Last month, Senator Cory Booker introduced legislation to support Black farmers and encourage more African Americans to enter agriculture.

He’ll have his work cut out for him -- disparities in the U.S. agricultural economy are centuries in the making trib.al/Z1eDQIB
In 1920, 14.7% of American farmers were Black. Today, they represent only 1.4% while also:

➡️Earning less money
➡️Receiving less government support
➡️Occupying smaller farms on average
trib.al/Z1eDQIB
After the Civil War, General William T. Sherman’s famous bequest, “40 acres and a mule,” was overturned by President Andrew Johnson.

The Southern Homestead Act was passed in 1866 with the goal of giving land to freed slaves, but few could take advantage trib.al/Z1eDQIB
Despite these obstacles, determined Black farmers had made considerable progress by the early 20th century.

Between 1890 and 1910, the number of Black farm owners in the South nearly doubled, from 113,580 to 207,815 trib.al/Z1eDQIB
Unfortunately, federal policies that boosted large farms meant small-farm owners of all races lost land between 1910 & 1997.

During that period, Black Americans lost about 90% of their farmland -- far more than if they had left at the same rate as whites trib.al/Z1eDQIB
Several factors account for the harsh toll: Only 23% of Black Americans have wills, so their estates often become “heirs’ property.”

Ultimately this means the estate becomes vulnerable to developers who can use legal loopholes to acquire it trib.al/Z1eDQIB
Another factor has been disparities in government assistance, dating back decades. @CoryBooker told @AdamMinter:

“Because of certain practices...they were ultimately cheated out of their land. It has hurt African Americans dramatically in this country” trib.al/Z1eDQIB
Booker’s Justice for Black Farmers Act offers a bold template for remediating such abuses, including:

➡️New system of land grants
➡️Better oversight of government farm aid

If enacted, it would make a real difference to Black farmers and their families booker.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…
Booker also wants to ensure African Americans play a role in farming’s future.

Since 2014, locally- and sustainably-produced food has been the fastest growing sector of U.S. agriculture. Booker’s bill could help Black farmers lead this revolution trib.al/Z1eDQIB
It authorizes the USDA to spend up to $8 billion a year acquiring land and granting it in 160-acre plots to Black farmers.

In return, the grantees must undergo training focused on “regenerating the soil, ecosystem, and local community” trib.al/Z1eDQIB
It’s an expansive vision, and one that won’t be easy to enact. Nonetheless, Booker has reasons to be optimistic.

During the 2020 campaign, President-elect Joe Biden vowed to address racial inequities in agriculture trib.al/Z1eDQIB

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More from @bopinion

12 Dec
In 1797, President George Washington was determined to unambiguously hand over the nation’s reins for the first time.

He attended the inauguration ceremony of John Adams to show his support. Unfortunately, Adams struggled to follow Washington’s lead bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Adams wouldn’t be the last leader to act out during these critical moments for American democracy.

On his first full day as president, John Adams found the time to complain to his wife in a letter about Washington’s magnanimous behavior bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Washington, he wrote, “seemed to enjoy a triumph over me. Methought I heard him say, ‘Ay, I am fairly out and you fairly in! See which of us will be happiest!”

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Vaccines can be scary. You’re asking healthy people to roll up their sleeves and take a mysterious shot.

But the Covid-19 vaccine trial results should be reassuring: The associated risks are tiny compared to risks associated with getting the virus itself trib.al/euxV1y6
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📚The lost education
🚪The deep isolation twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
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And the fear of vaccines is likely to get worse trib.al/euxV1y6
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Last week’s jobs report contained similar news.

The share of employed Americans working at home because of the pandemic rose from 21.2% in October to 21.8% in November, the first monthly increase trib.al/EDQY4Wb
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Amid a deadly pandemic remote work has slowed the spread of disease while enabling economic activity to continue in ways that would have been unimaginable a few decades ago trib.al/EDQY4Wb
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Historically, vaccine development has been a male-dominated field.

But today, the science — which is showing spectacular results — is led by women trib.al/Hc6jnXY
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These vaccines teach cells how to make a protein that triggers an immune system response trib.al/Hc6jnXY
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⏲️Quicker to develop
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It’ll probably be adapted to treat other viruses, and even things like skin disorders trib.al/Hc6jnXY
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Dogs and cats have too trib.al/rp856Bd
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Simply removing Trump won’t solve the problem trib.al/p7TYvi0
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Look abroad and copy what works trib.al/p7TYvi0
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🇬🇧Britain
🇫🇷France
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James Madison pored over comparative constitutions, while John Adams & Thomas Jefferson drew on their experience as envoys to France trib.al/p7TYvi0
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