Dear Congressionals in Texas, Whose State Has THE Most Black Farmers, The Clock in Ticking

August 8, 2023
 
RE: Concerns for USDA and Black Farmers
 
Dear Congressionals of Texas: Representative Crockett, Representative Green, Representative Jackson Lee, Representative Allred, and Representative Veacy
 
I am contacting you via phone and email since you represent citizens of the State of Texas and some of its most vulnerable citizens are under attack in Washington, DC by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
 
We are at a pivotal point in the history of our country and in this current election cycle. We want to share with you our concerns and make a request of you.
 
Texas has the most African American farmers of any state according to the 2017 Census of
Agriculture. At a national level, the Ag Census data indicates that there are 48,697 Black producers in the US and that there are 35,470 Black-operated farms. This is a significant decline from 1920 where there were upwards of 950,000 Black farmer operators and in 1910 Black farmers farmed 19 million acres. The losses have been horrendous and much of it is due to racism at USDA. These losses from the land, productivity, and generational wealth are estimated at $326 billion.
 
Our specific aim has been to find debt relief and compensatory damages for Black farmers. A large group of us met in front of the White House on March 1, demonstrating near the anniversary of the Fairness Hearing for the Pigford v. Glickman case before Judge Friedman, March 2, 1999. We believe now, as we believed then, that Pigford was a debacle and that Black farmers were worse off now than they were before. These kinds of remedies can only come when systemic change is brought about within the halls and offices of USDA/FSA.
 
As we all know, Congress had appropriated 120% of the indebtedness of socially disadvantaged farmer and ranchers within the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for debt relief and taxes for those farmers who had suffered discrimination in the farm/services division. Secretary Vilsack “slow-walked” the process and allowed 12 white farmer class action law suits to be filed and for two courts to issue restraining orders against USDA that disallowed them to pay Black farmers and other Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers. We believe this was a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”
 
In fact, many of us protested against Vilsack’s appointment long before he was appointed, but President Biden ignored us. In fact, we participated with the Biden/Harris transition team and were told at one point in the process that what we wanted, “race-based remediation to a historical anti-black process” was “unconstitutional.” We told President Biden and Secretary Vilsack about this. We understand now that Vilsack was orchestrating the conversation.
 
Then, in 2022, Congress signed the Inflation Reduction Act which made allocations available to “distressed” farmers and ranchers, a race neutral language that circumvented frivolous law suits. In that bill, $3.1 billion was allocated for “distressed” farmers to bring them into compliance with their debts with USDA/FSA for those with guaranteed loans. It also allocated $2.2 billion for farmers who can show that they were discriminated against. The Ag Secretary is slow-walking these processes as well.
 
We can identify ten or so Black farmers who have received partial or full relief from their debts. We know that there are approximately 3,000 Black farmers whose indebtedness is under $210 million. As far as we can discover, only one Black farmer received full debt relief in Texas, a widow whose husband owed $200K. We think Vilsack is “cherry-picking” farmers and that this is an attempt to enhance his credibility. We are not buying it.
 
Additionally, the process that he has established under the IRA for relief due to discrimination, with its administrator, hubs, and cooperators is another circumvention of justice for Black farmers. We believe the power to provide relief from decades of discrimination rests in the hands of the secretary and that he will be ineffective. As a result, Black farmers will continue to suffer.
 
We are at a pivotal point both in history and in this election cycle. While things are chaotic on the Republican side of potential candidates, we see President Biden as the only viable candidate on the Democratic side. However, a new third-party candidate, Dr. Cornel West, of the Green Party has begun to cut into the Black vote that has gone to Biden in the past. As time passes, that can only deepen the challenges. Dr. West is also the ONLY presidential candidate who has spoken up for Black farmers. You can see our conversation with him here as well as sound bites from him our recent panel discussion with the Whistleblowers Conference and Film Festival.
 
We, therefore, would like for you to stand with us, in concert with our voices to President Biden (see attached letter of January 19, 2023 and the Proclamation). Specifically, we ask you to call for a meeting at the White House with President Biden, voice your concerns for maltreatment of Black farmers and demand that he initiate systemic changes within USDA to erase racism once and for all. Only then will there be hope for a brighter future for Black farmers of Texas and the entire country.
 
