John Wesley Boyd Jr. is an African-American farmer, civil rights activist, and the founder of the National Black Farmers Association. He was the Democratic nominee to Virginia s 5th congressional district in 1995 and is now running for president in 2020. Boyd talks about the history of Black farmers, the challenges faced by Black farmers and the importance of keeping Black farmers on the land. He also shares some of his favorite stories about growing up on a farm and how he and his family dealt with racism and other forms of discrimination that were rampant at the time he was growing up in the late 19th century and early 20th century. John Wesley Boyd is a fourth-generation farmer and is the son of Thomas Boyd Sr., who was a chicken farmer and tobacco farmer, and was also a tobacco farmer for many years. He grew up near Baskerville, Virginia and now runs Boyd Farm, which has 1,500 acres of soybeans, corn, and wheat, and currently raises 150 head of beef cattle. At the turn of the century, one in 14 was a Black farmer in this country. Today, as we speak, we represent 40,000 Black farmers that make a living full-time farming in the U.S. So our numbers are generally less than 1% of the nation s farmers today. And many were sharecroppers during the Jim Crow era. And my hat goes off to the Kennedy family. I can't leave my poor ragged farm because it's better than a good job than a ragged business. - Welly Welly, Welly Farm - John Boyd Jr., a former farmer and author of the book, The Land That Knows No Colonel is a good friend of mine, and I hope things go well here. And then I have a question for you? - Bill Boyd, a PhD from the United States Department of Agriculture, and he can leave his poor farm, but can't help it? - Sally Russell, a good day's work, and then he can help me out, I have another question for his children, Welly farm, a poor business, a bad day, welly farm? And then he says it doesn't hurt anybody do it better than that? Well, a hard day s work, good business, good day s not hurt me, right? -- a good business? He can't get it, he can do it, right, well ragged, right ragged?
00:00:04.000is an African-American farmer, civil rights activist, and the founder of the National Black Farmers Association.
00:00:11.000He owns and operates Boyd Farm, which has 1,500 acres across three farms in Baskerville, Virginia, where he grows soybean, corn, and wheat, and currently raises 150 head of beef cattle.
00:00:25.000For 14 years, Boyd was a He was a chicken farmer for Purdue Farms Breeder Program.
00:00:30.000He was also a tobacco farmer for many years.
00:00:35.000And in 1995, he was the Democratic nominee to Virginia's 5th District.
00:00:43.000You have an extraordinary history and, you know, an extraordinary history of representing America's black farmers.
00:00:50.000Can you give us some of the history and the history of black farmers?
00:00:55.000Because a lot of the farmers are on farms that were part of the 40 acres of the mule program after the Civil War.
00:01:05.000And some of them have occupied those lands continuously since.
00:01:10.000But there's also been a history of profound discrimination, which I'm aware of.
00:01:15.000Having lived two years in Alabama and met with a lot of the black farmers in that state, and it's chiefly to do with the denial of loans that are available to white farmers by USDA. There's a history of profound racism within USDA, as there is in other countries.
00:01:34.000Agencies, like most notoriously, the CDC, but other agencies as well.
00:01:39.000Will you give us a little bit about the history of Black farmers, and then let's talk about your history as well, which is an extraordinary story.
00:01:48.000Absolutely, and thank you so much for having me, and we really appreciate you right here making a run for president, and I hope things go well here.
00:01:58.000And my hat goes off to the Kennedy family.
00:02:02.000Before we get going, Senator Kennedy was the sponsor of my bill that later went into law, Claims Remedy Act, later provided $1.25 billion for 20,000 Black farmers.
00:02:19.000So Senator Kennedy was a pivotal part of that history.
00:02:24.000So I wanted to say that before we got going.
00:02:27.000At the turn of the century, there were over One million Black farm families in the United States in 1910.
00:02:35.000We were tilling 20 million acres of land, primarily in the southeastern corridor of the United States.
00:02:43.000My family was no different than other African American farmers on the southeastern corridor of the United States in the rich history of Virginia.
