmer," the death-knell for Black farmers, to be admitted into the system. The farmers assumed that discovery would bring forth white farmers with whom to compare their findings of discrimination. The largely white attorneys waived discovery, an unforgiveable sin in the court system. 

From 22,721 total eligible claimants, only 16,281 prevailed, and only 371 got debt relief. 

There are some significant dates: 

1) March 3, 2021, Senator Warnock succeeds in getting his "Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act" passed. 

2) March 11, 2021, President Biden signs into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Within this package is section 1005 which allowed $4 Billion to be granted to farmers of color for debt relief of their direct loans. It also included section 1006 to the tune of $1.01 Billion for outreach, training, education, technical assistance, grants and loans, and other things related to minority farmers, or Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers, a 2501 designation. The debt relief pack was shaped by Senator Warnock's legislation. 

3) The Miller v. Vilsack was filed in Texas on April 26, 2021. White farmers as a class are certified and the preliminary injunction signed by the judge. The white farmers claim reverse discrimination despite the fact that white farmers have received nearly all of the subsidies, coronavirus relief funds, and the funds from trump's failed war with China.

4) Faust etal v. Vilsack was filed on April 29, 2021 and the temporary restraining order granted on June 10, 2021. 

5) Winn v. Vilsack was filed on May 25, 2021. Defendants responded on June 4, a hearing was held June 16, and the judge issued the preliminary injunction on June 23, 2021. 

All of these cases look and sound alike. At the latest information, there are now 13 such cases across the country. 

In an email from an employee high up in the USDA, the secretary was defended against our accusation of "slow-walking" the process. There are also several quotes from Vilsack listed, all affirming that the white farmers' cases are frivolous. Our word, not his, but that the white farmers have been advantaged all along. 

So, when I look at March 3, 2021 when Senator Warnock's legislation passed (which ultimately made its way into the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 signed into law on March 11, 2021).

Then, the earliest judge's decision was signed on June 10, 2021, I cannot help but count the number of days. It looks to me like the gap is close to 100 days. Surely the Secretary of Agriculture knew what was going on in the halls of Congress, especially as things were related to the goings on at USDA. Surely. 

Secretary Vilsack is giving away taxpayers money left and right out of USDA and DC. The dollars are going to reputable issues: climate change, heirs property, and many others. 

Why, then, did Secretary Vilsack move so slowly on getting debt relief into the hands of minority farmers. Does it indeed take an extraordinary length of time? Does it require the courts' decisions? Does it require inclusion in the reconciliation bill? 

I assert that if Secretary Vilsack had wanted to move more quickly, he could have. If he wanted to provide debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, he could have. If he had wanted to provide debt relief, he could have done so and avoided the 13 white farmer cases. He could have avoided the intensity of the work to have debts relieved under the reconciliation bill. 

We don't know if the reconciliation bill is going to pass. If it does, there will be major dollars that farmers will receive, even the white ones who somehow or other are found meritorious under the current machinations. 

Do you know what is most offensive about this miserable waiting game? White farmers who have all of the advantages that the system gives to them will benefit off of Black suffering. Let that sink in. White farmers benefit from Black suffering. 

Sounds like the same principle upon which our country was built, including the economics of southern agriculture. 

Still..............the question.................WHY DID SECRETARY VILSACK MOVE SO SLOWLY WHEN HE COULD HAVE MOVED EXPEDITIOUSLY, SENT OUT DEBT RELIEF LETTERS, AND SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARMERS WOULD BE BREATHING EASIER RIGHT NOW......RIGHT NOW. 

RIGHT. NOW. 

Meeting with Vilsack to the California Reparations Task Force: News Travels Fast

It is apparent that news travels fast, either good news of bad news. Indeed, at times news of justice efforts likewise travel fast. My wish is that as news of justice-related matters move at warp speed, that justice itself would similarly move at warp speed. Sadly, that is not the case. Here are some moments in time that connect the dots in some radical ways. 

