Senator Booker proposes to buy farmland and gift it to black farmers
WASHINGTON, DC- Following the 2020 election cycle, Democrats have already began drafting new and odd legislation to correct supposed wrong doings.
One of the outlandish proposals is by Democrat Senator Cory Booker, who wants to buy farm land from white farmers and give it away to their black counterparts.
The Justice for Black Farmers Act was announced on Thursday by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. A press release on Booker’s website explains that the policy is necessary for “correcting historic discrimination” that caused black farmers to lose land and money.
I'm proud to team up with @ewarren and @SenGillibrand to introduce the Justice for Black Farmers Act.
We need to balance the scales after decades of systemic racism within @USDA have harmed Black farmers. https://t.co/aV7y8CcufX
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) November 24, 2020
The news release states:
“Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announced landmark legislation aimed at addressing and correcting historic discrimination within the U.S. Department of Agriculture in federal farm assistance and lending that has caused black farmers to lose millions of acres of farmland and robbed black farmers and their families of hundreds of billions of dollars of inter-generational wealth.”
While this legislation sounds decently normal, it’s true plan is quite shocking.
Booker’s brilliant scheme to give land back to black farmers is to buy it from “willing sellers” and give it to black farmers “at no cost to the eligible black individuals.”
With this in mind, the legislation seems quite egregious and could very well lead to a disaster scenario of poorly equipped farmers receiving 160 acres of land without the proper tools to maintain it.
Not to mention the large chunk of funding the policy would require. The bill would create an Equitable Land Access Service in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that would set aside $8 billion annually for purchasing land to give away. Booker is hopeful that 20,000 grants will be doled out over the course of nine years.
Despite the hefty price of enacting this legislation, the three senators maintain that it is necessary for righting past wrongs. The press release argues:
“In 1920 there were nearly 1 million Black farmers in the United States. Today, due to this history of discrimination, it is estimated that there are less than 50,000 remaining Black farmers.”
Booker corroborated this line of thinking and said:
“Overtly discriminatory and unjust federal policy has robbed Black families in the United States of the ability to build and pass on intergenerational wealth.”
The senator continued:
“When it comes to farming and agriculture, we know that there is a direct connection between discriminatory policies within the USDA and the enormous land loss we have seen among Black farmers over the past century.
The Justice for Black Farmers Act will work to correct this historic injustice by addressing and correcting USDA discrimination and taking bold steps to restore the land that has been lost in order to empower a new generation of Black farmers to succeed and thrive.”
Another sponsor of the bill, Massachusetts Senator and two time failed Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren, argued in favor of the bill saying:
“For decades, racist policies have robbed Black farmers of the economic opportunity to thrive in our country’s agricultural industry.
I’m glad to cosponsor Senator Booker’s bill, which goes a long way toward restoring and protecting property rights of Black farmers, rooting out discriminatory policies, and providing Black farmers with the necessary tools to succeed,” said Senator Warren.”
For decades, racist policies have robbed Black farmers of the opportunity to thrive in the agricultural industry. I'm glad to cosponsor @SenBooker’s bill to restore & protect Black farmers' property rights, root out discrimination, & empower Black farmers. https://t.co/Iae0oZxzCq
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 20, 2020
The third sponsor of the bill, New York Senator Gillibrand, spoke about the legislation as well. Gillibrand deemed it the American government’s responsibility to “investigate this systemic discrimination” and solve it.
The senator stated:
“Black farmers and ranchers have been historically excluded in agricultural industries and inequities in federal aid have stripped them from their land. It is not only our responsibility to investigate this systemic discrimination, we must end and correct it so that the next generation of Black farmers can bloom.”
Gillibrand went on to say:
“The Justice for Black Farmers Act will ensure the Department of Agriculture puts an end to discriminatory practices that have harmed Black agricultural producers for more than a hundred years.
I thank Senator Booker for his leadership on this issue and I’m proud to cosponsor this legislation to make farming more equitable and inclusive.”
American spirit: Farmers come together to harvest 1,000 acres for neighbor who had a heart attack
CROSBY, ND – Riots. Looting. Arson. Murder. These are all things taking place in America right now as one ideology attempts to spread its anti-American mentality.
But there is one thing of which individuals in those groups didn’t account:
The American Spirit.
It has been on full display and one need look no further than the North Dakota farm of Lane Unhjem.
See, here in America, we care about one another. We help our neighbors, in times of need and in times of plenty. We help, quite simply, because it is the right thing to do.
We do not destroy other people’s livelihoods in the name of some radical hatred masquerading as a cause of justice.
In America, we take scripture to heart, even though we may not always realize it.
In Matthew 22, we read about a question that Jesus is asked and answered:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied:
“‘ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Love your neighbor as yourself. While many people in places such as Portland and Seattle must be wondering, how badly do these people hate themselves to be treating their neighbors this way, Lane and his family saw what neighborly love really looks like.
Earlier this month, Unhjem was in the middle of harvesting when his combine caught fire. While trying to contain that situation, he suffered a cardiac arrest and had to be evacuated to Minot, where he was hospitalized, according to North Dakota TV station KFYR.
When other members of the farming community heard what had happened, they knew what they had to do for their neighbor.
They showed up at his farm with 11 combines, 6 grain carts and 15 semis to get his durum wheat and canola crops harvested and into the bin. Family friend Jenna Binde said:
“I talked to a couple of farmers, got their equipment, and then other people just started calling and we had equipment offered from all over the place in the county, and their workers to go with it.”
As neighbor Don Anderson pointed out in his Facebook post, you reap what you sow. And in this story, it was figuratively and literally.
“Now that Lane’s health is being taken care of, it came time for his friends and neighbors to spring into action, which is common in small town life.
“Approximately 40 to 50 farmers, driving combines, pulling grain carts, driving semis and various other harvest related items, converged on the Unhjem farmstead and they will take care of harvest for Lane and his family today. I believe there was about a dozen combines involved.
“The Unhjems have a beautiful crop that will be safe in the bins today, and more importantly they have the comfort of knowing that they have a community of friends that are helping, praying and doing whatever they can to help them get through this tough time.
“What a great sense of pride we can all have knowing that when we face something like this, we’re not alone.”
Not only were they able to harvest the crops in under eight hours, but they also reaped the spiritual harvest of knowing they loved their neighbor as themselves, and that comes full circle so often. Binde commented:
“You help your neighbor out when they need it, and don’t expect anything in return.”
These are words that the rioters, looters, arsonists, murders and other violent offenders dressed in black and wearing masks should learn.
They are hellbent on hurting and destroying, not helping. They seek everything for free rather than serving with no expectations of being compensated in some way.
Believe it or not, this writer used to live in North Dakota, spending three years in the farming community of Wahpeton. We were right on the North Dakota/Minnesota state line. I spent time helping farmers in our church with their harvests. It is no easy task. What these men and women did for the Unhjems was massive.
They took time away from their own harvests. They used their equipment, fuel and manpower. This was a big deal. And yet, they did it willingly. No one is going to send Lane a bill for their services.
What they put on full display through their acts of loving kindness was the American Spirit.
It is that spirit that made this country what it is. It is what will keep this nation strong. And it is what will defeat those hellbent on her destruction.
Law Enforcement Today recently brought us another story that reminds us to look for the good.
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Adrianna San Marco
Adrianna San Marco is a Sophomore at Syracuse University studying Political Science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. In addition to writing for Law Enforcement Today, she works as a Special Correspondent at LifeZette and a New York correspondent for Campus Reform. She also engages in conservative activism as a Recruitment Director for Young Americans for Liberty.