Racial land inequality and the history of Black land loss remains one of the biggest civil rights issues in the US.
In 2021, a four-billion-dollar debt relief program connected to pandemic aid for minority farmers was introduced, only to be blocked in court. This program was intended to remedy decades of discriminatory practices towards minority farmers, especially Black farmers.
Since the early 1900s, approximately 90% of Black farmers have lost their land because discrimination by banks and the USDA, as well as violence, threats, and legal issues.
White people make up about 58% of the population but own 98% of rural land today. Black people make up 14% of the population but own less than 2% of land. This is particularly glaring in states like Georgia where 33% of the population is Black but only 4% of land is owned by Black people.
“The debt forgiveness was a congressional effort to help USDA make up for a history of discrimination. For decades, farmers of color have filed individual lawsuits, class action lawsuits and congressional testimony against the department. And for decades, rulings and reports have repeatedly concluded that USDA’s lending practices have been discriminatory,” according to an article on NPR.
Despite the goal of resolving proven systemic discrimination that has built up over the years, the program has been turned into a general debt relief program as a result of lawsuits filed by white farmers, claiming that the initial program was discriminatory towards white people.
A number of Black farmers are facing compounded financial issues from this due to legal fees, confusion about initial promises that they would receive loan forgiveness, and a lack of relief from extreme debt.
Some connect this turn of events to the largest civil rights class action lawsuit in 1999, Pigford v. Glickman. This was a major landmark case in uncovering systemic racial discrimination by the USDA.
Despite Pigford winning the case and $1 billion being promised to settle the claims of 16,000 farmers, many did not receive payment due to farmers not being notified properly, inconsistencies in information about how to receive relief, confusing paperwork, and other factors.
Due to many not receiving aid, the 2008 Farm Bill allowed the Pigford case to be reopened for further settlements. Again, many did not receive settlements due to denials of claims and processing issues.
Some white farmers cite cases like Pigford v. Glickman, assuming that these cases concretely addressed the history of discrimination. However, several Black farmers fell deeper into debt in the process of these cases because they did not receive the money or did not receive relief fast enough.
Despite the 2021 debt relief program being made into a general debt relief program, some farmers of color are expressing that it has been better at providing aid than previous programs.
The primary reason is that this program targets farmers who are delinquent on USDA FSA loans. White farmers are less likely to be delinquent on FSA loans because they have greater access to generational land and better interest rates. Because they are more likely to be in a precarious position due to systemic discrimination, more farmers of color, especially Hispanic and Black farmers, have been able to receive aid through this program.
While there have been steps to resolve past systemic discrimination, the steps being taken to prevent and combat ongoing discrimination and land loss are not clear. Black farmers continue to be under threat of losing their land due to these issues often being addressed too late, as well as problems within debt relief programs.