OREGON
A8 — THE OBSERVER
THuRSday, dEcEmBER 9, 2021
Baker City ranchers suing USDA
Ranchers join legal
battle over race-based
federal loan
forgiveness program
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
BAKER CITY — The
possibility that USDA
would forgive their farm
loans seemed like a god-
send for James and Kathryn
Dunlap.
But shortly after hearing
of the agency’s new pro-
gram, the Dunlaps learned
they didn’t qualify — only
farmers from racial minori-
ties were eligible.
“It kind of blew our
minds,” James said.
The couple has taken
out about $280,000 in loans
from USDA’s Farm Service
Agency for cows and equip-
ment to expand their ranch
business near Baker City.
“Until that’s paid off,
we’re just trying to sur-
vive,” James said. “The goal
was to grow. Unfortunately,
while you’re growing, it’s
very difficult.”
Though they wouldn’t
have taken out debt they
couldn’t pay back, the Dun-
laps found it troubling
they’d been excluded from
the loan forgiveness pro-
gram for being white.
“If they want to offer a
program, it should be avail-
able to everyone,” he said.
James said he was con-
tent to merely grumble
about the program but his
wife convinced him to take
action.
“Don’t just complain
about something unless
you’re doing something
about it,” Kathryn said.
Is program
constitutional?
With the help of the
Pacific Legal Foundation,
a libertarian public interest
law firm, the Dunlaps have
filed a lawsuit challenging
the USDA’s minority loan
forgiveness program as
unconstitutionally based on
race.
“Righting past discrim-
ination with more discrim-
ination is not the way to go
about it,” she said. “It should
be based on individual
circumstances.”
The couple’s lawsuit is
one of 12 similar complaints
filed across the nation that
argue USDA’s $4 billion
loan forgiveness program
violates the Constitution’s
promise of equal protection
under the law.
The litigation has been
consolidated as a class
action lawsuit in fed-
eral court in Texas, where
U.S. District Judge Reed
O’Connor has issued a pre-
liminary injunction halting
the program. Similar orders
against it have been entered
in three other states.
O’Connor wrote that “the
government’s claim that
new race-based discrimi-
nation is needed to remedy
past race-based discrimina-
tion is unavailing,” meaning
that it is ineffective.
Few topics are more sen-
sitive or uncomfortable
than race and money, espe-
cially in the current polit-
ically tense atmosphere.
The litigation against
USDA tackles both subjects
head-on.
The allegations of preju-
dice against white farmers
may seem awkward,
since the USDA itself has
admitted to “decades of dis-
crimination” against Blacks
and other minorities.
The new loan forgive-
ness program is needed
because American growers
haven’t equally benefited
from FSA’s lending prac-
tices in the past, the agency
said in court documents.
“In fact, the evidence
indicates just the opposite:
that throughout USDA’s his-
tory and up to present day,
John Boyd/Contributed Photo
John Boyd is the president and
founder of the National Black
Farmers Association. Discrim-
ination against Black farmers
still exists but the lawsuits and
injunctions don’t acknowledge
that reality, Boyd said.
mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
minority farmers have been
‘hurt’ more than helped due
to discrimination in USDA’s
farm loan programs,” the
agency said.
The federal govern-
ment won’t comment on
the litigation beyond legal
arguments filed on behalf
of the USDA in court
briefs, according to a U.S.
Department of Justice
representative.
Frustrating situation
For minority farmers
who stood to benefit from
the loan forgiveness pro-
gram before it was blocked,
the situation is personally
frustrating.
The litigation represents
“more greed from white
farmers in this country,”
said John Boyd, founder
of the National Black
Farmers Association and a
fourth-generation grower
in Mecklenburg County,
Virginia.
Boyd said that in the past
he’d been spat on by an FSA
employee and had his loan
application torn up, which
aren’t experiences the plain-
tiffs can comprehend.
