“The Young Black Farmers Defying A Legacy of Discrimination” – Vice News, 2019, 10:27 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxbdwsy88V4
People of color are largely absent from modern farming. Where they once made up roughly 14% of all farmers in the 1920s, a century of racist lending practices and land theft have caused some experts to say black farmers are facing extinction. Moreover, farms may be a reminder of slavery for many people of color. Perhaps this is why some young people of color are returning to farm work as a means of empowerment and resistance. This video highlights these trends while covering a project known as the Reparations Map. The project allows people to support black farmers and attempts to mitigate a historical wrong, so it is not so much a charity but an act of food justice. Visit this link to learn more about the Reparations Map for Black-Indigenous Farmers: http://www.soulfirefarm.org/get-involved/reparations/
From the video’s description: Kendrick Ransome started out farming a few years ago with just a hoe, a rake, and a shovel. He could have used support getting his hog and vegetable business off the ground, but he was wary of asking institutions for help. “My big brother told me, ‘Stay away from loans,’” said Ransome. In 1925, most farmers in his rural hometown of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, were black. But now, the 26-year-old is an anomaly. “When they did take out loans and they were unable to pay them back, you lose everything you got — that’s including your farm and your land for your family.” Ransome’s fear of institutions is based in the centuries of discrimination black farmers have faced across the country. But despite that history, he and other young black Americans are reclaiming the trade. The forces pushing black farmers off their land in the 20th century were manifold, and the impact was devastating. In 1920, there were more than 925,000 black farmers; by 2017, there were fewer than 46,000, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.