WSSN Stories

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

At its last meeting, the California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPAB) discussed the discrepancies in the racial profiling data reported by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD).

RIPAB co-chair Melanie P. Ochoa told her board colleagues that there is “sufficient evidence” that data concerning police stops are not being reported by LASD as required by Assembly Bill (AB) 953.

Ochoa said that “over 50,000 self-initiated stops” were “not captured as Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) data.” Deputies “failed to report over 18,000 consent searches,” and “over 25,000” or 37% of backseat detentions were not filed.

“It’s a big deal,” said Ochoa, a staff attorney for Criminal Justice and Police Practices at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California. “The overall trends may be accurate but it’s really scary how much certain communities are impacted by this.”

The Los Angeles County Office of the Inspector General (OIG) confirmed data was missing in its June 10 Underreporting of Civilian Stop Data to the California Attorney General report.

OIG reported that LASD’s Sheriff’s Automated Contact Reporting System (SACR) which supplies data to RIPA and its Computer Aided Dispatch System (CAD) which tracks patrol-related contacts run independently and do not communicate information.

The SACR system underreported observation-based stops by at least 50,731 entries and underreported reasonable-suspicion stops by 8,625 entries. Reasonable suspicion stops are made by deputies when they suspect a person is engaging in criminal activity.

RIPAB learned about the LASD missing information about 6 months after it released its fifth annual report that found Blacks or African Americans were searched 2.4 times more than Whites in 2020.

Information from agencies reporting data showed law enforcement officers used force against Blacks 2.6 times more than White people.

Board member Lawanda Hawkins, founder of Justice for Murdered Children (JMC) said, “I am concerned that the data received from the biggest (law enforcement) agency in the state is inaccurate. It makes you question all of it. If they are not giving us all the stops…. there’s a problem. And what is the repercussion if they don’t do it?”

AB 953, the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, requires California law enforcement agencies to report data to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on all vehicle and pedestrian stops, and citizen complaints alleging racial and identity profiling. AB 953 was authored by Assemblywoman Dr. Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), currently the Secretary of State.

On July 1, 2018, the eight largest law enforcement agencies, began collecting stop data and reporting the information to DOJ. According to Attorney General Rob Bonta California is now one of the leaders in the country in collecting and analyzing police traffic stops.

“To date, the state has provided the public with an in-depth look into nearly 9 million police stops. This information is critical and these annual reports continue to provide a blueprint for strengthening policing that is grounded in the data and the facts,” Bonta said.

RIPAB is a diverse group of 19 members representing the public, law enforcement, and educators. Their charge is to eliminate racial and identity profiling, and improve diversity and racial and identity sensitivity in law enforcement.

Ochoa said the missing RIPA data could have a “significant” effect on people’s lives in terms of litigation, policy change, and potential intervention programs, and implementation of Assembly Bill (AB) 2542, the California Racial Justice Act (CRJA).

CRJA prohibits the state from seeking or obtaining a criminal conviction, or from imposing a sentence, based upon race, ethnicity, or national origin.

“There should be an acknowledgment of missing data and the direction this missing data is probably (going). It’s just not randomly missing. It’s just missing in a way to suggest that there are more certain things happening than being reported,” Ochoa said.

Bill Ayub, Ventura County Sheriff and the California State Sheriff’s Association representative on the Board said there could be many reasons why the absent information was not entered as RIPA data.

The report shows that in December 2020 LASD was aware of issues with SACR system data and assured OIG that “steps would be taken” to prevent misreporting of stop data to the DOJ.

But a year later, LASD “conceded” that the department was not “in compliance with RIPA requirements” due to the system being outdated. The CAD system was implemented in the 1980s and is running on hardware and software that are no longer supported by the manufacturer.

Ayub warned that there should be “a word of caution” when considering the data.

“If you look at arrests by my agency you would see far fewer RIPA entries for arrests than arrests that actually occur. Court-ordered remands, warrants that appear for people that are already in custody, and in-custody incidents that result in arrest are all incidents that would not trigger RIPA reporting,” Ayub told the Board.

RIPAB’s latest report analyzes millions of vehicles and pedestrian stops conducted Between Jan. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2020, by 18 law enforcement agencies. All state and local law enforcement agencies will be required to report stop data to the California DOJ by April 1, 2023.

