Struggling Black farmers finally getting some help
In their heyday, nearly 1 million Black farmers in America tended crops and raised livestock with ownership of total farmland peaking at 14% a century ago. The story is vastly different today, and farming as a strong livelihood for African Americans is now a distant memory.
Black families, thanks to decades of systemic racism and discriminatory practices by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and others. Black farmers lost an astonishing 90% of their land over the years, and today fewer than 50,000 African American farmers, out of a total 3.4 million farmers, remain in business. Those Black families that have stuck it out oftentimes face mounds of debt and other hardships, and some barely eek out a living.
But now, help is on the way — along with a recognition by the government of its role in creating an inequitable system — in the amount of $5 billion included in President Joe Biden’s stimulus relief package. The funding is meant to address the obstacles faced by African American, Indigenous, Hispanic and other farmers of color during the pandemic, as well as make up for years of discriminatory practices that decimated the Black farming community. The brunt of the money, $4 billion, will go toward helping farmers of color pay off USDA farm loan debts and taxes, and pandemic-related expenses. The remaining $1 billion will be used to fund initiatives to root out systemic racism and provide assistance to farmers of color through the formation of a racial equity commission focused on practices at the USDA, the disbursement of grants and loans to improve land access, and connection with legal advisors among other initiatives.
Despite what critics might think, the government owes it to these farmers to try to make them financially whole. Black farmers have long complained, and government reports have also shown, that the USDA shut them out of loans or significantly delayed approval.
The sad part is that the financial help is too little too late for scores of farm owners who lost their properties over the decades because of deliberate tactics that inhibited success. It’s akin to systemic racism efforts, including redlining practices that denied African Americans home loans and deliberately devalued their neighborhoods. Their families will never be able to regain the lost generations of wealth without some form of reparations. But we applaud Black farmers who have fought for justice on Capital Hill for decades. It was a hard-won victory.