00:02:52.000Many Black farmers, smaller scale farmers, the average size is 50 acres.
00:02:59.000The average size of a Black-owned farm.
00:03:02.000The average age of a Black farmer is 61 years of age.
00:03:07.000And many were sharecroppers during the Jim Crow era.
00:03:14.000As my mother's parents were, Lee and Ruth Robinson were also shared properties in my lifetime.
00:03:20.000So a lot of people see this as a very old issue, but a lot of the history isn't that far, isn't that far ago, you know, as far as history relates.
00:03:32.000So we've had a tremendous long history in the country, but also a long struggle of trying to stay on the land.
00:03:40.000Today, as we speak, we represent 40,000 Black farmers that make a living full-time farming in the United States.
00:03:49.000So our numbers are generally less than 1% of the nation's farmers today.
00:03:55.000At the turn of the century, one in 14 was a Black farmer in this country.
00:04:21.000Me and my dad worked together side by side on the same land that his daddy Owned by Thomas Ford, and I learned absolutely everything I know about farming from those two men.
00:04:33.000You know, Brendan Thomas told me that the land knows no color, that it doesn't mistreat anybody, that people do, and that he could produce just as good a crop as anybody if he had the right amount of resources.
00:04:44.000Rain and lime and fertilize like other farmers, he can produce just as good a crop as anybody, and that, you know, poor business.
00:04:55.000It's better than a good job because you can't take away your business.
00:04:59.000I can get fired tomorrow, but you can't fire me from my poor raggedy farm.
00:05:04.000And you couldn't leave your PhD to your children, but he can leave his poor farm to his children.
00:05:11.000These are basic things that I learned from my daddy and my grandfather that, you know, a hard day's work didn't hurt anybody.
00:05:20.000And then I ran into the United States Department of Agriculture.
00:05:24.000At the age of 18, I bought my first farm, and I bought it from another elderly Black farmer by the name of Russell Sally.
00:05:33.000He said, I have one question for you, Boyd.
00:07:33.000And I walked into, then it was called Farm Service Agency now, but then it was called Farmers Home Administration.
00:07:41.000And it was like stepping back in time where this guy, you know, And he, you know, they saw Black Farmers one day a week, which was on Wednesday.
00:07:56.000We all knew each other, but we didn't dare talk about how this guy was talking to us, you know, downward and old fool and called us colored and Negro, whatever you people call yourselves.
00:08:38.000I'm not going to lend you any of my money, he would say.
00:08:42.000He said it was his money and that in that county that he was the next thing closest to God because he lent more money than all the banks in that county, which was probably true.
00:08:53.000But, you know, I told him, I don't know what God looked like.
00:10:33.000Garnett said to him, Earl, I need you to come back in here sometime next week and fill out the paperwork because I just used last year's numbers to get you that long.
00:10:44.000So Hill Farmer Earl hadn't even filled out the necessary paperwork.
00:10:48.000He grants him a loan for $157,000, and I couldn't.
00:10:53.000And he just finished telling me that he wasn't going to lend me $5,000 to plant my tobacco and cotton crop.
00:11:38.000In the office, they had this little poster up there that said, if you feel like you've been discriminated against, send your complaint to Washington, D.C. And I kept sending in complaints.
00:12:34.000I began to organize farmers and file lawsuits and 20 years later I finally went in court for a billion dollars and 83,000 black farmers came after the filing deadline.
00:12:51.000And I spent 10 more years, and your uncle, Ted Kennedy, lead sponsor of that bill that passed into law that allowed 20 more thousand Black farmers to receive $50,000 in 12-5 for taxes, becoming the largest settlement in history for Black people in this country.
00:13:17.000So, in both of those settlements that I just described, We were also promised injunctive relief in the form of land out of federal inventory and debt relief.
00:13:30.000So that means for those farmers who are meritorious, that their debts will be forgiven.
00:13:35.000We didn't get the debt relief, and after we won the first case, there was over a million and a half acres of land in federal inventory that came from black farmers.
