Retracing Our Paths - Remembering Our Origins
Photo by Safari Consoler
S U B S I S T E N C E
“Our ancestral grandmothers braided seeds of okra and millet and rice and sorghum — all their cherished crops — into their hair before being forced to board transatlantic slave ships. They believed, against the odds, in a future in the soil. And with those seeds they also braided cultural tradition about how we interact with land, how we take care of the soil, and how we share resources and labor.” — Leah Penniman
By Sterling Hawkins, MSW, LCSW, LICSW
Closely linked to “Home” is the ability to create a meaningful life. A life that ensures you and your progeny will subsist and progress toward sustainability. This is the life goal of many who endure forced migration. In the United States the phrase “The American Dream” aptly describes this process. A forward momentum marked by struggle and suffering to achieve the best life possible.
The United States Senate on April 8, 1864, passed a joint resolution calling for an amendment (Thirteenth) to the Constitution that ended slavery, but the House of Representatives failed to pass it. Pressure on Republican leadership in the House to pass the resolution intensified, and the resolution finally succeeded on January 31, 1865. The proposed amendment stated that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction," and authorized Congress to enforce the amendment with appropriate legislation. (Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation | Articles and Essays | Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress | Digital Collections | Library of Congress, n.d.-a)
One of the problems created for white landowners after enslaved Blacks were emancipated was the problem of labor. The primary source of economic industry in the south was agriculture. White landowners were dependent on slavery to remain profitable. The very livelihood of Black farmers was threatened. Consequently, the problem Blacks faced was how to earn a living. Farming for many enslaved peoples was their only acquired skill. While various industries (carpentry, masonry, blacksmiths, tanners, housemaids, and weavers) were linked to agriculture, planting and harvesting crops (cotton, corn, potatoes, peanuts, vegetables), remained the work that offered large numbers of freed Blacks the opportunity to remain employed.
Skilled field labor was essential to maintaining several hundred-acre farms. The absence of skilled fieldhands would spell economic doom for white farmers. Cotton was the predominant cash crop during this period and a time-sensitive commodity.
Faced with the possibility of economic ruin for white landowners pitted against the needs of Blacks for property and homes to live in and raise their families, combined with their need for earned income, a new system would evolve that, in many ways, was not much different from the institution of slavery- That new system was Sharecropping.
Sharecropping was the result of an original promise given by then president Lincoln gone bad. The plan 40 acres and a mule proposed by a group of Black ministers and Gen. William T. Sherman and other Union leaders who met in Savannah, Georgia in January 1865 to set aside land (roughly 400,000 acres) on the Southeast coast designed to give"each family (estimated to be 40 acres) a plot of tillable ground. The plan known as “Special Order 15” later became known as “Forty Acres And A Mule”. The plan however was short lived because the Union leaders realized that although they confiscated the land during the War, now that it was over they had no legal entitlement to give the land to Freed Blacks. It was a bait and switch because it left Blacks to fend for themselves while the Union Army maintained a small visible presence. Union soldiers could not force Confederate soldiers who weren’t killed during the war to relinquish their land to Freed Blacks. The reversal left many Blacks with few options but to become sharecroppers. (McCammon, 2015a)
Sharecropping was essentially a contractual arrangement between white landowners and Freed Blacks that would impose conditions not much different from slavery. The working conditions imposed on Blacks governed their very existence, stipulating working six days per week at ten or more hours per day. Contracts forbid them to leave the property without permission from the landowner or have visitors without first notifying the landowner and, in some cases, to marry. Blacks who refused to abide by these rules could leave unless they were already indebted. In most cases indebtedness would occur the moment the contract was ratified.
