How Much Black Owned Land is There in the US?

Black Owned Land

Land ownership is probably one of the biggest indicators of wealth in America. As such, the amount of black owned land is a huge indicator of wealth in the black community. African Americans, as a whole, have had a long struggle toward equal standing in this country. Today, the wealth of black families suffers from both past and current factors, seen and unseen.

In order for us to really understand it, we have to look at it over time. Let’s take a look at what factors affected early access to land. Next, we’ll take a look at black land ownership in the 1900’s. Then, we’ll see how the African American ownership of land looks in the 21st century and into the present day.

Early Access to Land

Obviously, during slavery in America, blacks didn’t own any land. They didn’t even own themselves, for that matter. That was the history of discrimination that blacks have been trying to overcome ever since.

Some people are under the impression that freedom should amount to equality, in short order. That is usually the beginning of the debate about freedom of opportunity vs freedom of outcome. However, both sides typically overlook many of the key factors at play while going back and forth. It makes for a difficult discussion. In any case, let’s look at some historical references from the early part of this long history.

The Emancipation Proclamation

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the famous Emancipation Proclamation. This was the first act toward permanently changing the status of black people in the United States of America. Oddly enough, if you ask a lot of people what affect the proclamation had on the country, they would tell you it was the cause of the Civil War. You’d be surprised at how many people that I’ve spoken to that actually believe that.

In reality, Lincoln issued the proclamation as the civil war was entering its third year. According to the proclamation, “all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious southern states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” So, did that mean that black men were now on the same footing as white men? In a sense, yes, they were free. But, what good is freedom without the means to sustain yourself? The black man was free but there was no remarkable amount of black owned land.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation “set blacks free” in America, it did nothing to put them in a position to remain that way. If we are to be honest, slavery comes in many forms. A whip isn’t always required to compel a person to do your will. You merely have to control the wealth and the means of production. A “free” black man with no land and no other form of wealth, in America, is not truly free. Blacks of the time knew and understood this and had a deep desire to own land.

The proclamation was a government action in eliciting the freedom of blacks but it did nothing to address black land ownership.

Special Field Orders No. 15

This was one of the first moves by the federal government to help black people to own property instead of just working on it. General William Tecumseh Sherman issued these military orders as a solution for the thousands of misplaced negroes after his famous March to the Sea. There is speculation as to the exact reason for his decision. However, regardless of the deeper motivations, the intent was clear.

His order meant federal confiscation of about 400,000 acres of land. This land stretched along the Atlantic coastline of three southern states; South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Under Sherman’s field orders, the land was divided into parcels of not more than 40 acres.

After dividing the land, the plan called for the settling of approximately 18,000 former slaves and other free black families. Although some may have considered it one, this was far from a temporary move. Sherman meant it to be permanent. In his orders, he went as far as forbidding white people to be property owners in the area. Pay attention to the following quote from his special field order number 15…

” but on the islands, and in the settlements hereafter to be established, no white person whatever, unless military officers and soldiers detailed for duty, will be permitted to reside; and the sole and exclusive management of affairs will be left to the freed people themselves, subject only to the United States military authority and the acts of Congress.”

It was obvious that he intended to treat black people as people, “separate but equal”. Sherman voiced this in his order. He said, “By the laws of war and orders of the President of the United States the negro is free, and must be dealt with as such.”

The Gullah/ Geechee Example

To put matters regarding Special Field Orders No.15 into context, a good example is that of the Gullah/Geechee. The Union confiscated lands from white farmers and landowners and gave it to negroes. The aim was to allow people of color to own the land that they worked. They meant to establish free black men, their family members, and future generations on a path of economic development. In this case, North Carolina blacks successfully established themselves in the Hilton Head area. They managed to maintain possession of the land even after President Andrew Johnson reneged on the deal.

These descendants of western and central africans operated many successful small farms. One of the crops they grew was sweet potatoes. Now free, yet still under the weight of racial discrimination, they profited from their labor just like the white families on agricultural land did. These communities of color were the apparent realization of General Sherman’s intent for black land ownership.

However, fast forward to today and the picture is not as expected. Most of the land is now owned by people outside of the Geechee community and its descendants. Constant aggressive forces took more and more of the heirs property from them. The Gullah/ Geechee family tree faced constant pruning over the years. And, along with the issue of heirs, those who remained gave up more and more land through partition sales. Now, very little of the original lands is black owned land.