On May 28, 2021, a group from the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees and the Justice for Black Farmers Group met with Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas Vilsack, his chief of staff, Ms. Ferguson, his appointee for equity matters, Dr. Dewayne Goldmon, and a host of others. We had requested time to discuss our ongoing concerns. What we got was a presentation by the secretary followed by a few moments with Ms. Ferguson and Dr. Goldmon with an admonition to submit our queries by email. 

We were grossly dissatisfied with that meeting and many things related to it. We articulated those concerns in a follow-up letter to him on June 2, 2021. That letter under the signature of President Emeritus, Lawrence Lucas, is found here. I hope you will read it. 

We continued our advocacy in a number of directions, and then, on September 13, 2021, Yvette Carnell, noted podcaster and activist conducted an entire podcast on the plight of the Black farmer. She entitled it, "The Dept of Agriculture Set Black Farmers Up to Fail. Again." Here is the link to her podcast. It is excellent, and I hope you'll find time to watch it. You will see in the podcast that she plays off of our letter to Secretary Vilsack. She doesn't use all of it, but rather significant pieces of it. She also references other folks we follow with much interest, good people who are good investigative reporters. 

Then, a person who works for the Department of Justice in California who was watching the podcast contacted Lawrence Lucas and invited him to provide testimony for the California Reparations Task Force. On October 13, 2021, Lawrence provided testimony in both written and spoke form. Here is his spoken testimony. Please scroll forward to 15:00 for the beginning of his presentation. Here is his written testimony. If you want to read just what he presented, scroll down to page 307 and you'll learn a lot about the history of Black land theft at the hands of the USDA and its egregious policies; however, there are other pieces of compelling testimony that might interest you as well. 

So, packed into this brief post is a timeline of May 28, 2021; June 2, 2021; September 13, 2021; and, finally, October 13, 2021. This time-line moves swiftly. 

Also, packed within this brief post are significant pieces of information in our fight for Black farmers: the meeting with Secretary Vilsack and his team; our summary letter, dissatisfaction with the meeting, and key points that we want to discuss with him further; the brilliant podcast of Ms. Carnell playing off of the letter to Vilsack that some how or other landed in her lap; and then Lawrence Lucas' engaging testimony and written statement about the long term history of Black land theft at the hands of the USDA and other related matters. 

As Lawrence Lucas says on many occasions, "If not now.......when? If not now.......why?"

Black Belt Justice Center Press Statement

Black Belt Justice Center Press Statement

June 16, 2021

 Press Inquiries:

 

Contact: Tracy Lloyd McCurty, Esq., Executive Director, Black Belt Justice Center and Co-Organizer of the Black Farmers’ Appeal: Cancel Pigford Debt Campaign

Email: tmccurty@blackbeltjustice.org 

Phone: (202) 486-9857

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/acresofancestry

 

The U.S. Department of Justice should vigorously defend Section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan Act, a historic piece of legislation that provides $5B in debt cancellation and related aid to Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian, and farmers of color. However, it is important to understand the origin and historical context of the American Rescue Plan Act. The debt cancellation language was inspired from the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2021, which provides debt cancellation, federal and state tax relief, and the return of offsets to Black farmers who participated in the disastrous 1999 Pigford v. Glickman (Pigford I) class action racial discrimination lawsuit.

 

The Pigford I lawsuit left the vast majority of Black farmers, over 22,000, in unconscionable debt, threat of foreclosure, and no legal recourse to save their family farms. Back then, the Department of Justice spent 56,000 staff attorney hours and $12M contesting Black farmers on their discrimination claims after the Black farmers’ attorneys gave up discovery.[1] Many of us feel strongly that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) once again engaged in obstructionism and sabotage to deny expedient recovery to the remaining Black legacy farmers holding on to their family farms. While reading the judge’s order, we were shocked to read that USDA had sent offer letters to 8,580 farmers and had already started to forgive loans. We don’t know of any Black farmers that received offer letters from USDA.

