Long Time Coming and to What End: Part I

Congress and its actions move at a snail's pace. The latest round of funding to alleviate inequities in the farming world and to make up for racism and discrimination against Black farmers and others are two illustrations. That effort to square things and to bring about equity has some seriously long trails across the sand, and this post will hopefully make some sense for us all. 

For starters, there are two different line items in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Those are very important to know as they are present day goings on. I hope this will help explain a few things, but how we got here is also equally important. We'll not discuss inequities within USDA in terms of white farmers versus minority farmers, or those who fall under the 2501 category. I've written about this shennanigans before, or, simply google "Stucki and Rosenberg," and you get what I consider to be the most importnat pieces of research. 

The funding for 22006 from the coffers of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was a long time coming. That funding for "distressed borrowers," or those who due to environmental factors, market fluctuations, and other financial hardship would bring their indebtedness to $0 plus provide an extra payment for the upcoming due date. 

What could go wrong? Right? Except that things with the federal government are rarely, if ever, easy. 

The IRA of 2022 didn't just fall out of the sky. There are footprints across the landscape that explain it. Here are some back ground pieces of information. 

For instance, it was thanks to Senator Raphael Warnock that he was able to plug some factors originally in The Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act into the text of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The big piece in the ARPA was 100% debt relief for farmers who were in the 2501 designation, or socially disadvantaged farmers, plus 20% for tax relief. There were other important pieces of this legislation as we entered fully into the age of the COVID pandemic with its disastrous impact upon our economy. 

As I have written earlier, this bill should have passed quickly and enacted soon thereafter; however, a number of white farmers across the country, including the Ag Commissioner in Texas filed 12 lawsuits which ultimately derailed the process. As the US DOJ and Ag Sec Tom Vilsack lolly-gagged, or "slow-walking" as I called it, two courts called a halt to the dessimination of funds. The white farmers claimed "reverse discrimination," a rather laughable notion given the history of racism in this country and especially that of the USDA, by its own admission. One particular law firm, America First Legal, and its key leader who had worked in the Trump administration was behind those "frivolous and racist lawsuits," as one of my collegues oftentimes asserts. I think he is right. That person who has now returned to the White House as deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller. You'll remember him as the chief architect of Trump's immigration policy. I think he must still be at it. It is interesting that he is such a hard liner when it is true that his extended family immigrated to  America. 

I used Environmental Working Group's USDA data and explored income and sources for the first six litigants against the ARPA. After all, they claimed reverse discrimination, so their finances should show that impact, right? Actually, those first six litigants pulled in via a variety of government and USDA sources some $524,000 over a three year period from a variety of sources, and the counties in which their farms and ranches are located pulled in over $1.2B over the same period of time. Reverse discrimination? These white farmers have no clue as to what discrimination is all about. 

And then things got even worse. With a distinct tone set in America, Congress passed what it knew would pass, a "race-neutral" bill called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 which reworked and realigned economic support for all farmers who were determined to be "distressed borrowers" or victims of discrimination.

This particular bill opened the bank account of the government and the USDA pretty wide. It provided $3.1B for "distressed borrowers" and  $2.2B for those who'd been discriminated against. Prior to this bill, these sorts of funds were essentially for farmers and ranchers who fell into the 2501 category or Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers who had clearly been discriminated against. 

We'll continue with more of this story in the next part of this two-part series. 

 

White Lash or White Resentment, and "Dear Mr. White Farmer"

Just the other day I was conversing with a longtime advocate for racial justice, especially justice for Black farmers, and I quipped something like, "You know what's going on, don't you?" Of course he knew what was going on. But, "What?" he replied. "We are experiencing a white lash, a reaction to all of the things going on in the world." 

I went on to tell him what I thought were evidences of the white lash. We've had a Black president, now a Black V-P, we have Blacks represented in congress, various agencies in the government, and some think that Black people are stepping out of line. "What more do you want?" I can hear some say. 

The white farmer lawsuits that stopped debt cancellation is one sign. Another set of signs is the proliferation of Critical Race Theory laws across the country. All of the voter suppression laws going into place across the country constitute a third set of signs. 

What do we want? Justice, fairness, equality under the law and the constitution, no more, no less. 

So, here are a few words to "Dear White Farmers:" 

"I knew you were watching and waiting. You knew all along about the race-based remedies for bias and discrimination in the USDA. I think you were waiting for a time and a leader to pounce. You found that leader in Stephen Miller, a lawyer, a Jewish lawyer, who helped Trump craft various policies around immigration and who knows what else. A staffer for a US senator confirmed today that they saw it coming as well. 