00:13:46.000And USDA, instead of returning the land to Blacks, they went on a national campaign to lease land to large-scale white farmers or sell land to them for pennies on a dollar.
00:13:57.000So we never got the land out of inventory.
00:14:19.000So the farmer had not paid back his loans to this tobacco-spinning fellow that they were supposed to pay.
00:14:27.000And this guy was, for example, I had a poultry contract where USDA were taking the payments out of my check and was supposed to be giving me credit on my loans.
00:14:42.000No one knows what happened to the money.
00:14:44.000I got no credit on my loans, and I wound up in farm foreclosure.
00:14:49.000When they investigated him and asked him what happened to Mr.
00:14:52.000Boyd's money that Purdue Farms was sending every week, he said, well, I accidentally applied them to another poultry farmer's assignment account.
00:15:01.000And when they asked him for that name so that they could reverse and give me credit on my loans, They couldn't find that farmer.
00:15:09.000I mean, this is government corruption, people, and it's worse, man.
00:15:13.000But you said there were 83,000 farmers Yes.
00:15:18.000They weren't all dealing with that one office in McElberry.
00:15:26.000Because they had hundreds of guys who were exactly like that in counties all over the South.
00:15:34.000What I found out to be true was The further we went south, the more egregious the farmer's stories were from Black farmers.
00:15:43.000And, you know, I want people that watch this to keep in mind I wasn't looking to do any of this stuff.
00:15:49.000I simply wanted to farm, and I simply wanted to farm operating lawn.
00:15:54.000I didn't want to do all this other stuff.
00:15:57.000And I kind of got thrust out here, and I found out that this was a national problem.
00:16:02.000And since that time, I've visited every president since Jimmy Carter, Republican and Democrat, in the White House to talk about these problems.
00:16:39.000So after we After the article sponsored the bill that reopened the case for us that allowed us to have our cases heard based on merit, the White House came back and said, well, we don't have the money to pay for this board.
00:16:51.000So I had to go back to Congress for two more years and get a line item in the spending bill, and it became a standalone bill.
00:17:01.000That finally passed by unanimous consent at 1130 at night, you know, for the $1.125 billion.
00:17:09.000So even after your uncle reopened the case for us, to have our cases heard based on merit, I had to go back to Congress again to appropriate the money to pay the farmers that were found meritorious.
00:17:24.000Everything, and I hate to say this, it's been tough.
00:17:28.000It's been tough, and the farmers are getting older, which brings me to why I wanted to talk to you.
00:17:35.000Here we have a debt relief measure that passed.
00:17:40.000It passed under the American Rescue Plan for $5 billion.
00:17:45.000Raphael Warnock was instrumental on it, Cory Booker and some others sponsored that measure.
00:17:51.000And then after it passed, USDA kind of dragged its feet on implementing the $5 billion, you know, getting it out to the 16,000 eligible farmers.
00:18:02.000So USDA already know who the farmers are, already know what the amounts are supposed to be provided debt relief, and they dragged their feet to do it.
00:18:10.000And I said, well, do it like you do other farm subsidies.
00:18:13.000You know, you know what the amount is of government to government transaction.
00:18:16.000You know, zero in the amount and send them the funds and everything's over.
00:18:21.000And then we wind up, the white farmers started suing us in federal court around the country, in Texas and then Florida and all around.
00:18:30.000And I had to organize our monies to defend ourselves in those courts.
00:18:35.000And finally, after we won one or two motions, In federal court, the administration repealed it by another act of Congress in the IRA bill, spending bill.
00:18:47.000So they took it all away while I was in court fighting, and here we sit in front of you.
00:18:54.000We didn't get the debt relief, and it's going on for decades, you know?
00:18:58.000And what I want to explain to people, I don't want people to look at this and say, these farmers want them They give them something.
00:19:39.000Now he's, he's, he's stand firm on student debt relief, but he hasn't mentioned the word Black farmer debt relief since they repealed it.
00:19:50.000And I saw him one time at the 4th of July celebration, and he says, hey, Boyd, you know, we're going to have an official meeting in the White House to discuss ways in which he thought would be helpful.
