June 26th, 2019
by Nathan Rosenberg and Bryce Wilson Stucki
Editors’ note: One week ago today, lawmakers convened the first House panel in more than a decade on the issue of reparations for descendants of slaves in the United States. The date chosen for the hearing, June 19, had historic resonance: It was the 154th anniversary of the day General Gordon Granger announced the freedom of the last American slaves in Galveston, Texas, a date still celebrated as Juneteenth.
Critics of reparations contend that the U.S. government paid its debt to black Americans long ago—if not during Emancipation, then more recently. “I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago for whom none of us currently living are responsible is a good idea,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, one day before the hearing. “We’ve tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation. We elected an African-American president.”
But a century of oppression did not end with Barack Obama. The following investigation reveals how one largely ignored form of discrimination still devastates today: Unfair, racially-biased treatment of black farmers by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
As New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow rightly notes, oppression takes many forms. This is a story about one kind in particular: the slow-moving, institutional oppression of a sprawling government bureaucracy. These kinds of racism can be hard to see, which makes them easier to overlook. But for thousands of African-American farmers across the country, day-to-day discrimination by USDA has resulted in staggering loss—of land, of livelihood, of economic stability—over the last hundred years, and throughout our lifetimes. For these Americans, the aftermath of slavery is as current as this season’s denied loan, or this month’s deferred debt payment.
How USDA distorted data to conceal decades of discrimination against black farmers | New Food Economy: The agency promoted a narrative that falsely inflated its record on civil rights—and ultimately cost black farmers land, money, and agency.
Critics of reparations contend that the U.S. government paid its debt to black Americans long ago—if not during Emancipation, then more recently. “I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago for whom none of us currently living are responsible is a good idea,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, one day before the hearing. “We’ve tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation. We elected an African-American president.”
But a century of oppression did not end with Barack Obama. The following investigation reveals how one largely ignored form of discrimination still devastates today: Unfair, racially-biased treatment of black farmers by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
As New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow rightly notes, oppression takes many forms. This is a story about one kind in particular: the slow-moving, institutional oppression of a sprawling government bureaucracy. These kinds of racism can be hard to see, which makes them easier to overlook. But for thousands of African-American farmers across the country, day-to-day discrimination by USDA has resulted in staggering loss—of land, of livelihood, of economic stability—over the last hundred years, and throughout our lifetimes. For these Americans, the aftermath of slavery is as current as this season’s denied loan, or this month’s deferred debt payment.
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| Image Credits: Creator:Madeline Gray |
How USDA distorted data to conceal decades of discrimination against black farmers | New Food Economy: The agency promoted a narrative that falsely inflated its record on civil rights—and ultimately cost black farmers land, money, and agency.
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