Black Lives Matter. Family Farm Action and Family Farm Action Alliance stand in solidarity with the protests and individuals standing up for justice in our legal system. The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police is the latest case of Black lives taken at the hands of the police and other authorities, stemming from a long legacy of racism in America.
Agriculture is not immune from racial injustice; it is rooted deep in the heritage of American agriculture, which stripped Indigenous peoples of their land and enslaved millions of Africans and their descendants. In the post-emancipation era, Black farmers have been driven from their family’s lands, discriminated against by their own United States Department of Agriculture, and have felt the sting of inequality in the market. We will continue to work to end food and agriculture market injustice and discrimination against Black farmers and other people of color. However, it is clearer than ever that we must listen to and learn from organizations representing individuals and communities of color and double down on supporting their work to help build a new reality.
It is time for all of us who are white to stand in solidarity with those individuals and communities of color who are being oppressed and demand an end to the systemic racial injustice that exists in this country. We recognize there are a wide variety of opinions about this issue and we invite you to be in dialog with us.