00:20:02.000And I said, okay, that would be something that I could take the message back to 130,000 members around the country.
00:20:11.000I said, that would give me something to take back to the farmers because they are blowing our phones up where we don't have, I don't have a message to tell them why you repealed it or what you're going to do.
00:20:23.000We're just out of five billion dollars.
00:20:25.000The meeting hasn't happened since I've been here, since I'm talking to you right now.
00:20:45.000And I've said I'm not supporting this president's re-election bid because he hasn't told me what the next four years are going to look like for struggling Black farmers who are losing their land.
00:20:58.000And also when Congress repealed it, it also lifted the farm moratorium that was in place, allowing USDA to individually now foreclose on those farmers who were looking.
00:21:12.000So instead of getting the $5 billion debt relief, they're getting foreclosed on.
00:21:17.000And Chuck Schumer Promised that he was going to look into it by some sort of remedy congressionally through a bill.
00:21:25.000I told him that would be great and that would help push it.
00:21:28.000There's been no bill from the Democratic leadership or Republican leadership, and it hasn't been any initiative from the White House to stop farm foreclosures.
00:21:38.000Something that Bill Clinton, all they have to do is look at the same language that Bill Clinton used in the 90s to put in a farm moratorium.
00:21:49.000So instead of getting help, we're losing land.
00:21:52.000Instead of getting the $5 billion, we're being foreclosed on.
00:21:55.000And instead of getting the farm monies that we need to stay on the farm, we're not participating in federal programs at a level where we're competitive.
00:22:05.000So we're looking for a new direction in this country.
00:22:08.000The people that have been appointed, in my opinion, on the Biden administration, hasn't shown the backbone to stand up for systemic change that needs to take place.
00:22:20.000You know, if I was Ag Secretary, the first thing I would do And President Obama asked me this when he brought me into the White House.
00:22:27.000He said, well, thinking about sending me to the USDA board, what would you do?
00:22:34.000And I said, well, the first thing I would do is I would tell all of the farmers, including Black farmers, that USDA is open for business for all farmers.
00:22:46.000Come in and apply for these resources.
00:22:48.000The second thing I would do is those people who are government bureaucrats and political parties that don't want to service all farmers, I would ask them to leave.
00:23:34.000So the only person who got fired It's Shirley Sherrod, and there's been no heads rolled.
00:23:40.000So we've received over $2.5 billion over the course of four decades, and not one person's been fired for the act of discrimination.
00:23:49.000So it doesn't send a penalty for those who've been found guilty of discrimination.
00:23:56.000I'm going to stop and listen to you and then take some questions and whatever.
00:24:00.000I can tell you that when I'm in the White House, you're going to be out there the first week, and I'm going to get rid of those people in USDA and get that money.
00:24:11.000That $5 billion is not money that is an entitlement.
00:24:15.000It's money that was a loan that Black farmers were entitled to way back then and was stolen from them through discrimination.
00:24:25.000You know, you can testify that it was personally stolen from you, and that's what the court found.
00:24:55.000It's run to benefit big ag, the Monsantos, the Cargills, the four big meatpackers that illegally control all the slaughterhouses in our country and our Shaking down the small farmers and the consumers at the same time.
00:25:16.000They're all owned by BlackRock, you know, which is running the government today.
00:25:21.000Get us off of the chemical agriculture and the big, you know, corporate agriculture.
00:25:26.000And USDA was created to help the small farmer and help consumers get wholesome food, which we don't have anymore.
00:25:34.000We've got, you know, we've got things to eat.
00:25:38.000They're commodities to eat that don't have any nutrients in them, that don't have any minerals, that are loaded with chemicals that are poison.
00:25:47.000And the small farmers, the backbone of America, Thomas Jefferson said American democracy is dependent on the control of our landscapes by tens of thousands of yeoman farmers, each with a stake in our system of government, each with a stake in our capitalist system. each with a stake in our system of government, each Each with a stake in our capitalist system.
00:26:05.000And it's in the national interest to keep small farmers on the farm.