Southern Homestead Act

The Southern Homestead Act freed millions of acres of public lands in the West for settlement. As a form of federal assistance, the government initiated it to help former slaves gain their own land. In total, the Act made about 46 million acres of land available. Essentially, it included land in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The bulk of those from the South were in opposition of the act. Basically, they believed that it would result in antislavery people settling the territories. Without slave labor, employers argued, demand would exceed supply. Ultimately, they reasoned, it would cause a steep increase in the price of labor.

The Act provided 160 acres of federal land to U.S. farmers who agreed to work it. However, it also stipulated a 5 years of continuous residence requirement. A settler could not receive the title before then. They also had to be a citizen , or in the process of becoming one. The Act included blacks as eligible recipients of the land along with whites.

What seemed to be a great foundation, like so many others, quickly became a tool to use against blacks rather than for them. It was difficult enough for the average white Americans to meet the 5 year requirement. So, you can imagine how much more difficult it was for the number of black farmers. Especially under the weight of discriminatory practices. In the end, much of the land that blacks held was lost. 

20th Century Black Access to Land

Let’s take a look at how some of the events of the early 20th century shaped black land ownership in America.

1910

In the early 1900’s, black land ownership hit its highest point in American history. Leading up to that time, there was a steady increase in the amount of black owned land relative to the black population in this country. Segregation was a major factor. In addition to that, white landowners constantly disputed the ownership of the land. Even still, the upward trend in ownership continued throughout the late 1800’s and into the next century.

By 1910, according to the US Department of Agriculture, Black Americans made up 14% of all farm owner-operators. That number is comparable to another interesting statistic. It is about the same as the black percentage of the United States population today. So, the question is how and why we owned a greater percentage of the land when we were a lower percentage of the population.

One reason was that this was in the time following the Civil War. American slaves, now free, sought to accumulate land. Furthermore, they were giving birth to a new generations who were born free in this land. They, obviously, felt they had just as much right to the land as anyone else. As a result, they accumulated around 19 million acres of land. It was truly a period of “Reconstruction”. As such, Black Americans sought to purchase every available plot of land that they could afford. 

Black Farmlands

Immediately following the heights of black land ownership, things began to move in the opposite direction. Over the next 87 years (1910 – 1997), African American land holdings declined by about 90%. A primary reason for this was the issue of heirs’ property owners. This phenomenon was a leading cause of black involuntary land loss. Descendants of black land owners inherited the land from their ancestors. However, there was often no will or other legal documentation to prove that. They were unable to prove clear title to the land.

No Legal Defense

A lack of documentation equates to a weak legal defense. In fact, in some cases, there is no legal defense at all without certain documents. In many cases, connections and influence result in legal decisions on the side of the powerful. Blacks often lacked the legal wherewithal and resources to execute legal matters properly. Ultimately, both state law and federal law worked against them because of it. Acres of farmland ended up in white hands because black farmers couldn’t prove ownership.

In rural areas, the issue of heirs’ property preservation still lingers today. The 14% of all farmers that the U.S. Department of Agriculture tallied in 1910 amounted to close to a million black farmers. White landowners and violent mobs worked to thin those numbers over the years. They lynched scores of black farmers. In addition to that, they beat and threatened those who refused to abandon their property.

Forsyth County, Georgia

A good example of what was happening can be seen in events that unfolded in Forsyth County, Georgia. Within a two month period, over a thousand blacks lost their homes and land. Violent mobs drove them out and the legal system did nothing to protect them. It was events like this that helped to encourage the Great Migration in which blacks left the south in mass.

The Emergency Land Fund

In 1972, Robert S. Browne, among others, launched the Emergency Land Fund. Its’ stated purpose was to reverse the trend of black land loss. The fund shined a light on many of the factors that were causing a reduction in the amount of black owned land. Browne served as the first President of the organization. Later, he served as Chairman of the Board.

The fund used government grants to conduct research into where blacks lived. Essentially, the researchers aimed to determine why the amount of black owned land was decreasing so rapidly. One reason, researchers discovered, was complications arising from loans, property taxes, and other encumbrances. Another reason was the aforementioned discrimination that black farmers and land owners faced.

The evidence researchers gathered showed how ineffective usda programs and land grants of the past had been over the past century. Despite these efforts, loss of land ownership within the black population steadily progressed. Land constantly left the possession of members of the black community entirely before it made it into the hands of a close or even distant relative. Emergency Land Fund studies found a lack of legal services to be a main culprit.

