This came to mind as it was in the news a long time ago - there was a lot of scandal about Vilsack and Sherrod regarding blacks getting preferential treatment - not covered in Wikipedia but it was pretty well covered online and in the news. Who did and who did not qualify for loans (I believe) from the government. People who were growing gardens qualified..people who had potted plants on their stoops qualified.. It never ends, does it? Any surprise to see who thought up this mess?
“”Vilsack appointed Shirley Sherrod as the Georgia Director of Rural Development, saying that she would be an “important advocate on behalf of rural communities.”[31] Months after the appointment, Vilsack forced her to resign based on accusations of considering race in the handling of her job responsibilities at a private advocacy firm in 1986.[32] Subsequent reports claim that he overreacted to a video segment taken out of context, and the secretary expressed his “deep regret” to Sherrod in acting hastily.[33]””
I think this was probably more of what made the news - the other part about qualifying for loans isn’t part of anything I’ve found so far but I do recall it from articles at the time and the controversy about Vilsack. She died according to two different articles online - one September 2019 and one September 2020. I guess only her family would know the actual year.
“”Shirley Sherrod sued Andrew Breitbart, Larry O’Connor and others over a video of Sherrod giving a speech before an NAACP group, in which she recounted how in the distant past when she worked for a state agency, she had discriminated against a white farmer. Breitbart’s widow was substituted as a defendant after his death.””
Also this; apparently she didn’t die in September 2019 as this is dated October 2019..
I find this curious. Why in 107 years, did blacks lose so much farm land? Why weren’t they able to farm and hold onto their land AFTER the Civil Rights Act was passed?
“”In 1910, black farmers owned more than 15 million acres of land. In 2017, that number was down to 4 million acres, according to the agricultural census.””