 

According to USDA data, only 2,000 out of the 17,000 farmers of color with direct loans with USDA are Black/African American and less than 5% of all Black farmers will receive debt cancellation. We have been grappling with these devastating numbers and the theft of Black farmlands by USDA through the Pigford I lawsuit. Given USDA’s abysmal track record on civil rights and our collective memory of pervasive (and persistent) anti-Black racism within the local FSA offices and county committee system, we opposed USDA being in charge of the implementation process and advocated for the appointment of an independent ombudsman.  A colleague reminded us, “it is always going to be ‘all deliberate speed’ if it’s on white supremacy’s time.”

 

Over the last twenty years, the vast majority of our legacy farmers who suffered under crushing debts with USDA were either foreclosed on or forced to take out loans with private banks to pay off debts with USDA. For example, last month we spoke to the children of Pigford legacy farmer Janie Bell Bembry from Hawkinsville, GA. Ms. Bembry transitioned early this year. Back in 2011, USDA initiated foreclosure proceedings against the family farm, forcing the family to take out a loan with a private bank to pay the unconscionable debt with USDA. The family still owes over $100K and will not be eligible for debt cancellation under the American Rescue Plan Act.

 

¹Environmental Working Group and the National Black Farmers Association. 2004. “Obstruction of Justice: USDA Undermines Historic Civil Rights Settlement With Black Farmers.” Available at https://www.ewg.org/research/obstruction-justice.

 

Dear Secretary Vilsack, Respectfully, the Coalition

June 2, 2021

Secretary Thomas Vilsack 
Attention: Chief of Staff, Katherine Ferguson
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250

Secretary Vilsack:

We wish to acknowledge your presence last Friday morning along with key USDA personnel Katherine Ferguson, Chief of Staff; Dr. Dewayne Goldmon, Senior Advisor for Racial Equity; and Monica Rainge, Esq., Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Civil Rights (OASCR); David Grahn, acting General Counsel; Chris French, Associate Deputy Chief, Forest Service/Acting Deputy Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Conservation; and perhaps others. We hope that this is the first of an ongoing series of meetings between you, your staff, and representatives from the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees and the Justice for Black Farmers Group.

We were dismayed and disappointed by several things:  1) we were not informed as to the length of the meeting; 2) we were informed of the mode of technology at the last minute, i.e., 7:37 pm EST on the day prior; 3) the shift in technology from Zoom to Microsoft Teams proved problematic for some of our rural farmers; 4) we did not have sufficient time to ask our questions nor have our questions answered; and 5) misleading information was provided by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.

We are of the opinion that good leadership begins by asking questions. As we had previously stated in our letter to President Biden on May 11, 2020 and our correspondence with you and your office on May 12, 2021, we had a list of issues and concerns for us to discuss. Given the meeting’s brevity and focus, we were not able to present them. We did, however, appreciate Ms. Ferguson and Dr. Goldmon extending the meeting by an additional 15 minute per our persistence.  Because of our insistence to get questions answered, we were told by your Chief of Staff to email our concerns. The courtesy of an additional meeting time was refused.

We were obviously concerned regarding debt relief, and your team managed that well; however, we remain disturbed that this process is apparently going to be complicated and lengthy, prolonging the economic suffering of Black farmers. We were also deeply disturbed by the report from Deputy Assistant Secretary Rainge. She stated that OCR does not have a backlog of cases. This does not explain the enormous number of civil rights complaints that have been in her office for decades. As we stated, historically the USDA’s Office of Civil Rights has been called “a closing machine.” We have no evidence to suggest the contrary. In fact, several farmers on the call currently have ongoing cases within OCR. We are led to believe, then, that Deputy Assistant Secretary Rainge was providing us false information. Based on her response, we are also not convinced that there is indeed a “fire-wall” between OGC and OASCR as stated by Deputy Assistant Secretary Rainge.

Our concerns go beyond debt relief. The major purpose of the meeting was what the Secretary’s plans were to address the decades of systemic discrimination at USDA that harms especially Black farmers and USDA employees. Many of the items that were offered during the Secretary’s presentation do not get to the solution/resolution of the many systemic concerns that we had previously addressed in our communications. Recent reports and investigative news articles confirm our allegations of continued widespread racism and other abuses at USDA. For clarification, we were also concerned about cases that were not processed timely and are still sitting at USDA. And we clearly expressed our concern about the county committee system that still inflicts pain and suffering on Black farmers.