“They don’t know what
discrimination is. They
don’t know what it looks
like or what it feels like,”
Boyd said. “I just feel it’s
shameful white farmers are
Kathryn and James Dunlap pose with their daughter, Evelyn, at the family’s ranch near Baker City. The
couple has filed a lawsuit over being excluded from a loan forgiveness program for minority farmers.
doing this to us.”
White farmers have his-
torically been able to write
down their debt, refinance it
or have it forgiven by USDA
while Black farmers have
instead faced foreclosure,
he said.
Discrimination against
Black farmers still exists
but the lawsuits and injunc-
tions don’t acknowledge that
reality, Boyd said.
“In some fashion, you
have to recognize this ter-
rible history that occurred
on American soil,” he
said. “Why not support a
group of people that has
just been dogged by the
government?”
Black farmers repre-
sent about 1.4% of the
agricultural producers
in the nation, down from
roughly 14% a century
ago, according to USDA’s
Census of Agriculture data.
The proportion of Black
farmers has plummeted over
time due to a “bad taste in
their mouth for the farm,”
going back to sharecropping
and slavery, Boyd said. Even
so, some remain committed
to the industry.
“I love being a farmer.
I’m going to die being a
farmer,” he said. “I love
the smell of the land when
I throw that disc harrow in
the ground.”
‘Structural problem’
The bias experienced by
Blacks and other minorities
isn’t just a matter of indi-
vidual FSA employees with
a racist agenda, said Cas-
sandra Havard, a law pro-
fessor at the University of
Baltimore who’s studied the
issue.
“It’s a structural problem
within the USDA,” she said.
FSA’s loan decisions are
influenced by county com-
mittees elected by the local
populace, Havard said. The
arrangement can perpetuate
racial bias because these
committees are generally
dominated by white farmers.
“You’re in competi-
tion with other people who
are also farming nearby,”
she said. “It was basically
a way of cutting out the
competition.”
Boyd characterizes
the situation facing Black
farmers less diplomatically:
“They know when you’re in
trouble with the USDA, they
can purchase your farm for
pennies on the dollar.”
The USDA was accused
of discrimination against
minorities in several law-
suits, including two class
actions by Black farmers
that were settled for $2.4
billion.
However, the agency
admits in court filings
that the payments “did not
cure the problems faced by
minority farmers.”
Many farmers were
unaware of deadlines to
file claims or faced prob-
lems qualifying for pay-
ments, raising concerns
about whether the compen-
sation was adequate, Havard
said. “Farmers felt like it
was difficult for them to be
successful.”
Banking records are pri-
vate, which stifles compar-
isons between how Black
and white farmers are
treated by the FSA, said
Susan Schneider, a law pro-
fessor at the University of
Arkansas who studied the
issue. The USDA’s civil
rights office was disman-
tled in 1983 and wasn’t rein-
stated until 1996, so many
complaints were neglected.
“You had to be able
to prove a very specific
instance of discrimination,”
she said. “It’s really diffi-
cult to prove these kinds of
cases.”
WHERE WILL
MOMENTUM TAKE YOU?
HOME EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT
Don’t keep those home renovations or that
dream vacation waiting!
hzcu.org/momentum
*OAC. Introductory rate valid for 6 months from the date the loan is booked. After the first 6
months a variable rate will apply, based on the Wall Street Journal prime rate plus a margin and
adjusted quarterly; current rates range from 3.75% - 18.00% APR as of 12/2/21, based on credit
worthiness. Maximum APR = 18%. Borrowers may opt for interest-only payments during the initial
draw period (10 years). Monthly payments are typically lower with the interest-only payment
option; however your principal balance will remain the same until you made additional payments
to the principal. After the draw period, the monthly payment will be calculated to repay your loan
within the remaining 15 years and may adjust quarterly based on the prime rate.
NMLS 407890
With low introductory rates and our NEW
interest-only payment option, our Momentum
HELOC allows you to take advantage of your
home’s equity with low, manageable payments.