Generations of Black southerners were forced to labor against their will. Because their share of the profits was dependent on crop sales, Freed Blacks were loaned property, a plow, some tools, a mule, or a horse to work a small plot of land for purchase from white landowners. The psychological effects of slavery was the subjugation of Blacks in ways that were demoralizing and disempowering. Reducing the autonomy of Blacks to move about and own property was a way for whites to foster financial paternalism. When crop yields were high the interest on their shares was used to pay down on their loan. When crop yields were low (which was often) the deficit increased and the lost interest was added to the existing loan. Under such conditions, it was almost impossible for Blacks to get out of debt, which amounted to enslavement by default. (Slavery by Another Name | Episode 1, 2012)
Peonage was the legal term used to describe involuntary servitude. A system where an employer compels a worker to pay off debt with work. It is estimated that at least 800,000 Blacks were impacted by this system. It wasn’t until 1941 (77 years) after the 13th Amendment was ratified by the U.S. Constitution that President Franklin D. Roosevelt took steps to push back against Peonage by having the Attorney General’s Office draft Circular 3591, a directive that empowered federal attorneys to aggressively prosecute any case of involuntary servitude or slavery and thereby uphold the rights of African Americans. Roosevelt linked this directive to his World War II efforts. A time when the U.S. Military needed to increase recruitment in all branches of service. Blacks however continued to face significant discrimination and mistreatment even while serving their country. However, segregated units also known as “Buffalo Soldiers” afforded Blacks some independence and limited opportunity to prove that they were equal to the task of their white counterparts. This effort was made in conjunction with Roosevelt’s “New Deal” policies that sought to provide relief and recovery for people suffering from social and economic depression. It was a bold start that allowed the federal government to play a key role in the lives of Americans. However, it primarily benefited white Americans. Blacks were often left to fend for themselves. (Slavery by Another Name | Episode 1, 2012) This will be seen more clearly in my next essay titled: “Profit.”
The use of Black labor along with the labor of other People of Color for the purpose of industrial development has inherently been fueled by exploitation. Such development is often referred to in more recent times as Structural Racism- defined as a system of “laws, rules or official policies in a society that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race.” This system is deeply rooted in our patterns of socioeconomic inequality attributed to discrimination based on race. (Structural Racism, 2025)
The 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act is reported to be America’s first “farm bill” under the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). It was designed to intentionally help southern [white] planters and push poor Black sharecroppers off the land and consolidate their holdings. The design of this bill allowed the US government to pay farmers who were large landowners to curtail their production in order to keep prices high. White farmers used this money to purchase tractors and other heavy equipment to outcompete small farmers, including Black farmers. With production cut, the need for manual labor decreased in the field due to mechanization. Large white owned farms also became dependent on USDA funds which reinforced Structural Racism toward small Black owned farms. White farmers thereby pushed out Black farmers, and share croppers, that forced them to migrate to cities in search of non-agricultural jobs. (The Great Black Depression, n.d.)
The success of this displacement effort was largely due to white farmers in rural communities who were elected by county committees of predominantly racists white southerners to receive and allocate federal funding in the form of subsidies and loans to white farmers and not to Blacks. Rules were often stipulated that ensured the majority of federal funding would go to white and not Black farmers. All farms would suffer from decreased prices, but large farms were able to weather the storm. From 1950 to 1974, small farmers, many who were Black, lost two-thirds of their land. Congress failed to address the disappearance of America’s small farmers, as proposals for land redistribution or collective farming were attacked as communist. The result has been the massive decline of US farms from 1920 to today. (The Great Black Depression, n.d.)
Enslavement and Peonage experienced by Blacks in the United States had long-lasting traumatic effects. “The marginalization of African Americans based on race has been normalized across systems and institutions of the United States and continues to impact African Americans today.” (Scott-Jones et al.,2020)
“For Black Americans, the freedom struggle has been a centuries-long fight against their own fellow Americans and against the very government intended to uphold the rights of its citizens.” (Hannah-Jones & Magazine, 2021, p. 453)
The “Freedom Struggle” and its decades of momentum have led to some gains for generations of African Americans. However, the psychological impact remains in the form of high-level stress and anxiety originating from unpredictable environmental conditions such as drought, pests, and soil degradation. When combined with fluctuating markets, crop failures, and the lack of government aid programs, these factors have produced a sense of hopelessness among the African American farming community and perpetuated a cycle of indebtedness and hopelessness transmitted from one generation to the next. When life is reduced to survival, one’s legacy and purpose are diminished.