Accountability, transparency, and other matters are found within The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2021 and could easily be enacted under your leadership. There are many other matters that we have and, therefore, we respectfully request a follow-up meeting with you or your top staff. A half hour is by far an inappropriate amount of time to resolve our issues and concerns.

In short, the meeting left us frustrated, disappointed, and insulted. We believe we can be allies in the effort to root out racism at USDA.

We are extremely proud of the work our Coalition put into the passage of Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock’s bill, “Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act of 2021,” and Senator Cory Booker’s legislation, “The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2021” and should not be penalized by USDA for it. Please remember it was the Biden/Harris transition team that you headed up that told us that debt relief for Black farmers was "unconstitutional."

Silence is not an option for us……

Respectfully,

Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus
USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
Representative, Justice for Black Farmers Group
www.agcoalition.org
LawrLCL@aol.com
856-910-2399

Despite the Noise, USDA Appears to be Making Progress, Maybe

I hear the words. I hear the rustle of the papers. I see the faces of Secretary Vilsack on the screen along with his Chief of Staff, Katherine Ferguson, and Dr. Dewayne Goldmon, Senior Advisor for Racial Equity,  and I want to believe. There is, however, a price to believing and not achieving. For far too long African American farmers (and other farmers of color and women farmers) have been kicked to the curb. 

I want to believe in the words of Sam Cooke that "A Change is Gonna Come." 

I've believed for a long time that change was necessary. In the face of my white friends and family, I have attempted to stay the course. For many of us, the details get lost beneath the rhetoric. For many of us, our hidden racist impulses emerge. For many of us, our blindness is deafeningly brutal. I've read stuff and heard stuff that makes my blood boil. 

Even Secretary Vilsack has continued to apparently champion equity. Check out this sound bite on twitter. Apparently he is referencing the lawsuits by the white farmers in Texas and up north. I don't know if the Black farmers would want to change places with them. That is a stretch to assume that. What I do believe is that the Black farmers want the same opportunities and services and respect that the white farmers get. No more, no less. 

They also believe that after decades of systemic racism and malfeasance at the hands of USDA and its county committee system, debt relief is a piece of rectifying the damage. Some but not all. 

As I wrote in a couple of earlier posts, the white farmers appear to be pretty privileged. I'm not doubting that farming or ranching in this era is difficult, but farming while Black is more difficult. 

So, I search around for information about Sid Miller, Texas Ag Commissioner, who is filing for himself and other similarly situated white farmers. His ranching operation is found in five counties here in Texas. Between 1995 and 2020, he received $185,490 in subsidies and CFAP. He also received some significant dollars for disaster relief for his tree business, though I did not count those dollars here. 

The other five farmers in the second lawsuit live in Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Ohio. Their names are Adam P. Faust, Christopher C. Baird, Jonathan P. Stevens, Jay T. Saba, and Joseph W. Schmitz. Their operations are found in six counties. Cumulatively they collected $338,506 in subsidies, MFP (the failed tariff war with China under trump), and CFAP (coronavirus relief funds). 

The counties in which these six farmers/ranchers live received $1,128,900,000 in subsidies, MFP, and CFAP. The counties where Mr. Miller farms/ranches received $354,200,000. 

If you doubt me, you can do your own research on these and other numbers here. 

If the stats are correct, that there are only 35,000 or so Black farmers, the odds are that they are not found in those states and in those counties. 

So, these farmers don't have a leg to stand on, that they are discriminated against because they are white. They have been the recipients of these funds and other benefits not measured in actual dollars because they are white. 

That's the way the system is operated. Run by and run for white people. Read the history books. Read especially Dr. Pete Daniel's book, Dispossession: Discrimination Against African American Farmers in the Age of Civil Rights

So, no, Mr. Miller etal. the designation under section 2501 for "socially disadvantaged farmers" is not unconstitutional, something we heard from Biden's policy team early on, so please move on down the road and admit that people whose skin looks like yours are terribly privileged. 

And, Mr. Miller, when did you begin to proclaim that you are 2% Black? 

Asking for a friend.