About 40 million people live in California, according data from the state’s Department of Finance. 2.25 million African Americans live in the state (about 6.5%).

Reporting agencies made over 2.9 million stops during the stop data collection period, with the California Highway Patrol conducting the most stops of any single agency (57.7%). Law enforcement officers searched 18,777 more people perceived as Black than those perceived as White

The law enforcement agencies reporting 2020 RIPA data were the Police Departments serving Bakersfield, Davis, Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Unified School District, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose; the Sheriff’s Departments of Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, Sacramento County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County; and the California Highway Patrol.

LASD is the largest sheriff’s department in the world with nearly 10,000 deputies serving almost 10 million people. San Francisco has a population of 888,305 with 2,140 sworn officers and San Diego has 1,415 residents and 1,887 sworn officers.

SACRAMENTO, CA— Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills) announced that he has selected Cafe Aficionado, a family-owned coffee shop in Northridge, as the Small Business of the Year for California Small Business Day 2022.

“Small businesses are the backbone of communities across California, and Cafe Aficionado is the perfect example of why these establishments are so valued,” said Assemblymember Gabriel. “I’m proud to be honoring such an incredible small business that does so much to enrich the lives of those in the West Valley, both through its delicious food and coffee, and even more so through its commitment to serving our community.”

After Reggie Cua returned from service in the United States Coast Guard, he and his wife, Abby, opened Cafe Aficionado in 2018 with a vision to bring coffee culture to the San Fernando Valley and to create a space that all members of the community could enjoy. The cafe frequently hosts trivia nights, meetings for local non-profits, speed dating events, art shows, fundraisers—anything that makes the cafe “feel like home,” as Abby and Reggie have stated.

By Edward Henderson | California Black Media

A lawsuit filed by the California-Hawaii NAACP Conference on August 2 to remove an election ballot opposition statement to Proposition 26 attributed to a Los Angeles NAACP branch member has been settled.

The statement will be stricken from ballot materials.

The civil rights organization found the statement “false and/or misleading” because it supports Prop 26. Also, according to NAACP bylaws, a local branch is prohibited from taking positions opposite that of the state group.

The statement against Proposition 26 found on the Secretary of State’s website reads as follows:

“We oppose Prop 26 to protect young people from developing lifelong gambling addictions that often lead to ruined finances, relationships, even homelessness and crime.” Minnie Hadley-Hempstead, Retired teacher, and President Emeritus of the Los Angeles NAACP Branch

The lawsuit named Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber as the defendant because removing the quote from ballot materials, requires a court ruling.

A declaration statement made by Hadley-Hempstead for the lawsuit describes how she was misled by the No on Prop 26 Campaign.

The lawsuit also points out that the position ‘President Emeritus’ does not exist within the NAACP, and the only branch that can clear use of the trademarked term NAACP in support or opposition of any legislation is the state branch of the organization. It also claims the use of the term ‘We’ creates the belief that the NAACP supports a NO vote, which it did not.

“We’re glad the card room casino operators did the right thing and removed the deceptive and inappropriate quote from their “No on 26” ballot arguments,” said Rick Callender, President of the California-Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP. “Despite the California-Hawaii NAACP’s strong support for Prop 26, opponents tried to deceive voters into thinking the opposite. Thankfully, voters will not be provided this false and misleading quote in the official voter guide sent to every voter.”

Prop 26, the in-person Tribal Sports Wagering Act would authorize in-person sports wagering at existing tribal casinos. All bets must be placed in-person at a tribal casino with safeguards in place to prevent underage and illegal gambling.

Proponents of the proposition believe it will help create jobs and economic opportunities that support Indian self-reliance, while benefiting all Californians, generating new revenues for public schools, wildfire prevention and other state priorities.

Opponents of the proposition believe it will force local cardrooms out of business and, in turn, cause the state to lose tax revenue.

A statement from the “No on 26” Campaign, respectfully adheres to the wishes of Hadley Hempstead while standing behind the ballot initiative.

“Californians from across the state have been clear with their objections to Prop 26 which includes a poison pill that will unfairly harm communities of color. We appreciate and respect Ms. Hadley-Hempstead and will honor her wishes to remove her previously approved quote from the ballot statement,” it read.

