Black farmers are being targeted by a misguided federal policy. That’s nothing new

If Washington, D.C. is good at one thing, it’s making policy in the Beltway bubble that ends up hurting Americans in rural communities — communities like mine, here in Virginia.

I am a fourth-generation farmer from Baskerville. I have raised flue-cured tobacco for more than 30 years. My forefathers grew tobacco — John Boyd Sr., and my grandfather, Thomas Boyd.

And while I spend most of my time running my 1,600 acre farm, my other time is spent being a voice for Black farmers.

The National Black Farmers Association, of which I am proud to serve as founder and president, has more than 116,000 members in 47 states. We know all too well how misguided policies from the federal government have, time and time again, put another nail in the coffin of shrinking small communities and rural towns across America.

Few workers have been hit harder in recent years than Black farmers. Black farmers in this country, at the turn of the century, owned over 20 million acres of land — today, that number is less than 5 million acres of land in this country. We previously represented 1 million farmers in this country — now, we’re down to 50,000 Black farmers in this country. 

Unfortunately, Washington, D.C. is about to hand down another mandate that will put more Black farmers out of business and rob those small towns of critical income — a federal criminal ban on the adult use of certain tobacco products. Specifically, the kind of tobacco products preferred — and grown — by Black farmers.

While all leaders in Washington may not know it, tobacco still is a major crop in Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina, among other states. That means a federal prohibition-style ban on menthol and other flavored tobacco will sink too many Black farmers, many of whom are already living close to the margins in their work.

Worse, a ban on these tobacco products would give way to an inherently dangerous unregulated drug market. When an individual does not know or cannot know what is in the substance that they are consuming, they are putting themselves at risk for serious health consequences.

And maybe most disturbing are the consequences for Black tobacco users across the country. The FDA ban being considered would criminalize the sale, distribution and possession of menthol cigarettes under federal, state and local laws. If this ban goes into effect, all 50 states would treat possession as a crime. This criminalization could result in mandatory minimum sentences, revocation of parole, fines, the loss of one’s right to vote or even deportation, among other criminal legal consequences.

Because the majority of people who smoke menthol cigarettes are Black, this would further criminalize a population that is already over-criminalized. Black people and other people of color have historically borne the brunt of disproportionate consequences in the criminal legal system.

There is a better way for Washington to promote public health. Education, and specifically, investing more in education, is the right thing to do. 

For decades, Blacks in this country have always been told what they can and what they can’t do. For years, the federal government through the U.S. Department of Agriculture discriminated against thousands of Black farmers, which helped lead to a loss of land and of Black farmers in this country.

While the federal agency has changed — in this case, it is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pursuing this prohibition on flavored tobacco — we cannot allow the bankruptcy of one more Black farmer in this country by criminally banning menthol. 

Instead, we should be allowed to continue to grow tobacco and be a contributor in America’s agriculture policies in this country.

John Boyd, Jr. is founder and president of National Black Farmers Association.