Dear White People Part Two

Here on these pages several weeks back, I wrote a long, perhaps too long, post about the plight of Black farmers from 1910 to now. I wrote extensively about land acquisition and dispossession. Situating Black farm income in the trump era is a travesty when white farmers made off like a bandit with subsidies and relief from the former president's war with China. You're welcome to go here for more information.  I hope you do. That would mean a lot.

Why is that important? Good question you ask. 

I jotted that little paragraph down with the link for more information because there is a new set of litigants in town. Sid Miller, Ag Commissioner of the State of Texas and five other white farmers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Ohio have filed two lawsuits against the USDA, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, and FSA Director Zach Ducheneaux. You can find all of the details about the suit by Miller here and the lawsuit out of Eastern District of Wisconsin here. 

Their are claiming that many groups suffer from discrimination, and they produce lists. They also allege that they are being discriminated against because they are not recipients of the $4B and $1B for debt relief afforded to "Socially Disadvantaged Farmers," which they consider to be an injustice. They fuss with the legal definition and applications of SDF, or category 2501 with its definitions. 

So, I did a brief dance through the database for farmers thanks to the Environmental Working Group. Anyone can access that data here.  The database is rich. You can research by state, type of subsidy, county, and even those who receive subsidies. Those who received Market Facilitation Program funds, allocated to farmers after the debacle of the trade war with China, and the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program funds, funds allocated to farmers in view of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Sid Miller and his fellow litigants benefitted enormously from subsidies, MFP, and CFAP, to the tune of over 1/2 million dollars for the time period 1995-2020. Also, the counties within which these farmers and ranchers locate their farms and ranches benefitted enormously. Those eleven counties received Over $1B in subsidies, over $41M in MFP, and almost $30M in CFAP.  The total? Glad you asked. Here is a staggering number:  $1,200,062,666 in total funds to those counties. 

If Black farmers are a miniscule percentage of farmers in America, and if those Black farmers benefit in very, very small ways from subsidies, MFP, and CFAP, then it seems to me that these eleven white litigants do not have a leg to stand on. 

Perhaps they do not stand to get rich, although Mr. Miller here in Texas appears to be doing quite well, the system is doing what the system is designed to do, benefit farmers who are white, and they are white. They are not in the group defined as "Socially Disadvantaged Farmers." Only "minorities" or "people of color" go there. That was decided a long time ago.

They are wasting resources in filing these suits. Already there has been pushback from Black farmer groups. I support those pushing back. 

So far, the powers that be in Washington with the USDA and FSA are saying that these cases have not impeded their progress toward debt forgiveness for those who deserve it, those who have historically discriminated against, those who have lost their land livelihood, families, and health, and who are in debt to the USDA as a result of discrimination and interest piled upon interest piled upon interest. 

No, the white farmers are wasting their time and energies, and just stirring up things. 

Eddie and Dorothy, Senators Warnock, Stabenow, and Booker

By now, many of you know that the Senate has passed President Biden's COVID-19 recovery act, or The American Recovery Plan. The vote was split along partisan lines, 50/49 with one senator leaving to attend a family funeral which saved Vice President Harris from casting the deciding vote.

Within the bill there are numerous things that impact many of us which have to do with children and economics of our families. The items that are most crucial to me these days has to do with debt relief and supports for minority farmers who have experienced much discrimination from the USDA. Of the total sum of $5 billion, $4 billion is dedicated to debt relief to Black, Hispanic, American Indian, and other minority farmers.

No, Senator Graham is absolutely wrong. This is not a reparations act. And, the 120%, Mr. Graham, amount has to do with taxes that are placed upon farmers when debt is forgiven. The best way I can describe this is this: a Black farmer borrows some money, but it is too little and too late, and there may or may not be a disaster from which he or she gets no relief, but when the crop comes in, or doesn't come in, the loan is due and payable. In most instances, that debt can be restructured or written off, but not so with minority farmers. For white farmers, yes, but others, no. So, much of the indebtedness is from interest on top of interest on top of interest on top of interest. A small loan turns into an overwhelming debt with the passage of time. And, along the way, many have lost their farms to foreclosure. They will not be getting those back.

Or, when the farm home plan is to be submitted to the county office, the FSA officer demands that the plan be submitted in pencil, and then a plan that "cash flows" no longer cash flows because he changed the numbers. These are only a few of what I've heard and seen.

At this link, you can read the entire debate in The Congressional Record, but save yourself some time, and go to page 40 where Senator Stabenow speaks, or to page 49 where Senator Booker speaks. There is much substantive information there that most of us do not know. At the end of Senator Booker's testimony, he tells the story of Eddie and Dorothy Wise. I am honored to have written their story for this effort. I hope Mr. Wise and his family are pleased with my efforts in telling the brutal stories of mistreatment at the hands of the USDA from the top in DC to the bottom at the county level.