African-American farmers discriminated against in obtaining loans

On his horse in the plains of Texas (United States), Deydra Steans is far from the image we have of the American farmer. At 41, she is the fourth generation of black farmers settled on these lands. With her brother, she took over the farm from her parents, acquired at the end of the 19th century. But lately production costs have risen, and even though the farm is in good financial shape, it has had to apply for loans from the United States Agriculture Agency. Of his eight requests, none were granted.

For the farmer, her requests were refused because of her skin color. “When I entered the office, people said to me: ‘We weren’t expecting you here, are you really a farmer?‘. They have stereotypes and preconceptions about black farmers. (…) They think that we are not able to manage these loans”Explain Deydra Steans. To overcome the lack of loans and pay her taxes, the farmer had to sell part of her land.

Last year, 42% loans requested by black farmers have been rejected, against barely 9% for white farmers. The US Agriculture Agency even recently recognized this discrimination. Yet black farmers are part of American history.