Respectfully,
 
    -s-
 
Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.
903-271-4654
Denison, Texas 75020
Representative, Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association
Representative, Justice for Black Farmers
Representative, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
 
Cc: Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
       Representative, Justice for Black Farmers
       Representative Jasmine Crockett
            Jason Rodriguez, Chief of Staff
            Brandon Bradley, Legislative Director
       Representative Al Green
            Niha Razi, Chief of Staff
            Rachel Rodriguez, District Director
       Representative Sheila Jackson Lee        
            Lillie Coney, Chief of Staff
            Yuroba Harris, District Director
      Representative Colin Allred
            Paige Hutchinson, Chief of Staff
            Whitley O’Neal, Legislative Director
      Representative Marc Veasy
            Nicole Varner, Chief of Staff
            Luke Dube, Legislative Director

What is the 4th of July for Me and Those to Whom I am Committed?

Over on my oldest son's Facebook page, he wrote this this morning. I have seen it before. Seems that he posts it on July 4 each year. 

"July 4, 1776: The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress.

July 4, 1837: The first Chickasaw removal party, forced from their lands by the Indian Removal Act of 1830, arrived at Memphis, Tennessee, and were ferried across the Mississippi River into Arkansas, never to see the land of their ancestors again.

July 4, 2023: As usual, I'm struck by the intense, biting irony. A day of celebration and a day of dispossession rolled into one."

Then we can add January 1, 1863. 

Then we can add June 19, 1865. 

Earlier this week I posted on my own Facebook page these words: 

"You are sending a message to your community when you close your office, church or otherwise, for July 4th, but not June 19th. Maybe more than one message." 

Many passed right on by, but a few resonated with the comment. 

And then, I could not help but recall Frederick Douglass' famous speech from July 5, 1853 in his adopted hometown of Rochester, New York, entitled, "What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?" The entirety of that short speech is found here. 

Here is one pithy statement in large print and bolded because it is important:  

"Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, “may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!” To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slave’s point of view. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery—the great sin and shame of America! “I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;” I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be fight and just. But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, it is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia, which, if committed by a black man, (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? The manhood of the slave is conceded. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding, under severe fines and penalties, the teaching of the slave to read or to write. When you can point to any such laws, in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, their will I argue with you that the slave is a man!"

And then I wonder about today. I see all of the trappings of white American celebrating with BBQ cook outs, baseball games, and fireworks. 

I am left to wonder, how many of white American are reflecting upon America's call for freedom for all, all races, all genders, all colors, all creeds, all nationalities, or deep in our hearts do we assume that American is just for us, those of us who are anglo saxons, white, whatever color white actually is. 

Is today for whom? Is it also for those red-lined across town, those whose medical care is insufficient compared to mine, those who opt not to see an MD before it's too late, or those whose wages are inferior to mine despite similar levels of education? In short, is America, is July 4th, for those who pay the Black Tax to live in our country? 

Is the 4th of July for those who ancestors walked the Trail of Tears, who were relocated by the federal government to lands that looked nothing like their land? 

Is the 4th of July really for Black farmers of our land, those who have had their land stolen by the machinations and malfeasance of the USDA, those who have had white people lurking about looking to snag it at the lowest price? Remember Eddie and Dorothy Wise? They are two giants, legends, if you will, who typify what I'm talking about. Is the 4th of July for Black farmers who just want to work the land? Those who are holding on, those who are now 1.4% of American's farmers, those who hold some 4.5M acres when once they owned over 19M acres? 

The 4th of July is a complicated day. Some of us just walk on past it. Others of us stop and ponder. 

So, on this day, following a week in which the Supreme Court of the US, perhaps one of the most crooked courts ever in our country, some of whom ascended via affirmative action, have worked to deny others the same privilege. The same court that has decided that some get discriminated against and others don't. When is a cake a cake and when is a web page a web page a web page? When do people really get to make their own choices about medical care and who to love? 

Yes, there are many of us for whom July 4th is a day of conflict. Some of us celebrate all they way from June 19 to July 4th. May our Great God grant us wisdom and courage for the living of these days. 

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.

My Sentiments as a Prayer

Dear Lord:

You gifted me with words
With words I come before you
With words I bow down
With words I confess my life askew.

When my soul is tormented 
When my spirit is vexed 
When my deepest longings are in disarray
I use words to say I’m much more than just perplexed.

When the wheels of justice grind slow
When the chains of death take my people
When hope is dashed upon the rocks
Sometimes I go to that place beneath the steeple.

I do not all of the time come with words
Sometimes I do not know what to say
With groans understood only by you
Is all I can find to pray.

