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New Bill Aims to Reverse Decades of Discrimination at USDA

Senator Cory Booker standing at a podium

Senator Cory Booker is one of three sentators bringing the new bill forward. (AFGE/Flickr)

A new bill called the Justice for Black Farmers Act aims to reverse decades of discriminatory practices by the USDA. The bill was brought forward by senators Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Elizabeth Warren. In the last 100 years, the number of black farmers in America has decreased from 17% of all producers to just 1.7%, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture.

For decades, black farmers have reported being denied access to loans from the USDA or being subjected to a much longer approval process than their white counterparts. According to the bill's summary, the Act would restore land lost by black farmers by providing “land grants of up to 160 acres to existing and aspiring Black farmers.” It would also create farming and ranching educational programs for young adults from socially disadvantaged communities and provide funding to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) in order to expand their courses of study and agriculture research.


Kamal Bell, CEO of Sankofa Farms, a family farm and STEM-based Agricultural Academy, told ABC News that the bill is “a step in the right direction.” However, he says the education aspect of the bill should focus on more modern business and farming practices. Chris Newman, a Black Indigenous farmer and founder of Sylvanaqua Farms, criticizes the bill for its similarities to the Homestead Act of 1862. He states in a piece for Medium that “the bill sets up a situation in which justice for Black farmers is achieved by creating a one-to-one injustice for Indigenous farmers anywhere the two are found in close proximity to each other.” Both agree that there are systemic problems in the food system that need to be addressed. The bill’s summary states that “broader reforms to our broken food system must be enacted,” but it is unclear whether or not the bill attempts to tackle any of those reforms.


Still, the act does have the support of the National Black Farmers Association, the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, the National Farmers Union, and over 100 other organizations. While getting the bill through congress may be an uphill battle, Senator Booker told Mother Jones he thinks there is growing momentum for addressing the legacy of discrimination in the US.


Additionally, even if the bill doesn't pass, it could influence the next farm bill, the twice-a-decade policy legislation that's set for renewal in 2023.

Read More:

'Justice' Bill Would Transfer Up To 32 Million Acres to Black Farmers—Successful Farming

Justice for Black Farmers Act--Mother Jones 

Black Farmers Have Been Robbed of Land. A New Bill Would Give Them a “Quantum Leap” Toward Justice—Mother Jones
 
Justice for Black Farmers Act 2020, Endorsements

Justice for Black Farmers Act: A Quantum Leap Forward or a Misguided Step Back?—Cornell Sun

The Justice for Black Farmers Act: A Critical BIPOC Review--Medium

Bill that could help Black farmers reclaim millions of acres 'a step in the right direction'—ABC News


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