Your attorneys know about the host of documents and studies that confirm racism within the USDA all the way back to 1962, all the way up through CRAT and CRIT, the Jackson-Lewis Study, and others. That's just for the legal background. It's all found in other writings here on this page and over on the ewg.org website. 

Then, you pounced once the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was signed into law. You saw that $1B was allocated for debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and so you pounced. 'Reverse discrimination,' you cried in feigned disbelief that you, white farmers and ranchers of our land who also work hard and find yourselves in debt (or do not find yourselves in debt), and so you played the 'reverse discrimination' card. It worked. Some 12 or 13 lawsuits have stopped the debt relief effort. Yes, we believe that Secretary Vilsack slow-walked that process for over 100 days, ample time for you and your leaders to move into attack and defend mode. Yes, we saw it and the senator saw it. 

However, some of us know your games. The first six litigants of the white farmers cases pulled in $540K in subsidies, coronavirus relief funds, and Trump's failed tax war with China. The counties in which those farms and ranches are located pulled in $1.2B. So, you want to talk about reverse discrimination? Looks to me like you've done quite well for yourselves, if those first six are anywhere close to a representative sample of all of you. You get the main course and Black farmers get the scraps. The data is out there for you and the world to see. 

I have a few more questions for you, as you claim reverse discrimination. 

Mr. White Farmer, have you been set up to purchase a farm at a high appraisal value so that you'll lose it and the next guy over will buy it for pennies on the dollar? Ever been denied operating loans? Ever been denied debt settlement options? Had your diaster and crop payments illegally seized? Lost out on a productive crop because the county office stalls the process so that while others have planted their crops, you are just now getting your seed in the ground? Ever been spit on or called racist names or been told to wait several days while other farmers come in and out of the director's office? Ever been told that there's money there, but not for you? Ever been told that you and your kind don't need that much land even though the land is from several generations of your family back years and years? Ever been denied technical assistance? Ever been provided half of what you need to farm too late in the planting season? Ever had the county officer demand that you submit your application in pencil so he can change it to what he wants? Ever had a farm operating plan cash flow when you submit it, only to find out when it had been reworked that it no longer cash flowed? Ever been caught in a colusion between banks and real estate agents? Ever had the local office renege on loans so that you couldn't pay for seeds or fertilizer? Ever run out of money so that while your cotton crop is ready for harvest, you don't have enough money for diesel to harvest it, and nobody will loan you that much money? Ever been denied farm ownership loans despite years of working the farm? Ever lost out on prime opportunities because the county office dallied in getting your loans to you? Ever been micromanaged when you actually got money? Ever worked under a supervisory arrangement so that you spend all day getting signatures for a $50 piece of equipment that you could have purchased and fixed by mid morning? Ever had the county office renege on lease arrangements? Ever had your leased land pulled out from under you by the county office and given to the officer's good friend? Ever been denied legitimate debt relief options that are available to all farmers and ranchers? Ever had your credit and your good name destroyed by the county office's malfeasance? Ever been denied disaster relief funds that go to all farmers around you? Ever been told, 'we're going to sell you out?' 

I didn't think so, Mr. White Farmer. I really didn't think so. You know it and I know it. 

Senator Warren had some great ideas, and put them into a constructive Black Farmer Policy. Senator Booker picked that up. When Senator Warnock was elected, he took over the lead on the initiave. Senator Warnock got Section 1005 and 1006 written into the ARPA of 2021, but he had the language changed from 'Black Farmer' to 'Socially Disadvantaged Farmer and Rancher.' The game changed. Lawyers took over and seized upon a 'race based remedy' and took it way far afield. 

There is no doubt that a lot of people have been mistreated by the powers that be. But as a group, White Farmers, you have had the advantages from the get go. The USDA system works the way it has always been designed to work. Check out Dr. Daniel's book, "Dispossession," if you doubt that assertion. 

So, until you, Mr. White Farmer, have experienced the kind of discrimination that Black farmers have experienced, until your case has been investigated, until you have a set of findings that prove your case, then you can sit down and shut up about reverse discrimination. It's all in your heads and in your hearts. It's a part of your entitled whiteness. That is a desease for which cures are hard to find.

Regards, 

Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D. Researcher, Advocate, Film Co-Producer"

Yes, we are in the midst of a white lash. These law suits are a part of it. Black farmers are still losing their land or dying. In some families both are happening. 

"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.