00:26:12.000You know, right now, they're selling the farms to China, to Smithfield Food.
00:26:18.000Something I've been very outspoken on is that, you know, China is at these auctions, and they've got The little white guy with the ball cap, you know, bidding for them.
00:26:30.000And then when you check the deeds, it's owned by China.
00:26:33.000You know, they bought historically black colleges, St.
00:26:39.000They went in and bought these college campuses.
00:26:41.000They're buying land next to military bases.
00:26:44.000And again, it's something that the Democratic Party hasn't addressed.
00:26:49.000You know, when you have the big guys such as Bill Gates, who owns land right next to my Right next to my farm, and he sends different people over here wanting to buy my land.
00:27:01.000Instead of seeing how he could work with farmers and keep them on the farm, he's telling people, stop eating beef and start eating some of his imitation beef, whatever it is.
00:28:02.000We need someone who's going to push back against that, push back against China, purchasing farms.
00:28:08.000And people are asleep at the wheel with this because Once they own the land, such as the Smithfield Foods, the first thing they did was start eliminating contracts for farmers.
00:28:20.000So instead of increasing contracts to America's farmers, they went in and decreased it and then sending most of their meat directly to China.
00:28:30.000So we have to have some checks and balances, but all of these things we can't do in China.
00:28:36.000You know, I can't go to China and purchase their land.
00:28:39.000I can't go to China and do all of these things.
00:28:42.000As a matter of fact, if I want to visit China, I need a special visa to bring America's farmers in to look at what they're doing in China.
00:28:50.000But they can come here and do all of these things, buy land on a military basis, steal our seed technology.
00:29:03.000Matter of fact, I heard him say very, very little about what he's going to do to really put some checks and balances in for China and people like Bill Gates.
00:29:54.000What does that say to the Black community, my forefathers, who were slaves in this country?
00:30:01.000And my grandfather, Lee and Ruth Robinson, who were sharecroppers, what signals does that say to them?
00:30:08.000Oh, how about I take some Black people and I'm going to run across the line to Mexico.
00:30:13.000Let me see how far I get in these other countries by breaking the laws in those countries.
00:30:18.000These are things that we have to take a real hard look at.
00:30:22.000We have the right laws on the books for immigration, and if people want to come to this country, they should come the right way, the way that everybody else has came to this country, through the laws that are on the books.
00:30:34.000Not pushing down the gates and doing all this This chaos that you see going on, and the president hasn't shown enough leadership.
00:30:42.000What immigration needs in this country is a leader to say, you know what, I'm going to close the border until we can find out and stabilize things on immigration in this country.
00:30:51.000I don't want anybody to look at this interview and say, John Boyd doesn't like it, the government doesn't like it.
00:30:59.000I'm saying it looks like a third world country on our border.
00:31:03.000And the president isn't doing enough about it.
00:31:06.000You know, he's showing up down there, you know, Willie Charlie, come late here.
00:31:09.000And when he should be taking a more leadership role in this country and say, you know what, we're still the leaders of the world and we're not going to let people break the law coming into this great country.
00:31:21.000So this is the land of opportunity, and people should come here and respect our border the same way we respect theirs.
00:31:29.000We just can't go to these other countries and do these kind of things that they're doing right here in the United States.
00:31:35.000Well, John Boyd, you make a lot of sense to me.
00:31:38.000Everything you said makes sense to me.
00:31:40.000And, you know, when I go to Washington, I want you there with me, and we're going to fix USDA, and, you know, I'm going to fix the border.
00:32:30.000And we're at the last of the totem pole.
00:32:33.000And farmers should be at the very top.
00:32:35.000You know, you may not meet a doctor or lawyer today, but you need a plate of food, some healthy vegetables, at least one meal a day every day.
00:32:43.000You know, respect America's farmers, support America's farmers, and you'll see our country turn around again.
00:32:49.000If you want our country to turn around, invest in America's small-scale farmers, put them on some land, give them the tools that they need to succeed.
00:32:58.000It's really easy, but we choose to make it difficult.