What is important to remember when helping People of Color today whose livelihood depends on the land is that most love the land and farming that has been passed down to them from their ancestors. Land purchased with their entire life savings and the balance with a bank loan. Third and fourth-generation farmers often are still paying off debt from the previous generation. Some become bankrupt and are simply awaiting inevitable foreclosure on their properties. Fatigue, heart failure, discrimination, displacement, and even suicide are all effects of trauma and the cumulative impact of indebtedness that often leads to premature death when other risk factors have been accounted for. The underlying fear for most Black farmers is that they will be unable to produce the collateral required to secure loans, which puts them at risk of losing everything.
One farm psychologist who works with rural farmers said: “So many of the factors that are important to farming successfully are outside our control. We can’t control the weather. We have limited influence on markets and policies that regulate agriculture and only a little more control over factors such as disease outbreaks and machinery breakdowns. But we have a lot of control over our behaviors. We choose whether or not we get enough productive sleep, take time to communicate to our family members and work partners, whether we consume a proper diet, recreate, pray, and engage in the many activities that take care of our minds and bodies. We choose whether or not to take risks, to plan properly and to communicate honestly.” (Admin & Admin, 2012)
Mental health providers who seek to serve the Black farming community must first listen to the stories of those who remain engaged in the struggle for independence and land ownership. They must gain an appreciation for their restrictions over the forces that govern the family’s livelihood. Finally, rural community mental health providers must stay connected and engage existing support networks (family, neighbors, and friends) and other resources to minimize barriers to treatment.
Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm and author of “Farming While Black” (2018) summarizes what practitioners can do to help:
To support farmers of color and their traditions, Penniman says, “We can do that person to person […] it’d just be wonderful to all reach out to farmers of color and other leaders of color in the community and say ‘how can I help?’ But larger shifts must take place for white people to adequately support these farmers. The biggest shift is going from knowing to not knowing, and from speaking to listening.” (Walla, 2018)
______________________________________________
References
Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation | Articles and Essays | Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress | Digital Collections | Library of Congress. (n.d.). The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/collections/abraham-lincoln-papers/articles-and-essays/abraham-lincoln-and-emancipation/
Admin, & Admin. (2012, March 30). Dr. Rosmann introduces himself | AG Industry News - Farm and Livestock Directory. Ag Industry News - Farm and Livestock Directory. https://farmandlivestockdirectory.com/47137/5576/dr-rosmann-introduces-himself
Hannah-Jones, N., & Magazine, N. Y. T. (2021). The 1619 project: A New Origin Story. One World.The Great Black Depression. (n.d.).
McCammon, S. (2015a, January 12). The story behind “40 Acres and a Mule.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/01/12/376781165/the-story-behind-40-acres-and-a-mule
Scott-Jones G; CAADC; Kamara MR; PE. The Traumatic Impact of Structural Racism on African Americans. Dela J Public Health. (2020) Nov 7;6(5):80-82. doi: 10.32481/djph.2020.11.019. PMID: 34467171; PMCID: PMC8352535.
Slavery by Another Name | Episode 1. (2012, February 12). PBS. https://www.pbs.org/video/slavery-another-name-slavery-video/ structural racism. (2025).
Structural Racism. (2025b). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/structural-racism
Walla, K. (2018, October 5). If farmers of color don’t own land, “We don’t have a voice in the food system.” Food Tank. https://foodtank.com/news/2018/10/if-farmers-of-color-dont-own-land-we-dont-have-a-voice-in-the-food-system/