Black farmers group confident in appeal of ruling over USDA payouts for heirs
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Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association President Thomas Burrell said he is confident the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will rule in the organization's favor in its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Burrell gave an update on the case during a press conference Wednesday in Memphis.
"The mere fact that we [were] going to be able to go to Cincinnati and make oral arguments speaks volumes about the validity of our claim," said Burrell, who noted oral arguments concluded Jan. 30. "Congress intended for these heirs to be paid. We argued that USDA made the switch and that DFAP [Discrimination Financial Assistance Program] is unconstitutional... because of the defects in it, because of the fact that it denied individuals a fundamental promise... to be able to inherit real and personal property."
During summer 2024, the Department of Agriculture began issuing payouts of $50,000 to Black farmers who were discriminated against by the federal department. The compensation ordered by the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, of which DFAP was a part. The payments, which totaled $2.2 billion, did not include the heirs of Black farmers who were discriminated against prior to 2021 — Burrell said heirs were even denied the ability to apply.
The Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association sued, and though it lost in a Western District of Tennessee court, the case is currently in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati. A ruling in the case should be released within one to two months.
Founded in 1997, the Memphis-based the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association has more than 20,000 members, many of whom were denied a share of the $2.2 billion compensation. One of those members, Nimon Willis traveled to Cincinnati to hear the association's argument to the court. Willis' late parents and two grandparents were sharecroppers, and he said receiving that compensation would mean a lot to him.
"It would mean a great deal to me," he said. "We know they don't want us to have anything, but, hey, you got to fight for what you want. Nothing comes free."
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Burrell also said his organization was working with Tennessee Sen. Brent Taylor to bring the case to President Donald Trump's attention, to get him to intervene and settle the case. Despite Trump's proposed sweeping budget cuts and changes, Burrell said he doesn't believe those cuts will factor into this case.
"We don't believe that the administration's cut to the government falls within the same category of protecting a person's constitutional rights," he said. "This is a slippery slope here what USDA is doing, and that is if you start denying this group a right to inherit property, when are you going to start denying people who own farms, who died years ago and set up trust and wills and estates for their children?"
Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal covering DeSoto County, as well as dining in the Memphis area. You can reach him atjacob.wilt@commercialappeal.com.
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