Also named in the NAACP lawsuit, was Jay King, President of the California Black Chamber of Commerce. He told California Black Media opposition to Prop 26 is justified saying, “With the tribes, they want to oversee what cardrooms do and want to legislate cardrooms. We have a body to do that already. I stand on the opposite side of the NAACP statewide and that’s ok.”

By Lou Yeboah

Tricked, backstabbed, [hoodwinked, bamboozled, lead astray, run amok and flat out deceived ? Malcom X] believing, the lies of Satan. Jesus clearly revealed Satan’s intentions: He said in, [John 10:10] “The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill and to destroy.” Satan’s ultimate goal is to promote death and destruction, as the Bible makes clear. I tell you; you’ve been had, tricked, and backstabbed. The devil was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. [John 8:44].

Be sober [watch], be vigilant [stay awake]; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour [1 Peter 5:8]. The devil is active and working to take hold over your entire life. His ultimate goal is to steal you away from God, through lies, distorting your view of God, and appealing to your fleshly desires. And so far, he has done well, got you believing that you can continue on the destruction path that you are on without any consequences. The devil is a liar! You better repent before it is too late! Cause living in sin means playing a game that you cannot win. And sooner or later, sin’s consequences will catch up with you [Leviticus 20 and Deuteronomy 22].

I tell you; you’ve been had, tricked, and backstabbed, just like Adam and Eve in the garden [Genesis 2:16-17]. The devil showed up in the garden and deceived man into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam that he could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he would surely die if he had done so. Yet Satan came along and whispered in Eve’s ear that they would not die if they ate from the tree, and that they would be like God, knowing good and evil [Genesis 3:2-5]. Believing the lies of the devil, Adam and Eve ate from the tree and from that, both sin and death entered into the world. Don’t let his lies deceive you into compromising your obedience to God. You have an enemy. His number one weapon against you is a lie, and if you believe that lie, your onward progress will stop with God.

You see, the Bible describes Satan as the prince of this world who opposes God and lies to you, to appeal to the appetites of your flesh. “I don’t want you to be ignorant of his devices.” He’s a schemer. [2 Corinthians 2:11]. Scripture tells us that those who end up falling for the devil’s tricks, and are fully convinced to follow him, that God will give them over to a debased mind [Romans 1:28] and that they will be condemned because they did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness [2 Thessalonians 2:11-12]. I tell you, you’ve been had, tricked, backstabbed, “hoodwinked, bamboozled, lead astray, run amok and flat out deceived.”

It’s time to wake up! Do not give place to the devil [Ephesians 4:27]. Resist him and he will flee [James 4:7]. Learn to recognize the devil’s lies, reject those lies and replace them with the Truth of God’s Word. Only then can you live the way you were meant to live. The devil had your past, but he shall not have your future! Declare war on him –Make up your mind that you are going to resist him. Become indignant about the damage he has done in your life and the lives of those you love. Determine you are going to do everything to keep him from invading your life anymore. Verbally declare that he has no place in your life and mean it. Arm yourself – [Ephesians 6:10-17 – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5], and FIGHT! [1 Timothy 6:12] God has authorized you to stand against the enemy. [Ephesians 6:10-18]. Go to battle because your life depends on it!

And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. [Revelation 20:10].

By Austin Gage | California Black Media

As students and parents contemplate how best to be prepared for school after the summer break, engaging in summer education offers a way to recover from the trauma and learning loss caused by the pandemic. To address this vitally important issue, the U.S. Department of Education held a virtual roundtable on July 27th titled “Summer F.U.N. for Black Students: Families Understanding and Nurturing Learning at Home”.

Hosted by Alexis Holmes, Policy Manager at the National Education Association, the virtual panel focused on how Black families can support and provide rich summer learning experiences for their children.

The roundtable participants were Dr. Rosiline Floyd, Chief of Staff at Normandy Schools Collaborative; Kier Gaines, licensed therapist and Job Placement Specialist at District of Columbia Public Schools; Frances Frost, education advocate and the first Family Ambassador at the Department of Education; and Josh Davis, vice president of policy and partnerships at StriveTogether.

The advice provided by the panel stressed engagement of Black students during the summer as valuable to academic success in the fall and for the students’ futures.

