A new bill introduced in November by three U.S. senators is set to overturn years of injustice and discriminatory practices against Black farmers.
According to the website of Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), he, along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), proposed the Justice for Black Farmers Act. The legislation seeks to amend the wrongs committed against the minority group by the federal government.
The bill details how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) “caused Black farmers to lose millions of acres of farmland and robbed Black farmers and their families of hundreds of billions of dollars of inter-generational wealth.”
The act promises to establish policies to protect Black farmers whose businesses fail, end discrimination and give access to land grants to foster generational wealth among Black farmers. The site also indicated that in 1920, there were over one million Black farmers in the United States. Now, fewer than 50,000 Black farmers remain.
Sen. Booker explained why the bill is so crucial for the Black farming community.
"Overtly discriminatory and unjust federal policy has robbed Black families in the United States of the ability to build and pass on intergenerational wealth," Booker said.
“When it comes to farming and agriculture, we know that there is a direct connection between discriminatory policies within the USDA and the enormous land loss we have seen among Black farmers over the past century,” he continued. “The Justice for Black Farmers Act will work to correct this historic injustice by addressing and correcting USDA discrimination and taking bold steps to restore the land that has been lost in order to empower a new generation of Black farmers to succeed and thrive.”
According to a USDA report, Black farmers made up one-sixth of all the nation’s farmers. In a 2017 Census of Agriculture report, that population had dwindled to a paltry 1.3%.
Sen. Warren echoed Booker’s sentiment.
“For decades, racist policies have robbed Black farmers of the economic opportunity to thrive in our country's agricultural industry,” Warren said. “I'm glad to co-sponsor Senator Booker's bill, which goes a long way toward restoring and protecting property rights of Black farmers, rooting out discriminatory policies, and providing Black farmers with the necessary tools to succeed.”
The proposed legislation offers numerous policies that would ensure Black farmers have a fair shake at being successful and profitable.
Under the act, roughly 32 million acres of land would shift ownership to Black farmers over ten years with The Equitable Land Access Service overseeing the program. The USDA would purchase land from sellers at market value, and by 2030, 160 acres would be given, via a grant, to 20,000 Black farmers. Grant recipients could be new or experienced, but fledgling farmers would undergo required training.
Other parts of the bill would increase funding from a USDA re-lending program to $50 million. The amendment would resolve the “heirs property” issue among Black farmers. According to the Southern Coalition, heirs property is when property transfers occur generation after generation without the wills or estate plans.
“In the absence of such tools, the ownership of land has become increasingly fractionated with the passing of each generation,” the site stated.
