John Boyd, president of the Black Farmer’s Association, checks the condition of a soybean field for harvesting in Baskerville, Virginia. | Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Lawsuits filed by white farmers have blocked $4 billion in debt relief to Black farmers. Congress and the Biden administration might have a path forward.
This story was originally published on Civil Eats.
It was supposed to be the beginning of a new era for Black farmers. After the 2020 election, the Biden administration and a new Democratic majority in Congress promised to rectify the results of years of discrimination and systemic racism, and incoming Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and House Agriculture Committee Chair David Scott identified justice for Black farmers as a top priority. But their biggest push to correct historic wrongs — $4 billion in direct debt relief payments authorized in the American Rescue Plan — was stymied by lawsuits from white farmers before any checks were cut.
Now, the outcomes of these cases — particularly Miller v. Vilsack, the most influential of multiple lawsuits brought by white farmers to prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from distributing debt relief to Black farmers — could have widespread negative consequences for any government efforts aimed at addressing historic inequities.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that whether or not there are Black farmers in America could depend on this case.”
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that whether or not there are Black farmers in America could depend on this case,” said Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney for pro bono law firm Public Counsel who is representing the Federation of Southern Cooperatives in a new attempt to affect the outcome of Miller.
After all, the ranks of Black farmers have declined precipitously over the last century. In 1920, 14 percent of the farmers in America were Black; by 2017, that number had shrunk to less than 2 percent, with about 45,500 Black farmers remaining. Throughout the past century, Black farmers have documented extensive discrimination in accessing USDA loans and other support programs and sought recompense through a high-profile class action lawsuit and other channels. But it appears that little has changed for farmers on the ground; a Politico analysis found that in 2020, the agency approved farm loans for just 37 percent of Black applicants and 71 percent of white applicants.
Still, with no way to determine what that outcome will be or how long the court battles will drag on, Congress and the Biden administration have turned to other programs to give Black farmers a leg up, including an alternative approach to debt relief, a USDA equity commission, and investments in new programs for underserved producers. Many of these efforts use language that avoids targeting groups by race. People on the front lines of the fight for justice for Black farmers say those efforts are meaningful but question whether they can collectively turn the tide, and whether the lawsuits could halt momentum toward explicit acknowledgements of racial discrimination in agriculture.
Alternative Paths for Relief
In October, lawmakers revealed a provision now included in the Build Back Better Act that would provide $6 billion for full and partial debt forgiveness on direct loans to underserved farmers, identified as “limited-resource” or “economically distressed,” with no mention of race. It also allows farmers who have experienced past USDA discrimination to apply for additional assistance up to $500,000.
Advocates say many of the Black farmers seeking debt relief would qualify, and most groups representing their interests, including the Federation, are supportive of the measure. “It’s a much more inclusive definition, but it would still get at the debt relief [to] our farmers writ large,” said Savi Horne, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project, which works to help Black farmers retain ownership of their land and was one of the organizations that led the June amicus brief.
On November 19, the House narrowly passed the Build Back Better Act, but it is unclear whether Democratic lawmakers will get it through the Senate and how it might be reshaped in the process. If it does make it to the president’s desk, said Dania Davy, director of land retention and advocacy at the Federation, she’s concerned that the new debt relief program will replace — instead of supplement — the more targeted help for Black farmers.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23057055/1346643302.jpg "Man climbs down from a piece of farming equipment in a field.")
83-year-old farmer Glenn Morris harvests corn in Princeton, Indiana. Morris is one of two full-time black farmers who still farm in Lyles Station, a region of Indiana once dominated by Black farmers.
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In 1920, 14 percent of the farmers in America were Black; by 2017, that number had shrunk to less than 2 percent.
“Without a specific racial equity lens, our country runs the risk of maintaining the status quo, which has not been adequately addressed by our laws or our courts to date,” Davy said.
During a discussion on debt cancellation hosted by the Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School this week, multiple panelists echoed that point. “You can’t effectively address racial discrimination without using racial language,” said Keisha Stokes-Hough, a senior supervising attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center. But as a result of the lawsuits, advocates have no choice but to try.
At the same time, Davy says she’s encouraged by mounting evidence that the USDA is operating with a new racial equity focus.
A spokesperson for the USDA said equity is a primary focus at the agency under Vilsack. She provided a five-page document detailing “core actions” the agency has taken so far to address racial justice and equity, including appointing a diverse leadership team.
“Under the Biden Administration, USDA is serious about our efforts to dismantle barriers that historically underserved communities have faced in accessing USDA programs and services. For generations, entrenched disparities in our society and economy — at times facilitated by USDA — have made it harder for people of color to have a fair shot at the American dream,” USDA press secretary Kate Waters told Civil Eats in an email. “USDA will continue to make investments to advance equity throughout the department to help rebuild our economy and our social safety net so all people can thrive.”
“For generations, entrenched disparities in our society and economy — at times facilitated by USDA — have made it harder for people of color to have a fair shot at the American dream.”
The agency rolled out the Heirs’ Property Relending Program in July with $67 million in funding to help farmers establish permanent legal ownership of land caught up in succession challenges related to heirs’ property. Those farmers are primarily African American, since years of racist policies and actions after emancipation prevented many landowners from accessing the legal system, and often had to pass along their land without wills or estate plans in place. One...