Speaking to the roundtable audience, Holmes shared her appreciation with everyone present for understanding the importance of the topic. “We appreciate you taking the time to be here today to talk about something so important, and that is making sure that our students continue to have the out-of-school/summer experiences that they need to support them and to get them ready for a very successful and rich fall and back to school season,” Holmes said.

The panel maintained that Black families must provide support to their children due to its lasting impact on their educational future. Emphasizing this point, Floyd and Davis both agreed that because Black and other marginalized students face steeper challenges in their journeys for higher education, these obstacles must be dealt with efficiently and effectively.

“I started out as an engineer at Purdue, and I noticed that students of color didn’t have the resources that I had to make it to a Division I university, so I started researching why and a lot of what I found was the education level that they were getting inside the schools. They changed the standards to get into universities, but schools didn’t even offer some of the classes that students needed to be able to enroll in universities,” said Floyd.

When asked to identify resources and what they can mean to Black communities, Davis said “When I think about resources, it is the non-financial but oftentimes more important social and political capital that Black families and children do not have with equitable or equal access to those things other communities have that allow them to thrive.”

Understanding the obstacles standing in the way of Black students’ academic potential success was the first step the panelists explored. Next, they discussed strategies to academically engage the students during the summer.

“Try to find that sweet spot in between what some of the children are naturally good at and what they like to do, help them understand that those two things sometimes are two completely different things and then just allow an exploratory nature in introducing them to different options that they might not have had otherwise. Putting kids in the driver’s seat seems to be a really remarkable strategy,” Gaines said.

Regarding specific teaching strategies, Gaines shared that, “What has been the most effective for me in the program that I’ve been in charge of is finding ways to integrate social media and technology into what you’ve already been doing. Also allow time for breaks. ‘Hey y’all, we are going to work for an hour and then we’ll take a 15-minute break; you can be on your phone, you can go chill, you can do whatever you want but promptly I want us to be back in and back ready.’”

Frost shared a specific strategy of her own regarding making a summer education system effective. “Make sure that your program is a welcoming environment. That’s one of the standards that we have as National PTA [National Parent Teacher Association]. It is summertime, they have been in school for 180 days, they want to do everything but be in school so make it something that they want to come to and things they want to learn,” said Frost.

The main message the roundtable panelists conveyed to the audience was Black families supporting their children was key to academic success.

“Our research shows that children who have parents who are engaged are more likely to show up to school, they are more likely to graduate, they are more likely to be successful in school because you are encouraging your child, you are in contact with their teacher, you understand what’s going on,” Frost said.

By McKenzie Jackson | California Black Media

The Golden State is doing more than just praying for rain amidst the historic drought that is battering the state and the western United States.

Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a plan that would increase California’s water supply and combat the extreme weather patterns caused by climate change. The initiative, its scope captured in the 19-page “California’s Water Supply Strategy, Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future” document released by Newsom’s administration, will invest $8 billion in water recycling, storage, and desalination.

The plan, Newsom said, is in response to a deeper understanding of how dire California’s water crisis is.

“The hydrology in the state has begun to change pretty significantly,” he said. “The aridification that we are experiencing leads us now, the science and data leads us now, to understand we will lose 10 % of our water supply by 2040.”

The governor made his remarks at an Aug. 11 press conference held in front of the $110 million Antioch Brackish Desalination Project facility, currently under construction at the city of Antioch’s wastewater treatment plant. When completed within the next two years. the first surface-water desalination plant in the Bay Area will use large reverse-osmosis filters to create six million gallons of fresh water per day.

Antioch mayor Lamar Thorpe said the facility is one of the innovative solutions Californians need to in response to climate change and the current drought, which began in 2020.

Assemblymember Lori Wison (D – Suisun) said, “We are experiencing the worst drought the Western United States has seen in 1,200 years. We must find innovative solutions to climate challenges like this if we are to move forward successfully…… Under the Governor’s leadership, California is investing in technology, solutions, and people to build a more resilient, even as California leads the charge to combat climate change.”

Newsom said constructions like Antioch project are part of the plan.
“We are focused on creating more supply. We are focused on creating more water,” he said. “We need to be more creative and more aggressive in not just promoting this technology but delivering on its promise and more over its potential.”

