It Took a Pandemic to Give Black Farmers Monetary Reparations
Source: Matt McClain for The Washington Post. John Boyd Jr., of Baskerville, Va., is president and founder of the National Black Farmers Association.
In March, we heard the good news that the American Rescue Plan narrowly passed in the House and Senate, marking a $1.9 trillion effort of COVID-19 aid. Within that bill’s total is an estimated $5 billion designated to “socially disadvantaged farmers,” including Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian Americans. 4/5 of that will go to paying off outstanding debts these farmers have with the U.S. Department of Agriculture up until Jan. 1, and the rest to outreach programs providing access to land, education and training, technical assistance, and loans.
While there is a lot of negative hoopla surrounding the passing of this law in some communities, what they fail to realize is that this is not free money going disproportionately to farmers of color over white ones. This monetary support is meant to heal the wounds of decades of discrimination by the USDA against Black farmers and other farmers of color. But we must also wonder, will this be enough?
For years, the Department of Agriculture has denied Black farmers the opportunity to succeed, most notably in biases of assistance programs and going back to FDR’s New Deal. The $5 billion going to cover debts of farmers includes payment from a class action lawsuit in the 90’s to cover discriminatory practices by the USDA. For so many of the Black farmers who were denied loans by racist lenders, this was meant for them to get back on their feet. However, not many of them actually received payment.
Source: Og Mpango via Canva/Pexels
This has meant the drastic decline, a whopping 85% drop in Black-owned agricultural land over the past century, according to the Pew Charitable Trust’s Stateline news service. John Boyd Jr., the head of the National Black Farmers Association, compares this phenomenon to that of endangered species. And just the same as certain cornerstone species are crucial to the health of an ecosystem, Black farmers hold a vital role in the health of our food system and society. This stimulus package is meant to pay back farmers that missed out on the same federal support white farmers use to start every season, but also to revive the number of Black farmers in the Ag industry.
After the USDA’s documented discrimination and systemic oppression of farmers of color, why has it taken a global pandemic to finally get these farmers what they need? Tom Vilsack, the USDA head under Obama has been reelected for another term with Biden, and with so little done to support these farmers in the past, we must use any agency we have to advocate for change and equal opportunity.
As John Boyd and other civil rights activists believe, it only begins with monetary reparations. To ensure systemic racism in agriculture comes to an end, those that played roles in oppressing farmers of color must be held responsible and reprimanded. How else can we move forward if we do not highlight the wrongdoings of our past? And for our future, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and President Biden must be held accountable for creating the equity commissions necessary to keep racism out of our food system.
This is a lot to take in! The passing of the American Rescue Plan is still a big win. Executive director of the Black Belt Justice Center Tracy Lloyd McCurty calls it “one of the most significant milestones in Black agrarian History.” However, it is just the beginning. There is no rewriting of the Department of Agriculture’s racist past, only ensuring support for all farmers of color and those joining the market moving forward.