Abstract
The central thesis to this article is that blacks were intended to work the land, but never to own the land. The progression from working the land via slavery, to peonage, and to land ownership is explored. Africans arrived on American soil carrying with them a rich legacy in caring for the land, and while they did so in America, it was under the most onerous of conditions. Once freed, blacks became prodigious land owners, but with the onset of the twentieth century various systemic factors impacted landownership for blacks. These same factors along with mechanization, herbicides, government policy, and the courts all served to undermine farm ownership for black Americans. The Pigford Class Action Suit is central to understanding the complexities of the plight of the black farmer and the attempts of various advocacy groups to maintain black land ownership.
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Wood and Gilbert (2000) explain the complications of the use of data from various sources and the difficulty of analyzing trends relative to ownership, race, and acreage. Gilbert, Wood, and Sharp (2002) and the USDA (1999) acknowledge the combination of land owners (68,000), acres owned (7.8 million), and acres leased out by black land lords (4.7 million). They also note that only 1/3 of the owned land is farmed by its owners and that whites own 98% of the acreage and 97% of private agricultural land as of 1997. The USDA (2002) notes the decline of black farmers by 98% and whites by 63% from 1900 to 1999. Therefore, regardless of the points of comparison, land loss is significantly worse for blacks by comparison to whites. Gilbert et al. (2001: 2) estimate that “African-Americans as a group went from owning almost no land in the United States after the Civil War to peaking at 15 million acres by 1920. In that year, 14% of all US farmers were black. Of these 926,000 black farmers, all but 10,000 were in the South. By 1997, fewer than 20,000, or 1% of all farmers, were black, and they owned only about two million acres.”
According to Daniel (1994), by 1964 the Secretary of Agriculture had not yet appointed an African American to a State Committee in the South. None had been elected as county committee members, and only seventy-five served on committees out of 37,000 total members. Efforts to advance African American membership in Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) committees led to “intimidation and violence” (p. 97). By 1989, nineteen black county committees were found out of a total of 8,713. Similarly, county supervisors were predominantly white (only thirty-three of 2,520 supervisors were black). The numbers increased to 765 African Americans out of a work force of 23,000 with the ASCS nationally, and in 1991, only 8.9% of the USDA employees were African American by comparison to 17.2% within the federal government” (Daniel 1994: 98).
See their histories and missions at their respective web pages. For LLPP see www.landloss.org; for NBFAA see:wwwblackfarmer.org; for BFAA see www.bfaa-us.org; and for BFAA, Inc. see www.bfaa.net.
All farmers received $70 plus million between 1996 and 2000. EWG concluded that African-American farmers averaged significantly less in terms of economic benefits from subsidies by comparison to all farmers. The greatest disparity was in Texas where it was $21,000. Despite comprising 1% of all farmers in the US, Black farmers received one-tenth of one percent of all available crop subsidies. The average African American farmer subsidy was $1,264 per year while all others received $5,345 per year. An average small farmer received $4,421 per year. The bottom 80% of all farmers, by comparison to the bottom 80% of all African American farmers, received ten times more funding. This trend held true across twelve states accounting for 94% of Black farmers. The gap was the greatest in Texas ($21,096) and lowest in Georgia ($12,717).
Class members were defined as those who were African Americans who attempted to farm or actually farmed between January 1, 1981 and December 31, 1996; applied to the USDA during this window of time for farm-related programs and who believe that they were discriminated against; and filed a complaint on or before July 1, 1997. Track A, designed to offer the farmer $50,000 and debt relief, was to be settled within a total of 110 days. If the criteria were met, the farmer would also receive a $3,000 tax relief benefit as well as injunctive relief if evidence was submitted. Track B, designed to function as an “abbreviated trial procedure,” compelled farmers to prove both claims and damages via a “preponderance of evidence,” all within a proposed time frame of 240 days. The farmer had to provide proof that he or she was disadvantaged worse than “a specifically identified, similarly situated” white farmer, one of several objections over-ruled by the Court as it assumed that class counsel would provide needed documentation.
Eligible class members numbered 22,657, a total of 22,485 for Track A, and 172 for Track B. In terms of Track A adjudication, 15,127 were approved, and 7,144 were denied. Track A relief, including the $50,000 award, non-credit (taxes), IRS payments, debt relief, and interest on debt relief, totaled $956,204,830 (Office of the Monitor, 2007). At the end of 2003, the Monitor reported a total of 237 eligible Track B claimants, 71 cases settled, 55 cases reverting to Track A, and 6 Track B cases withdrawn. One hundred five cases were contested, 77 arbitration decisions were made, and 28 decisions had yet to be issued. Arbitration had resulted in 17 claimants prevailing, 60 cases in with the government prevailed, 38 cases dismissed before the hearing, and 22 cases heard in which a full hearing was held, but finding of no liability. The average award to prevailing claimants was $545,686. In terms of injunctive relief, i.e., providing farm ownership loans, farm operating loans, and inventory property, 67% of applications were denied (Office of the Monitor 2007).
EWG reported that approximately 100,000 farmers came forward, yet 9 out of 10 were denied. Instead of the $2.3 billion that was allocated for settling the Pigford case, only a small percentage of that had been provided to the farmers. Class attorneys had woefully underestimated the number of class members. The lack of notification had resulted in approximately 72,000 farmers being denied access to the process. Critics complained that Class Counsel attorneys were responsible for disseminating information, yet many farmers received the information too late to apply for entry. By the EWG’s best estimate, “The overwhelming majority of the farmers who did apply on time, some 63,816 farmers, were ultimately denied entry into the settlement (Pigford Arbitrator, 2004). Their claims were never heard on the merits, and they will never again have a chance to seek relief for their discrimination complaints (EWG 2006).”
The Department of Justice documented 56,000 hours of attorney and paralegal time addressing 129 farmers’ claims, averaging 460 hours at a total cost of $12 million USDA dollars by 2002. There was the blatant absence of accountability in terms of availability of documents. While courts traditionally hold public hearings, the USDA settlement involved closed hearings; no discovery process; no appeal, only requests for a re-examination; the prohibition of farmers from seeing their own documents if proceeding pro se; and for-profit entities employed as adjudicators to make decisions relative to claims (EWG 2006).
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The authors offer a special word of thanks to Drs. Jaime Goff, John Robinson, and Tracie Shilcutt, and to Michelle Finley, graduate assistant to Waymon Hinson, Abilene Christian University, for their helpful comments on the original manuscripts.
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Hinson, W.R., Robinson, E. “We Didn’t Get Nothing:” The Plight of Black Farmers. J Afr Am St 12, 283–302 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-008-9046-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-008-9046-5