“I Walked These Days” numbers 365
Blog posts with their words are 59
Prayers in the early morning come to 136
Sometimes they’re prose and sometimes they rhyme.

I’ve sat in many a zoom-like meetings
I’ve written many a first draft letters
My recommendations are even in the Justice Act
Sometimes my words bind me like fetters.

Only you know the focus of many a prayer 
Only you know the many unspoken words
Only you move in ways I do not know
Only you know the burdens our people bear.

Congress sits in places of power
USDA hides behind its doors
Perturb their hearts and shake their bones
And settle the long unanswered scores.

Come into this world I pray
Take off the racist chains
Remove the burdens of dreams deferred
While there is life within our bones.

And so this prayer
Has a lot of words
Beneath are so many groans
That reveal the ache hidden deep within our bones.

Still in You we do trust
Come what may and come what will
Even when you are silent
Even then our hearts will not be still.

Amen

OPEN LETTER TO VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN

OPEN LETTER TO VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN 

September 6, 2020

Subject: Civil Rights, Programs, and Employment at the Department of Agriculture (USDA)

It has become very apparent that the working relationship between the Biden Policy Team and USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, Justice for Black Farmers, and Advocacy Groups (rural and urban) has been terminated. However, we had worked vigorously and hoped for a better outcome.

We have found very discouraging the absence of a solution driven civil rights policy similar to that of the Elizabeth Warren plan, Addressing Discrimination and Ensuring Equity for Farmers of Color, August, 2019, located here: https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/equity-farmers-of-color. We have requested on many occasions that you adopt this policy. Our anticipation was to develop a policy that would serve the good of Black farmers, minority farmers, and USDA employees.

Senator Sanders’ commitment to Black farmers and civil rights is similar to Senator Warren’s plan. His plan is found here: https://berniesanders.com/issues/revitalizing-rural-america. Some of these factors are included in his comprehensive plan for Black farmers. His entire plan is found as an attachment below. He was fully committed to systemic change within the USDA. The Biden campaign does not include these issues.

We mistakenly thought that the Biden Policy Team was searching for real solutions. When you presented us with the Biden Team policy on July 28, we expected further discussion. However, we were met with defensive posturing and then silence. Shortly after the Democratic National Convention we discovered published articles that partially contained a false narrative. Here is the policy that you proposed to the Nation: https://joebiden.com/racial-economic-equity.

Additionally, we were insulted by the policy team’s position that our request to address Black farmers issues was unconstitutional. This is a marathon from the truth. Politics, politicians, and others have operated in an “American systems built on the notion that Black lives don’t matter as much as others.” That is what your response is saying to us. To invoke the constitution to deny us opportunity provided to others goes totally against our sense of justice. That is the same constitution that did not include us from it's very beginning.

We actually had surmised that Tom Vilsack’s team was shaping your rural agriculture policy. Since the Clinton administration civil rights at the USDA has continued to deteriorate. Our position is influenced by the following and more. Jillian Hishaw’s book, “The Impact of U.S. Land Theft,” will address Black land loss at the hands of egregious practices within the USDA. The documentary, “I’m Just a Layman in Pursuit of Justice: Black Farmers Fight Against the USDA,” produced by Shoun Hill and Waymon Hinson, chronicles stories of Black farmers who prevailed against the USDA and DOJ between 1997 and 1999.

The investigative reporting of Stucki and Rosenberg’s article, “How the USDA Distorted Data to Conceal Decades of Discrimination Against Black Farmers,” in The Counter which critiques the Vilsack administration is found at: https://thecounter.org/usda-black-farmers-discrimination-tomvilsack-reparations-civil-rights.

Further, this Op-Ed piece from the Kansas City Star addresses the inadequacies of the Vilsack administration: https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readersopinion/guest-commentary/article240721906.html

Rural America is intricately connected to urban America. Many in rural America have a difficult time believing that the Biden campaign cares about them. Your campaign has a battle in overcoming this real and perceived attitude that you are taking US for granted. Such an obvious rejection of the issues we shared with you and that you ignored…. continues to perpetuate a legacy of discrimination that has long been known by many, both inside and outside USDA. Black farmers and employees deserve justice that is long overdue.

We will continue to demand justice for Black farmers and employees.

Black Lives Matter,

Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus
USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
Justice for Black Farmers
www.agcoalition.org
Justice for Black Farmers
justice4Bf@gmail.com
856-910-2399

In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Martin Luther King, Jr.