Pigford vs Glickman

The Pigford vs Glickman lawsuit was an attempt to right many of the wrongs that had been done to black farmers in the United States. John Boyd, Jr. was the catalyst behind the lawsuit. A fourth generation black farmer, businessman, and civil rights activist, Boyd noted the following;

• The percentage of Black owned land dropped steadily from 14% in 1920 to around 1.3% currently.
• Discriminatory lending practices skewed loans to land grant universities serving black farmers.
• Lawmakers passed several laws that restricted land ownership to educated white farmers.
• Prohibitive laws in certain states kept people of color from owning land there.

John Boyd Jr organized the lawsuit along with 400 other black farmers in 1997. They alleged that USDA officials ignored complaints brought to them by black farmers. They also claimed that they were denied loans and other support because of the out of control levels of discrimination.

Boyd and the others settled the case in 1999. As a result of their efforts, the government paid compensation. Ultimately, the federal government distributed a sum $50,000 each to over 16 thousand farmers. 

Redlining Affects on Black Land Ownership

To best understand how “Redlining” affected black land ownership throughout the United States, we should take a look at where the term cam from. It has its origins in the developments arising from the President Franklin D. Roosevelts “New Deal”. The New Deal resulted fro the Great Depression. It was a series of programs, public works projects, financial reforms, and regulations that he enacted between 1933 and 1939. He had three stated goals. One, relief for the unemployed and the poor. Two, recovery of the economy back to “normal levels”. And three, reforming the financial system to prevent another depression.

Mortgages

Mortgages were a major component of the plan. The federal government had maps of all of the country’s metropolitan areas. The Home Owners Loan Corporation color-coded these maps. Later, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Veteran’s Administration (VA) adopted the same color codes on their maps. The purpose of the codes were to illustrate different mortgage risk levels by area. Of course, areas with high African American populations were colored in red. It was an indication to appraisers that there was too much risk to insure a mortgage in that area.

The Damage

As a result of these practices, African Americans were prevented from buying homes in many cases. Meanwhile, white Americans leveraged the power of home equity to build wealth. While these practices stayed in place, the gap in home and land ownership continued to expand.

Black Owned Land in the 21st Century

The current statistics regarding black owned land are dismal at best. One of the major factors contributing to it was the land loss experienced by blacks. Another factor is the general black attitude toward ownership. Hopefully, awareness of these factors will help us to improve the numbers going into the future.

Current Statistics

In 2002, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a startling report. Basically, the report highlighted the sad state of black land ownership in America. Surprisingly, according to the report, black people owned less than 1% of the rural land in the United States. In terms of dollars, black owned land had a value of around 14 billion dollars.

In contrast, white landowners owned 96% of America’s rural land. That land was valued at a little over a trillion dollars. Think about that. The total value of all of Americas rural lands, at that time, was around 1.2 trillion dollars and white farm owners had over 1 trillion of that in their possession.

At that time, blacks represented 12 percent of the population. Meanwhile, rural black land ownership was less than 1/10th of that. Black farm land ownership gives us a clear view of how severe of a problem that the lack of black owned land in America (as a whole) truly is.

Black Attitudes Toward Land Ownership

In reality, a big part of the problem here is attitude. I’m referring to the attitude towards how we spend our money. The data from that report revealed that African American farmers are more likely to rent than own the land they live on. An effect of this is a lesser ability to afford to purchase land in the future. We see the same pattern with black landowners in black communities as we see with the African-American farmers.

According to the National Association of Realtors, most Americans understand the value of home ownership. In fact, 95 percent of home owners believe that it makes more sense to own a. home than to rent over several years. Furthermore, 72 percent of renters believe the same thing. If they had to move within a six month time period, 82 percent of home owners would prefer to buy a home. With renters, that number is closer to 50 percent. Minorities make up a much large percentage of total renters than they do of the population.

The Future of Black Ownership

Some significant changes must be made in order to change the trends. We need more awareness and education about land and home ownership within the black community. A great example of an organization that promotes this is the Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund.

Their stated aim is to strive toward the development of self-supporting communities. They propose to do that through the use of programs that increase income and enhance other opportunities. Here are a few of the goals that they promote;

• Strive to assist in land retention and development, especially for African Americans, but essentially for all family farmers.
• Take an active and democratic involvement in poor areas across the South, through education and outreach strategies which support low-income people in molding their communities to become more humane and livable.
• Assist in the development of cooperatives, housing, marketing, small businesses, and credit unions as a collective strategy to create economic self-sufficiency.

If we can promote those actions and attitudes nationwide we can improve black land and home ownership across the country.

Hopefully, this post gives you a better insight into the state of Black owned land in America both today and in the past.

And, perhaps, some idea of the things we can do to improve the metrics!

Peace and Blessings,