Shirley Sherrod appointed to USDA Equity Commission

ALBANY — Shirley M. Sherrod, an outspoken advocate for black farmers, said she was pleased to learn that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack appointed her to serve on the department’s newly formed Equity Commission. The Commission is charged with the task of addressing historic discrimination within the USDA.

Sherrod said she was “cautiously optimistic” and ready to get to work.

“If this commission works like it should and produces the kind of report it should, then who knows what could happen?” Sherrod, executive director of the Southwest Georgia Project based in Albany, said. “I look forward to trying to make a positive difference for farmers of color, as well as the communities in which they live.”

Thursday’s appointment came 12 years after Vilsack, who also served as Secretary of Agriculture in the Obama Administration, fired Sherrod as USDA’s Georgia director of Rural Development when misleading video footage of a speech of hers was posted on the internet.

“I try to look at what can be gained,” Sherrod responded to that irony. “Yes, he fired me, that’s a fact, but I also know that the truth came out and he did apologize. We have to move on, because there’s work to be done, especially where it concerns farmers of color.”

In 2021, the USDA rejected direct loan applications for 42% of black farmers and 37% of Asian farmers, a five-year high for both groups. Only 9% of white farmers were denied loans in 2021.

Sherrod pointed to systemic problems and policies within USDA that need examination and solutions.

“There are some things so ingrained in how the Department of Agriculture does business that have been used to keep black farmers out,” she said. “That’s why I’m looking forward to helping the commission identify the problems that are barriers to achieving equity within the USDA and come up with solutions.”

Sherrod noted that she has always worked from a grassroots mindset that she will carry over to her service on the Equity Commission.

“People who know me, and know of my work, know I don’t come from a corporate mindset,” she said. “My grassroots work will contribute to making this commission dig deep to find out what needs to be done to get the results we need for minority farmers.”

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