I am a devoted Sudoku player. I play for relaxation. I use my tablet and the game that I have on it allows me two errors, after which, for each additional error, I must watch an ad, a sort of penalty. Lately, you will not be surprised to learn, most of these ads, (I make a lot of mistakes) have been political, in particular, the Georgia run-off election. This blog was inspired by one of those adds. It was a Walker add attacking Warnock for his “racist agriculture bill.” It suggested that Warnock and the Democrats had introduced a racist bill on behalf of black farmers. It ended by encouraging the viewer to vote “no” on Warnock. Not vote for Walker. Rather odd way to put it, I thought.
What struck me was the blatantly racist character of this ad attacking Warnock for his supposed racism. I screamed “white people, rise up against Warnock and vote against the one who discriminates against white people”, not “vote for Walker”, another black man! Maybe that is why it did not mention his name.
It did pick my curiosity though. Did Warnock sponsor a racist bill, even if it were against whites rather than blacks, which is the usual way bills have been written in this country? So, I did a little research.
February 2021, Senators Booker, Warren, Gillibrand, Warnock, and Leahy introduced a bill to address the historic discrimination against black farmers in the Federal Agriculture Department. It would have provided 4 billion in loan forgiveness to farmers of color for USDA farm loan debt and related taxes. I say would have because, while the bill passed in Congress as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, before it could be put into action, the law was challenged in court by the Nebraska Freedom Coalition, a conservative think tank looking after farmer’s interests, white ones at least. This group is supported by conservative foundations, such as the Koch family, and Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, to name the best known. The news stories which suggested that it was white farmers who brought the action are not exactly correct. It is not that there was no money for white farmers in this bill. It simply tried to right an old wrong by setting aside a small amount for a group that has suffered discrimination in the past.
The upshot of it all was no money for black farmers, at least not to date. The Democrats backed down and rewrote the bill to say money for people who have suffered discrimination. It passed in August of 2022, on that basis, but to date no money has been dispensed, and the jury is still out whether these foundations will bring suits against even this bill. I would not be surprised if they do.
The irony of it all is that black farmers organizations are now angry with the Democrats who caved at the first moment of being challenged. It is, after all, easy for black farmers to look to the ways they have been treated in the past and see this as more of the same. Warnock has said he expects the money to be forthcoming, as the new law does not use the word race and should get by any court challenge. I suspect that the approaching mid-term had a lot to do with the backpedaling, or perhaps the stark reality of the 6-3 conservative activist majority on the present court.
Stay turned. Perhaps this nation will address the long history of Federal discrimination against black farmers. But, if Republicans have their way, we will not. Goodness knows a Senator Walker would happily bury such a program, as per his handlers instructions.
But my point in this blog is to express my shock and outrage that the Republican campaign against Warnock would manage to find a way to be overtly racist even when both candidates are black. I guess I should not be surprised. Recently, a former governor of South Carolina and U.N. Ambassador, and Republican hopeful for President in 2024, Nikki Haley, in a campaign speech on behalf of Walker in Hiram, Ga., suggested that Warnock should be deported. There seem to be no low to which Trump-inspired politicians will not sink to frighten people into voting against their own best interests. And, I do live in the district represented by MTG!