First-person essays and interviews with unique perspectives on complicated issues.
Growing up, I never imagined living on a farm and working the land as a possible future.
As a poor Black kid in an urban community, farming was a foreign concept. So much of what I saw about farming felt overwhelmingly white, with little mention of Black farmers and their communities.
My parents and others around me would talk about wanting to go down South and living on the land. It sounded more like a dream than a possible reality. The rare coverage about Black farmers was primarily limited to loss and discrimination. Broken promises combined with programs that relied upon white state and local decision-makers stacked the deck against newly independent Black people in the United States. Federal Homestead Acts largely benefited white landowners providing highly subsidized opportunities for ownership.
The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package included targeted support for a small group with a tough history: Black farmers. A provision based on the Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act, introduced by Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock in February, gives the U.S. Department of Agriculture close to $5 billion to assist Black farmers who’ve faced systemic discrimination for decades. On Friday’s episode of A Word, I spoke with the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, John Boyd Jr. This was a huge victory for people like him. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Details still slim on rollout of $5 billion Farmers of Color Act
Sen. Raphael Warnock toured Georgia farms to talk about his new legislation aimed at helping close the racial gap in one of Georgia s largest industries. Author: Eryn Rogers Updated: 7:45 AM EDT April 7, 2021
FORT VALLEY, Ga.
The Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act is part of the American Rescue Plan passed by lawmakers earlier this year. It allocates billions of dollars to minority farmers across the country.
Thousands of Georgia farmers fall into that category, and last week, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) toured farms in the central and southern part of the state to talk about the plan.
Mar 17th, 2021 4 min read
COMMENTARY BY
Senior Fellow, Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Fellow
Mike Gonzalez is a senior fellow in Heritage s Allison Center for Foreign Policy and the Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum fellow. Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, testifies about reparations for the descendants of slaves before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on June 19, 2019. Cheriss May / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Key Takeaways
The recently enacted COVID-19 relief law and other bills wending their way through Congress openly favor members of certain races or ethnic categories.
Membership in any of these racial, ethnic, or gender categories automatically entitles a farmer to benefits, “without regard to individual qualities.”
Sen. Warnock said he wanted to “…ensure equity in our recovery efforts and address longstanding injustices that have left some communities behind for far too long…”
According to one study, there were approximately 1 million black farmers in the United States in 1920. Today there are approximately 50,000 black farmers, according to Black Enterprise.
The United States Code has a new section entitled Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach 7 U.S. Sec. 2279. According to the code, “The term socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher means a farmer or rancher who is a member of a socially disadvantaged group.” The code section defines a socially disadvantaged group as those “…whose members have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities.”