African American farmers in Texas, April 1939. Note the horse hames.
This is a really interesting short interview that touches on one of the lost demographic stories of the US since the end of World War Two:
Up until mid 20th Century a huge percentage of African Americans worked on the land. Quite a few worked on land they didn't own, and no doubt that's why they have declined in that role to the present day. Heavily concentrated in the American South, during World War One and then again during World War Two African Americans from the South started migrating up into Eastern and Midwestern cities. When Robert Johnson wrote about wanting to go to "my sweet home Chicago" in 1936, he was expressing an aspiration that more than a few Southern blacks had at the time.
The great migration really wrecked that in a way that it didn't for other demographics. There are still black farmers, but not like their once was. Given that a lot of black farmers farmed on sharecropping operations that's not too surprising, but it is a huge change in the farming demographic that should be lamented.
The great migration really wrecked that in a way that it didn't for other demographics. There are still black farmers, but not like their once was. Given that a lot of black farmers farmed on sharecropping operations that's not too surprising, but it is a huge change in the farming demographic that should be lamented.
The African American legacy on the land shouldn't be forgotten, nor should it be lost. Would that it could be somewhat restored, although with land prices being what they are that would be quite a chore in this economy.
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