The “Water Supply Strategy” includes creating storage space for up to four million acre-feet of water, so that rain water from big storms can be captured and stored for dry periods and recycling and reusing at a minimum 800,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2030, reducing wastewater discharged to the ocean. Employing more efficient water conservation the state will free up 500,000 acre-feet of water to make up for water lost because of climate change. Additionally, new water captured by stormwater and desalinating ocean water and salty water in groundwater basins will be available for use.

Officials across the state applauded plan.

San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl said the “Water Supply Strategy” is an important step to protect California’s economy and quality of life.

“The governor’s approach aligns closely with the Water Authority’s 30-year strategy that combines new supplies, infrastructure upgrades, and conservation,” she said.

There were some that disagreed with some of Newsom’s plan.

Kate Poole, senior director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s nature program, told the LA Times some of the initiative was good.

Poole said, “It’s really the things that aren’t in there that are most concerning,” she said. “Agriculture obviously uses 80 percent of our developed water supply in California. So you can’t really deal effectively with water use without dealing with Big Ag. And Newsom does not seem very willing to do that.”

California is experiencing its second drought in the last decade. The sense of urgency is real, said Newsom.

“The hots are getting a lot hotter and the dries are getting a lot drier,” he said. “We have to adapt.”

By Edward Henderson | California Black Media

A new report by California’s Legislative Analysist Office (LAO) offers recommendations for the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD) to improve their functionality and timeliness of their Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program. The UI program provides temporary wage replacement to unemployed workers to help alleviate their economic challenges and bolster the state economy during downturns.

The increased volume of unemployment claims (both valid and fraudulent) and challenges out of work people faced caused by the pandemic highlighted the need to rebalance the program. Lengthy review processes and holds on valid claims caused hardship for workers and their families, hindered the state’s economic recovery, and spurred frustration among unemployed Californians with their government.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, EDD delayed payments to nearly 5 million workers and improperly denied payments to an estimated 1 million people.

Chas Alamo, LAO’s Principal Fiscal & Policy Analyst, the report’s author links the UI program’s issues to its basic design which hasn’t changed much since the 1930’s.

UI benefits are funded by employers. Over time, this has created a relationship with the EDD that employees don’t have. While an employee may apply for benefits once or twice during their entire career, employers have become the EDD’s primary customer because they’re interacting with them on a consistent basis.

“There’s no ongoing relationship between workers and EDD in the same way that there is with business and EDD,” said Alamo. “We think this partnership or orientation towards the business community has sort of encouraged the state and the department to prioritize policies that would tend to favor minimizing business costs and eliminating fraud rather than prioritizing getting benefits to workers.”

The LAO’s report features 12 targeted changes for the EDD to make to improve their operations and relationships with employees seeking benefits. The changes acknowledged unemployment workers experience in 3 key areas:

Improper Claim Denials Were Numerous

More than half of the UI claims the EDD denies are overturned on appeal. Overturned denials cause lengthy delays for workers who appeal and raise concern that the state denies many eligible workers. Likely between $500 million and $1 billion in UI payments annually go unpaid each year due to improper denials.

Claim Delays Need to be Reduced

More than half of UI claims were delayed during the peak of the pandemic, for many workers by several months. Between 15% and 20% of workers who apply for UI during normal economic times experience delays.

The UI Application Needs to be Simplified

The state’s UI application and ongoing requirements are difficult to understand and unnecessarily lengthy. Answers to many of the questions asked of employees are already on file in the EDD.

Many of IU’s problem areas were magnified during the pandemic. An estimated $20 billion has been lost to fraudulent California claims, according to EDD estimates. All but $1.3 billion of that total involved claims from federally-funded COVID relief programs, which ended last year. The response to this has made it even more difficult for valid claims to be processed.

“During the pandemic the state was under incredible pressure to cut down on fraud so the department ramped up some of its already high levels of fraud detection efforts. They took several steps that measurably and meaningfully reduced fraud in the federal program. And they should be commended for those steps. But they also took steps that really slowed down the process for otherwise eligible workers and led to these delays.”

In response to the report, the EDD released a statement where they acknowledged changes needed to be made.

“EDD appreciates and will carefully review the LAO’s ideas for further simplifying processes and speeding up the delivery of services to Californians. Many of these ideas, such as limiting improper claim denials and minimizing delays, have been incorporated into EDD actions over the past year. As part of California’s commitment to improving EDD’s customer service, the recently-enacted state budget includes $136 million for EDDnext, a major effort to modernize EDD and further improve the customer experience … We agree with the LAO that “EDD must balance the need to prevent fraud … with the priority to deliver payments in a timely and easy manner.”

