History of Civil Rights Abuses At the Department of Agriculture

Floor Speech

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Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to introduce my first piece of legislation, the JUST Act.

When the United States Department of Agriculture was established by President Lincoln in 1862, it reflected a recognition of the strategic importance of agriculture in the Nation's development. It aimed to address the needs of farmers, promote scientific advancements in agriculture, and contribute to rural development. However, racism perpetuated by the rules and the laws of Jim Crow remained strong.

This was in the early years of the Civil War. Sixty-one years later, we remember in 1923 the massacre, the removal of Black, prosperous farmers in Rosewood, Florida, where Black farmers were taken off of their land.

In the 1920s, 30 percent of America's families lived in rural America on farmlands. The USDA was created to provide a safety net for America's farmers, ranchers, and growers, which included assistance for struggling industries, disaster assistance, crop insurance, technical assistance, access to credit, and help for producers to implement conservation practices.

For decades, the USDA has had an unfortunate and checkered history regarding civil rights, manifesting most notably in discriminatory lending practices, unequal program access, civil rights violations, land loss, and limited representation. Reports dating back to the 1960s have found discrimination at the USDA in both program delivery and the treatment of its employees of African-American descent.

Today, USDA continues to be the subject of a number of lawsuits brought by minority farmers and ranchers alleging discrimination. This reputation is so pervasive that the USDA has been called the last plantation on numerous occasions.

When Secretary Tom Vilsack began his tenure as Secretary of Agriculture in 2009, he promised a new era of civil rights at the USDA. I applaud him for his recognition, honesty, candor, and willingness to confront a very hard truth, not fixing the blame but trying to fix the problem to make sure that America's agricultural access, resources, and industry would be open to all.

At that time, there were over 14,000 unresolved discrimination complaints in the Department of Agriculture. The discrimination perpetuated through USDA's farm lending programs, undermining Black farmers' ability to continue their operations during the 20th century, resulting in over 900,000 Black farmers losing their lands from the people who were originally the custodians of this land, African Americans who had been kidnapped, captured, and enslaved and who made cotton king. When they had the opportunity to farm, the USDA had turned their back on these family farmers.

Between 1920 and 1997, African-American farmers had declined by 98 percent because of government policy. Right here, down Pennsylvania Avenue, in 1925, we remember when the Ku Klux Klan was a mainstream organization. We remember that when President Harding died in Indiana, there was a Klan rally at the fairgrounds commemorating his death. That ghost still lingered on.

Contemporary data shows that African Americans still account for only 1.4 percent of the country's 3.4 million producers. Equity issues remain in program delivery to this very day.

An NPR analysis most recently found that, in 2022, only 36 percent of Black farmers received direct loans from USDA while their White counterparts received 72 percent loan acceptance. Perhaps some of the biggest gaps in the loan demographics can also be seen in the rejection numbers, where 16 percent of Black farmers are rejected. The highest corresponding figure for White farmers was 4 percent. Forty-eight percent of Black farmers withdrew their applications in frustration, and that number corresponds with Asian Americans, compared to only 24 percent of those identifying as Caucasian.

While efforts are underway to address this current crisis through the Inflation Reduction Act, and other measures, there must be a process in place to clarify and bolster civil rights protections at the USDA.

The Just USDA Standards and Transparency Act of 2023, 100 years after Rosewood, would correct this.

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