Lawsuits to block $4 billion in loan forgiveness for minority farmers show a lack of historical awareness, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the BIO online convention on Wednesday. “It’s a wonder where those farmers were over the last 100 years, when their Black counterparts were being discriminated against and didn’t hear a peep from white farmers about how unfortunate that circumstance was.”
A federal judge in Wisconsin has blocked the USDA from carrying out the debt relief program while he considers a lawsuit claiming the payments would be unconstitutional racial favoritism. District judge William Griesbach may decide as early as next week whether an injunction against the USDA is appropriate. A handful of similar cases have been filed in other states.
The USDA says it will forcefully defend the program, created by Congress in March. “To have a fair shot,” said Vilsack, “we provided debt relief” to counterbalance decades of bias in USDA programs and to help Black, Hispanic, Native American, Alaska Native, and Asian American farmers cope with the disruptions of the pandemic. Since 1999, in a series of settlements, the USDA has acknowledged discrimination in its farm support programs.
“Now we are having white farmers stepping up and asking why they’re not included in this program,” said Vilsack. “Well, it’s pretty clear why they’re not included — because they’ve had the access of all the programs for the last 100 years. … It’s important, I think, for us to acknowledge the cumulative effect of discrimination, and this is one way that Congress is directing us to do that.”
As an example of the built-in advantages white farmers have at the USDA, Vilsack referred to the 25 percent of farmers in a coronavirus aid program who identified their race. Within that group, white farmers received $5.5 billion in aid while Black farmers received just $20 million. Larger payments can mean greater financial resources in the long run, he said.
Farming is an overwhelmingly white occupation in America. A century ago, 17 percent of farmers were Black.
Also on Wednesday, the USDA asked for public input “to identify barriers that people of color and underserved communities and individuals may face in obtaining information” from the department. The request, made in the Federal Register, asked for public comment by July 15.
“We are steadfast towards ending discrimination in all its forms wherever it exists,” said Dewayne Goldman, the first-ever USDA adviser for racial equity. Goldman was executive director of the National Black Growers Council before joining the USDA this year.
The USDA plans to create a Racial Equity Commission later this year to focus on systemic impediments to fair treatment in its programs.
The Federal Register notice on racial equity is available here.