A Brief History of Black Farmers & Land Access in the U.S. (Part 2)
We’ve compiled a brief timeline of the history of land access for Black farmers in the US – a history underscored by systemic discrimination and dispossession. We hope this timeline can serve as a jumping off point from which you can continue your own research, starting with the resources we’ve shared below. Last week, we shared Part 1 of this timeline, covering the period from the Civil War up to 1920, where this timeline picks up.
Resource List
The Atlantic: “The Great Land Robbery”
In this piece, Newkirk II weaves the personal accounts of Black farmers with the larger history and context of Black land dispossession over the last century and the powerful corporate actors that have benefited from this systemic discrimination.
“The land was wrested first from Native Americans, by force. It was then cleared, watered, and made productive for intensive agriculture by the labor of enslaved Africans, who after Emancipation would come to own a portion of it. Later, through a variety of means—sometimes legal, often coercive, in many cases legal and coercive, occasionally violent—farmland owned by black people came into the hands of white people. It was aggregated into larger holdings, then aggregated again, eventually attracting the interest of Wall Street.”
The Counter: “How USDA distorted data to conceal decades of discrimination against Black farmers”
An investigation by The Counter found that the USDA, under Tom Villsack, promoted misleading data to depict a fictional renaissance in Black farming. The USDA narrative falsely inflated the department's record on civil rights – and ultimately cost Black farmers land, money, and agency. The report details five key myths uncovered from the investigation:
Myth I: USDA resolved a backlog of civil rights complaints from the Bush years
Myth II: New civil rights complaints fell to record lows
Myth III: USDA reduced funding disparities between Black and white farmers
Myth IV: The number of Black farmers increased
Myth V: The Pigford settlement closed a “painful chapter in our collective history”
“If Black farmers’ share of loans had been commensurate with their share of the farming population, they would have received about twice as much as they did, or another $300 million. If their lending totals reflected their proportion of the U.S. population, they would have received 16 times what they actually received, or an extra $5 billion.”
EJI: “Brothers Jailed for Eight Years for Refusing to Leave Their Land”
This article focuses on Heirs Property as a tool to steal land from Black farm owners. By sharing the story of brothers Melvin Davis and Licurtic Reels, the piece conveys a powerful narrative of Black land dispossession from an individual and familial level. This piece displays how the systemic dispossession of land overlaps with the systemic incarceration of Black men (Black American’s make up 33% of the nation’s prison population and only 12% of the total population [Pew Research Center]).
“Brothers Melvin Davis and Licurtis Reels were jailed for eight years after refusing to leave the land their great-grandfather bought a hundred years ago in Carteret County, on the central coast of North Carolina. As ProPublica reports, their story illustrates how Reconstruction-era laws and practices continue to dispossess African American families of their land.”
Farming While Black by Leah Penniman
Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, authors Farming While Black, a how-to guide for small-scale farming, written for African Americans who are “ready to reclaim their rightful place of dignified agency in the food system.”
“Stewarding our own land, growing our own food, educating our own youth, participating in our own healthcare and justice systems, this is the source of real power and dignity.”
Fortune: “Discrimination has become a fact of life for Black farmers–that must end”
Lloyd Wright, who authored this piece, is a farmer and conservationist. He is the former Director of Civil Rights at the USDA and former Director of Conservation Operations for the National Resources Conservation Service. Wright was also featured in The Counter article included above.
From an insider’s perspective, Wright discusses the racist policies of the USDA, and the systemic discrimination that, while exposed by the Pigford lawsuits, did not end with them. As he shows us, inflexible loan terms and a lack of access to credit continue to hinder Black farmers.
“The dispossession of 98% of Black agricultural landowners in America is part of our history of racial injustice that is hugely important but mostly overlooked.”
The Guardian: “There were nearly a million black farmers in 1920. Why have they disappeared?”
This article introduces us to John Boyd Jr., a Black farmer from Bakersville, Virginia. Boyd filed and won the first-ever discrimination lawsuit against the USDA. He founded the National Black Farmers Association in 1995 after hearing similar stories of discrimination from other Black farmers. Boyd was a plaintiff on the Pigford v Glickman lawsuit in 1997 and since then has continued to serve as an advocate for Black Farmers.
“I was just trying to save my farm. But then I saw this was a huge national issue.”
Point of Origin: “Reflections on the Justice for Black Farmers Act”
As a result of Black land dispossession, it is conservatively estimated that Black Americans have lost hundreds of billions of dollars of present wealth. Today our country is faced with deciding how to address the injustices of the past that continue today and have created these existing inequities. Our host, Lindsey Allen explored one such approach to create opportunities for Black farmers to reclaim land and reverse this deep-rooted discrimination in her blog post, “Reflection on the Justice for Black Farmers Act.”
“If we continue to leave displaced farmers of color out of the equation, then we will only solve problems for a few, not for all. Sustainability and food security without equity will protect few and increase vulnerability for most.”