While Alamo concedes that some of the reported changes the EDD plans to make will help, he also believes that a large number of the recommendations made in the report go beyond the steps the department has proposed to take.

“The pressure really is on now to begin those efforts so that some of these improvements are in place the next time millions of workers turn to EDD for UI benefits during the next downturn. And if historical precedent tells us anything that’s going to be within 10 years. The clock starts ticking and there really is not a lot of time that the state or the legislature can wait before undertaking some of these improvements,” Alamo said.

By Antonio? ?Ray? ?Harvey? ?|? ?California? ?Black? ?Media?

The National Black Farmers Association is worried that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will roll back debt relief provided Black, indigenous, and other farmers of color in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

When President Joe Biden signs the law, which just passed both houses of Congress, approximately 15,000 farmers of color across the country — including over 400 in California — will be affected, according to the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA).

Of the 70,000 farms in California, less than 1% are Black-owned or managed, while more than 90% are White-owned or managed. In 2012, California had 722 Black farmers according to an agriculture census report released that year. By 2017, the number had decreased to 429. Nationally, 45,508 Black farmers (1.3% of all farmers) were counted in the 2017 agriculture census, making up 0.5% of the country’s farmlands.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan which included $4 billion to help Black and other “socially disadvantaged” farmers  will be replaced with a plan that makes relief funds available to all United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) farmers suffering hardships.

“I’m very, very disappointed in this legislative action,” John Wesley Boyd, Jr., NBFA’s founder and president, said in an Aug. 9 statement. “I’m prepared to fight for debt relief for Black, Native American, and other farmers of color all the way to the Supreme Court. I’m not going to stop fighting this.”

The NBFA is a non-profit organization representing African American farmers and their families. It serves tens of thousands of members nationwide. NBFA’s education and advocacy efforts are focused on civil rights, land retention, access to public and private loans, education and agricultural training, and rural economic development for Black and other small farmers.

The American Rescue Plan debt relief program was expected to pay off USDA loans held by 15,000 Black, Native American, Alaskan Native, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic and Latino farmers, Kara Brewer-Boyd, NBFA’s Program and Event Coordinator, told California Black Media in a telephone interview on Aug. 12.

“Socially disadvantaged Black, Native Americans, and people of color were automatically approved for 120% debt relief. They were to be paid in full,” said Kara Brewer-Boyd. “Now they won’t get that money at all. It’s horrible. Those farmers were already identified and sent letters that their debt had been paid. These farmers are in a bad situation. Congress put them in a worse situation by telling them ‘You’re gonna get it.’ Now they are telling them ‘You’re not going to get it.’”

Objections raised by non-Black farmers to the debt relief the federal government pledged to Black farmers has put the program in limbo.

Those opponents have filed a dozen lawsuits against the American Rescue Plan Act, including one class action case. The courts are currently hearing the cases.

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the USDA is authorized to provide $3.1 billion to distressed borrowers. Another fund has been established to supply farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who faced discrimination before 2021 with a package of $2.2 billion.

“What they replaced (the American Rescue Plan Act 2021) with is Section 22006 that now states that any farmer can apply to see if they are economically distressed, get their loans written down, or have them restructured,” Brewer-Boyd said. “Now, can you tell me that’s not a big difference? You took $4 billion in debt relief at $120%, put it in a fund of $3 billion, taking $1 billion away, and you opened it up to every farmer.”

Brewer-Boyd said Black farmers from California were approved under the original debt relief program.

“Discrimination at USDA against Black farmers was rampant and severe. Section 1005 Loan Repayment program was a necessary step towards fixing those harms. To acknowledge and correct racism is not unconstitutional or racist,” James Wesley Boyd, Jr., stated.

Last year, Lawrence Lucus, who founded the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, told the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans that racism is prevalent in agriculture, and it is the primary reason why there are just a little over 400 Black farmers in California.

“I’m sorry to say that it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better under the times we are faced with,” Lucus said. “You have White farmers, who own most of the land and get all the benefits from the land, they are the ones now bringing court cases around the country. They are saying that it’s discriminatory to have debt-relief for Black farmers.”